Manila - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the worsening financial crisis could seriously impact on the world body's vital goals and programmes.

Ban expressed concern that the implementation of key programmes such as the Millennium Development Goals might be hampered as developed and developing countries battle the global crisis.

"I'm deeply concerned about the possible impact (of) this financial crisis (on) the overall United Nations goals and agenda," Ban told a press briefing after addressing the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila.

Manila - Countries affected by the global financial crisis should remain open to migrant workers who can help boost their ailing economies amid the economic slowdown, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

Ban said he was "deeply concerned" that more than 200 million migrant workers around the world were adversely affected by the economic slowdown, as labourers in badly hit sectors such as construction and tourism start to lose their jobs.

"Today, we face a cascade of national financial crises throughout the world," he told the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila. "Almost none of our economies is insulated."

Manila  - The United Nations and the European Union launched Tuesday a 15-million-euro joint initiative to promote migration and help protect migrant workers amid the global financial crisis.

Amid warnings that the global crisis could force countries to restrict the entry of migrant workers, the UN-EU initiative aims to highlight the "positive impact of migration" on development.

The programme was launched on the sidelines of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila, which will be addressed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday.

Under the programme, financial grants will be provided to projects dealing with migrant communities, migrant rights, capacities of migrants and migrant remittances.

United Nations, Oct 28 : Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said in a speech that the number of reports of nuclear or radioactive material stolen around the world last year was “disturbingly high.”

Dr. ElBaradei, in his annual report on Monday to the General Assembly, said nearly 250 such thefts were reported in the year ending in June. 

“The possibility of terrorists obtaining nuclear or other radioactive material remains a grave threat. Equally troubling is the fact that much of this material is not subsequently recovered,” The New York Times quoted him, as saying.

New York - Western European cities are the most "egalitarian" in the world, said a new study by United Nations Habitat, which compared levels of income inequality in the world's largest cities.

Beijing is the "most equal" in Asia, said UN Habitat, a programme to assist governments in improving housing and living conditions in developing countries.

The study, which was released Monday, said that income inequality is relatively low in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

New York - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed "extreme concern" over increasing attacks on UN peacekeepers and civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northern provinces.

Ban cited the situation in North Kivu, Rumangabo and Goma, where a local armed group called the National Congress for the Defence of People attacked UN peacekeepers and government military troops, in violation of a ceasefire.