Divert weapons budget for development says UN Chief

(April 20, 2010) The United Nations General Assembly on Monday, held a day-long debate on disarmament with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on the world, to reverse its spending on weapons as compared with development. “The world is over-armed, and development is under-funded,” Ban told the 192-member Assembly at the start of the debate on disarmament and world security. He said “Spending on weapons worldwide is now, well above $1 trillion a year and rising and these priorities should be reversed. By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added.
Ban referred to the ambitious targets set by the UN Summit of 2000, to slash a host of social ills by 2015.,including include extreme hunger and poverty, maternal and infant mortality and lack of access to education and health care. He cited several encouraging trends, including last week’s Washington summit on nuclear security and the signing earlier this month by Russia and the United States of a nuclear weapons reduction treaty. He stressed that now is the moment to build on that momentum.
Ban said “Small arms in the wrong hands, destroy lives and livelihoods, impede peace efforts, hinder humanitarian aid, facilitate the illicit trade in narcotics and obstruct investment and development.”