Representatives of developing countries had their turn on the world stage to plea for help on Wednesday at the opening of the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development.
Nearly all speakers who took their turn behind the green marble podium of the UN General Assembly at the initial sessions of the three-day meeting said that their nations were feeling it the worst while they were not responsible for the crisis.
The representatives, including a number of heads of state and government, ministers, deputy ministers and ambassadors, complained of a drop in trade, tighter financing condition and a marked reduction in the remittances from its migrants abroad, among other problems, and welcomed financial assistance.
The developed world already had its say in G7, G8 and G20 meetings in April and in 2008.
After Doha last December, President of the General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was asked to put this conclave together.
He shepherded preparations through pleas for attendance to establishing a commission of experts to analyze the crisis and recommend reform of the international monetary and financial system while diplomats negotiated a draft outcome document.
UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon greeted attendees in brief remarks in which he said the world was "in the midst of multiple crises -- food, fuel, flu, economy" and "still struggling" to overcome the last in his litany.
"It has touched every part of the world," he said, as was climate change. Extreme poverty was also spreading.
While there was some financial stabilization and growth in some countries, the UN chief voiced his caution on the outlook of the global financial and economic crisis.
"I want to say this loud and clear: These are merely signs (of recovery)," said Ban.
"For a large number of countries, there are no 'green shoots' of recovery," he told the conference, warning that "The real impact of the crisis could stretch for years."
The speakers following him bolstered those remarks.
D'Escoto, former foreign minister of Nicaragua, spoke for just over half an hour at the opening. The address was akin to a homily in which he dubbed the conference a meeting of the G-192, reflecting the number of member states in the United Nations, even though 119 nations signed up for the sessions.
He worked hard preparing for the conference, travelling the world to encourage leaders to attend, but was forced to seek a three-week delay from the originally scheduled June 1 date, citing calendar conflicts.
"It is neither humane nor responsible to build a Noah's Ark only to save the existing economic system, leaving the vast majority of humanity to their fate and to suffer the negative effects of a system imposed by an irresponsible but powerful minority," he said, referring to the developed world.
"We must take decisions that affect us all collectively to the greatest extent possible, including the broad community of life and our common home, Mother Earth," he added.
While there were repeated calls for continued if not increased assistance, chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nikola Spiric did not explicitly seek such help, but did seek change as did so many others.
"There is no such a threat to global peace and stability as the current financial and economic crisis, and if we miss the opportunity to address this issue urgently and decisively it could have devastating consequences," he said, warning that "Without prompt action, it is just a matter of time before such a crisis becomes a social and political one."
Spiric said what was needed was to "establish mechanisms effective enough to create an early warning mechanism enabling the world to react vigorously and accordingly as well as an appropriate tool that could intervene in the market appropriately."
He also lamented the lack of a regional European approach in which Bosnia could participate.
Many nations from several points on the globe called for regional cooperation.
Le Duc Thuy, head of the Vietnamese delegation, pointed out that governments already have begun to cooperate regionally and warned against protectionism.
"We share the concerns that the crisis may trigger, on the one hand, the re-emergence of protectionism and, on the other hand, demand for excessive liberalization without taking into account the different levels of development among countries," he said.
"Vietnam is in the process of deepening international integration and has been making efforts to fulfil its World Trade Organization commitments and enhance trade and investment cooperation under and inter-regional frameworks," he added.
Vietnam was seeking "proposals in action roadmaps and necessary mechanism for improving the efficiency of the UN agencies so that they can better help developing countries," Thuy said.
Kenneth Baugh, deputy prime minister of Jamaica, was able to encourage assistance with a little sugar-coating.
"Positive spin-offs can be effectively realized from partnership between developing and developed countries," he said.
"The developing world provides a huge potential market if its purchasing power can be increased. Assistance by the developed world should not be narrowly viewed in benevolent terms, but more widely as a good business strategy to expand the markets of the developed world and help expedite global recovery," he said.