From Barbados to Sri Lanka, every country feels the ripple effect of the current global financial crisis -- fewer remittances from foreign nations, more layoffs, less direct foreign investment and more people plunged into poverty.

As the world at large is confronting the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, countries, large and small, have their perspective stimulus packages to bail themselves out of the crisis. However, they are all aware that no single nation can succeed in fighting the spreading crisis by itself.

Therefore, all eyes are turning to the United Nations as a high-level meeting is under way at its headquarters in New York to discuss how to address the current financial and economic crisis.

Darcy Boyce, Barbados' minister of state of finance, investment, telecommunications and energy, told the high-level meeting that his country hopes to see a greater role of the United Nations, which is the most universal international body in the world, in global economic decision making.

"Barbados believes that the United Nations, which has a unique role and legitimacy, must play a much greater role in global economic decision making and rule setting," he said. "We therefore welcome the possible formation of a working group in the General Assembly to advance many of the proposals from this Conference."

"We must not squander the opportunities for creating a fair and more equitable system of governance where responsibility for global rule making and decision-making is vested solely in the entire UN family of nations," he said.

Nearly 120 UN member states are represented at the high-level gathering, strongly endorsed by the international community, in particular the developing countries. It has drawn presidents of Ecuador and Bolivia, vice presidents of Zimbabwe and Iran, and prime ministers of Bosnia, Serbia, Togo and several Caribbean countries. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also attended and spoke at the conference.

Holding the world's unregulated financial centers responsible for the current crisis, Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister and minister of finance of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said that in dealing with the crisis, his country had sought to strengthen bonds with other nations through various regional groups.

The spirit of multilateralism must be embraced in the global fight against the crisis, and it is crucial to engage the United Nations in the crisis, he said.

Echoing statements from other small countries, Stephenson King, prime minister and minister for finance, economic affairs of Saint Lucia, said that in the developing world, there was a sense that making a few adjustments here and there, while the old rules stayed intact, would no longer serve the cause of international development.

Meanwhile, Darcy Boyce, the Barbados minister, said that small countries could be effective partners in promoting world economic development, but must be accorded a seat at the table.

Heidemarie Wleczorek-Zeul, federal minister for economic cooperation and development of Germany, said: "While the G-20 (Group of 20 largest economies in the world) has taken some far-reaching decisions, and yet it takes an organization with the United Nations legitimacy to tackle the crisis; in our search for a solution all countries' voices, including developing countries' voices, must be heard."

Without immediate action, she said, an average of between 200,000 and 400,000 more children would die annually between 2009 and 2015. "We must do everything to prevent such a humanitarian catastrophe from taking place."

Stressing that today's conference provides a unique chance to enter a new era of international cooperation, the German minister encourages all to adopt the outcome document at the end of the three-day high-level meeting, in order to strengthen the role of the United Nations in global economic governance.

Syed Salim Raza, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, called for efforts to enhance the coherence and coordination of policies and actions between the United Nations and international financial institutions.

"If the international financial architecture is to be redesigned, it should be 'UN inclusive,'" he said.

Paavo Bayrynen, minister for foreign trade and development of Finland, said: "The United Nations needs to focus on the impact of the crisis on developing countries and cooperation in the field with the international financial institutions."

Furthermore, while there has been some progress already in strengthening the financial resources of those institutions and accelerating their reform process, it is at least as important to enhance reforms in the United Nations system, he said, adding that system-wide coherence and the "One UN" concept are crucial.