G20 leaders make important commitments at the Pittsburgh Summit to assist low-income countries through the crisis and to meet their long-term development needs.

In an historic UN Security Council meeting on 24 September the Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for further efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms, boost disarmament and lower the risk of 'nuclear terrorism'.

Africa will have a stronger and more influential voice at the Copenhagen summit on climate change after agreeing to send a single team to negotiate a major global treaty at the UN Summit on Climate Change this week.

The effects of the economic crisis are only just beginning for hundreds of millions of people, according to the first report of the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS), unveiled at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The report also said many who have just climbed out of poverty may suffer again soon. GIVAS gives real-time evidence from affected areas of the effects of major crises such as the economic downturn.

The Prime Minister has told the United Nations that $30 billion will be needed to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change. Speaking in New York, Gordon Brown said international public finance should meet a significant proportion of this, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable countries.