(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-29 03:28

UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon called on the international community on Tuesday to devote more resources to conflict prevention.

"We must devote more resources to conflict prevention," Ban told the UN Security Council at an open debate on conflict prevention and resolution, particularly in Africa.

"We must also strengthen our capacity for mediation. It is only through political settlements that conflicts can be resolved," Ban said.

The secretary-general said ever since he took the helms of the world body he has made it clear that the resolution of "Africa's most difficult conflicts is a top priority."

"At the same time, a greater investment in prevention could save us considerable pain and expense - in Darfur, in Somalia, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Northern Uganda, in Western Sahara and elsewhere," he told the 15-member panel.

"In today's world, prevention must go beyond mere diplomacy," he continued.

The most difficult conflicts occurred when a variety of factors came together, for example, when tensions over issues of identity within a community were combined with unequal access to political and economic resources, Ban noted.

To prevent or resolve such conflicts, it was necessary to promote tolerance of diversity within societies and the solution should be as inclusive and representative as possible, he said.

Conflict prevention and sustainable development reinforced each other; thus, it was crucial to make progress in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, he added.

In conclusion, he said that there had been a 40 percent decline in armed conflict around the world since 1990 and that recent research credited expanded United Nations peacemaking, peacekeeping and conflict prevention as a major factor behind that decline.

"That was encouraging, but it was not good enough," he said. " The international community had the obligation to take the challenge of prevention more seriously."

"There must be sustained international political will to reinforce preventive action in its broadest sense," Ban added.