In a world confronted by surging food and oil prices, this year’s session of the Economic and Social Council, one of the three principal organs of the United Nations, is dedicated to highlighting the crisis facing developing countries. Speaking at the Ministerial Round Table, UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka pointed out that one of the critical structural problems confronting most developing countries was the lack of well planned infrastructure that linked rural and urban areas. It is not possible to have successful agricultural development without well functioning urban centres, she said.

“Without decent infrastructure, rural products cannot get to markets. At a time when the world is urbanising faster than ever before, it is critical to encourage balanced territorial development in developing countries.” As conclusions reached by ECOSOC influence future development strategies with donors, the international community and within the UN, Mrs. Tibaijuka tabled this message at a number of events during the week in New York.

At the High Level Roundtable on “The role of ecosystem services in sustainable development’ a number of delegates linked the current global food and energy crisis to the impact of climate change, arguing that in turn, these were all closely linked to rapid loss of biodiversity. Mr. Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), therefore called for increased awareness of the role of ecosystems in designing sustainable development. He was supported by Mr. Ahmed Djoghalf, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Bio-Diversity. Mr. Djoghalf reminded the delegates that in the era of Homo Urbanus, it was even more critical to ensure that urban development did not lead to a further loss of biodiversity.