UNITED NATIONS - UN CHIEF Ban Ki Moon expressed alarm on Monday about the impact of the global financial crisis on poor nations and called for urgent multilateral action in support of the world body's anti-poverty agenda.

'I am deeply concerned about the impact of this crisis on the developing world, particularly on the poorest of the poor and the serious setback this is likely to have on efforts to meet major goals,' he said in a statement.

Mr Ban added that while initiatives by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to provide new emergency liquidity provisioning to poor nations could help them counteract some of the effects of the crisis, 'more needs to be done'.

On Sunday, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said the financial crisis, the worst since the 1929 market crash, underscored the need for coordinated action to build a better multilateral system.

Mr Zoellick announced that the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private sector lending arm, was exploring the possibility of a fund to help recapitalise banks in the developing world.

Experts say poorer countries could be hit twice by the crisis - finding it more difficult to get access to funding and as their exports fall because the crisis undercuts demand.

With donor aid programmes under pressure during the financial crisis, the World Bank estimates that up to 100 million people are at risk of falling into poverty because of higher food and energy prices.

In his statement on Monday, the UN secretary general also stressed the need 'to consider urgent multilateral action to alleviate the impact of recent events on the development agenda of the organisation.' He singled out the implementation of anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by a 2015 deadline, the food and energy crises as well as the challenges of climate change.

Last month, a UN summit on how to reduce global poverty ended with pledges from donors of roughly 16 billion (S$23 billion). But the financial turmoil has raised fears that the promises may not be kept.

Mr Ban noted that the finance for development conference scheduled for next month in Doha 'provides us an important opportunity to review developments and to ensure that the current financial difficulties do not undermine commitments already undertaken to provide more aid and other financial resources for the achievement' of the MDGs.

The Doha Round of trade liberalisation talks, orchestrated by the World Trade Organisation, was launched in the Qatari capital seven years ago but has been deadlocked because of disputes between the rich developed world and poorer developing nations on trade in farm and industrial products.

The MDGs include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, ensuring environmental sustainability and creating global partnerships for development. -- AFP