UN chief calls on ECOSOC to "make most of opportunities" for 2012

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- With the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) playing an "instrumental" role for 2012, particularly with the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said it was critical to "make the most of these opportunities."

"We have many milestone events on the calendar -- above all, the Rio+20 Conference," Ban said at an ECOSOC 2012 organizational meeting. "Let us make the most of these opportunities."

At the UN General Assembly in 2010, Ban said he set out a " vision of solidarity for an era of austerity and uncertainty" for the next five years, with ECOSOC "instrumental for each one."

"The first and greatest of these is sustainable development," Ban said. "We must deepen our efforts to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) our main framework for development to 2015."

He said it is important to reflect on and plan for the post- 2015 development agenda, "perhaps with a new generation of goals that reflect the sustainability dimension."

Another challenge being climate change, Ban said it was critical to build on the progress from the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference at Durban.

"The Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) can promote wider engagement at all levels and encourage greater accountability for our commitments," he said.