Beijing - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said he would push a summit of the world's richest nations to honour promises to double aid to Africa and do more to combat infectious diseases. Ban said the international community was "in the midst of a development emergency," with many nations behind on their UN Millenium Development Goals, and would promote his message at next week's G8 leaders' summit in Japan.
"I will use the occasion to once again urge donor nations to deliver on their pledges to more than double aid to Africa - the continent farthest from the finish line in the MDG race," Ban said in a speech at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
"We need to organize on a war footing to fight malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases across Africa," he said.
Ban praised the "strides made by countries like China in recent years," but said the world as a whole was "not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015."
"The perfect storm of climate change and the food crisis underscore that the international community is in the midst of a development emergency," he said.
He warned that failure to meet the UN development goals would "prove a devastating blow" to relations between rich and poor nations, and would "strain the relationship between governments and the governed."
Ban began a three-day visit to China on Monday. He was scheduled to hold talks with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during his visit.
The Chinese government said Ban also planned to meet patients infected with HIV/AIDS at a Beijing hospital on Wednesday and visit the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, which will host the opening of the Olympic Games on August 8.
Ban last visited China in late May, travelling with Wen to earthquake-devastated Sichuan province and praising the Chinese premier's leadership of relief efforts.
He met Japanese leaders in Japan on Monday and was scheduled to leave China for South Korea on Thursday, before returning to Japan for the G8 leaders' summit.
