UN chief urges G20 leaders to push for jobs

Leaders of the world’s 20 most advanced economies, meeting in Mexico this month, should co-ordinate measures to solve the worldwide unemployment crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday. “In Los Cabos, I will ask leaders to once again look not just at their national concerns, but at the common good, which is inextricably linked to their own interests,” Ban told a UN meeting on the summit in Mexico on June 16-20. “We need a powerful, co-ordinated solution to the worldwide job crisis and decisive action to avoid a new global recession,” the UN chief said. He said the summit would take place against a backdrop of “anxiety” because the world economy was in a precarious stage, while the euro crisis “may escalate and is already affecting economies and livelihoods worldwide.” The UN said many countries are suffering high unemployment, financial fragility, government debt and fiscal austerity measures, which are driving their economies in a downward spiral.from gulf times.