Ireland on Thursday called upon the international community to render more resources to the United Nations to monitor the impact of the global financial crisis on the poorest countries.

Peter Power, minister of state for overseas development of Ireland, made the statement as he was speaking at the high-level UN conference on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development, which entered its second day on Thursday.

"The UN, working with the other relevant institutions, should be given the resources to monitor the impact of the crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable," Power said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the opening of the three-day high-level meeting that he is mobilizing the UN resources to monitor the impact of the current global financial crisis, which has affected every nation in the world.

"The UN has already reported that the volume of global trade is expected to fall by 11 per cent this year -- the largest annual decline since the Great Depression," he said. "This underlines the need for an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive agreement in the WTO (World Trade Organization) Doha Development Round, which addresses the real concerns of developing countries, particularly the poorest."

"When we gathered in Doha seven months ago to reaffirm our commitment to global development, we knew that the world faced a financial and economic crisis," he said. "Today it is clear that the crisis is more far-reaching and more unpredictable than many had feared."

"We are very conscious of the severe consequences of the crisis for those in a seriously weaker position than ourselves," he said. "For the poorest people on the planet -- not least the one billion people who do not have enough food to eat - the financial and economic crisis is becoming a human calamity."

"Macroeconomic statistics cannot demonstrate the true extent of a crisis still unfolding across the developing world," he said. "Growth projections for sub-Saharan Africa are constantly being adjusted downwards."

"Crucially, private capital flows, which played a key role in the economic growth of recent years in Africa, are drying up. Whole communities are feeling the decline in workers' remittances," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)