“This is a critical moment for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region,” Ban told reporters in the capital, Kinshasa, following a meeting with President Joseph Kabila.

The “unprecedented” joint visit is in support of the UN-brokered peace agreement, which was signed in February by 11 African leaders and aims to end the cycles of conflict and crisis in the eastern DRC and to build peace in wider region.

“We believe it offers the best hope for peace in a generation,” Ban said. “But that agreement must translate into concrete actions. A peace deal must deliver a peace dividend for people.

Coinciding with the visit, the World Bank Group today announced $1 billion in proposed new funding to help countries in the Great Lakes provide better health and education services, generate more cross-border trade, and fund hydroelectricity projects in support of the peace deal.

“We made extraordinary efforts to secure an additional $1 billion in funding because we believe this can be a major contributor to a lasting peace in the Great Lakes region,” Kim said.

“This funding will help revitalize economic development, create jobs, and improve the lives of people who have suffered for far too long. Now the leaders of the Great Lakes region, by restarting economic activity and improving livelihoods in border areas, can boost confidence, build economies, and give new opportunities for millions of people.”

In addition to meeting with President Kabila and other Government officials, Ban and Kim will also meet parliamentarians and representatives of civil society. As part of their visit, both men will travel tomorrow to the eastern city of Goma.

Recent days have witnessed renewed clashes between rebels from the 23 March Movement (M23) and the DRC national armed forces in Goma, which was the scene of intense fighting late last year.

“The private sector is among the new, emerging and innovative sources of forest financing,” Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Hu Wongbo said during the tenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF10). “Private sector financing has the potential to play a major role in the implementation of sustainable forest management.”

The Forum’s two-week session in Istanbul is expected to conclude this Friday with a number of key decisions, including on financing. An estimated $70 to $160 billion in global funding will be needed for sustainable forest management, or SFM, according to a 2012 study cited by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his report to the Forum.

“Most countries are unable to raise adequate public funds for the forest sector, and reinvestment of revenues in forest management has been minimal,” Mr. Ban says, adding that the private sector, including forest communities, smallholders, industry and other investors, is a key source of financing.

While funding continues to be sought from traditional sources such as government budgets at the national level, and official development assistance, or ODA, at the international level, Mr. Wu noted that decision-makers are increasingly aware of the “changing landscape” of forest financing.

“Large companies are, undoubtedly, one of the least tapped sources of forest investment and financing. Yet they are also among our most important partners in the implementation of sustainable forest management.”

Experience on the ground has shown that there are win-win opportunities for all in sustainable forest management – for private companies, for local communities and for the environment, he stated, citing his own country, China, where businesses, farmers and local governments work together to fight soil erosion, land degradation and to promote reforestation.

“In many cases, companies have been able to secure returns on their investments in resource conservation; local farmers have continuously improved their sustainable livelihoods; and local economies have flourished,” he said.

The private sector can help in many ways, including through large-scale investments using direct financing or carbon credits; through public-private partnerships aimed at reliable provision of health, education and transportation for remote, forest-dwelling communities; or through government-regulated sustainable practices for forest management on timber concessions or private lands.

“However, we must also take a hard look at the impediments that discourage private investment in many countries,” Mr. Wu added. “To attract them to invest, we must all work side by side. It is the only way forward.”

Tuukka Castrén, Senior Forestry Specialist at the World Bank, agreed that the money needs to come from different sources. “ODA will play a role, and often it can play a catalytic role.

“But for genuine scaling up, we need to engage the private sector,” he said, adding that businesses, which have a legitimate interest in making money, can make a profit through sustainable forest management.

The World Bank Group provided close to $490 million in financing for forests in fiscal year 2012. Forest resources are crucial to the Bank’s mission of eradicating poverty because of their contribution to the livelihoods of the poor, the potential they offer for sustainable economic development, and the essential environmental services they provide.

While the Bank does not have data on the growing interest by the private sector in investing in sustainable forest management, “we have the feeling that the wind is blowing in that direction,” said Mr. Castrén.

He added that the largest investor group in sustainable forest management is the millions and millions of smallholder farmers who plant two or three trees on their farms to provide shade, fuel wood and provide watershed management functions.

“They are also investors and play a fundamental role in the whole system, even though we are not able to capture their contributions in our statistics.”

Another key source of financing for sustainable forest management is the UN-backed Global Environment Facility (GEF), which announced during the Forum that its financial support for forest management programmes recently hit the $500 million mark.

Ian Gray, Senior Forest Specialist at the GEF, noted that there are so many different demands in sustainable forest management that it is necessary to have a broader approach to financing.

“I think we’ve been hearing this week from many of the delegates that SFM is such a broad topic that you actually need a suite of funding processes and mechanisms. Some of those will be from national funds. But there is also a need and a call for the private sector to be able to contribute to that.”

“What is happening in Syria today risks escalating very quickly into disaster that could overwhelm the international response capacity – political, security-related and humanitarian,” High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres told United States senators in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

He stressed the urgent need for a political solution, insisting that: “If this conflict is not stopped, we will probably have an explosion in the Middle East. Nobody wants that.”

More than 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than three million displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. In addition, some 1.1 million people have taken refuge in neighbouring countries.

At an aid conference in January, the international community pledged $1.5 billion to respond to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the Syria conflict for the first six months of this year. However, as of 15 March, only 21 per cent of that funding has been received.

“All of the agencies involved in this humanitarian response are dramatically underfunded, with some fearing they will run out of money as early as Easter [March 31],” said Mr. Guterres.

“I appeal to governments and parliaments to urgently approve extraordinary funding for the victims of the Syria crisis, to ensure that their most basic needs are met and the stability of the region preserved.”

Last week, Mr. Guterres visited Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where he met with Syrian refugees, government officials and host communities.

“The refugee numbers are staggering, but they cannot convey the full extent of the tragedy,” he told senators, noting that three-quarters of the 1.1 million Syrian refugees are women and children.

“There are harrowing reports of rape and sexual abuse of women and children,” he added, noting the need to fund programmes for victims of sexual violence and women at risk.

He stressed the “severe pressure” that the host countries are under and called for international solidarity. “Helping them deal with the consequences of the refugee crisis is imperative, as the preservation of their economic and social stability is in everyone’s essential interest.”

There are an estimated 3.6 million people displaced inside Syria and many more in need of aid. While his agency (UNHCR) is committed to delivering aid to all those in need, Mr. Guterres highlighted the high security risks faced by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) inside Syria as they try to assist displaced people.

“Convoys have been shot at, hijacked, warehouses destroyed and looted, and several UN-contracted truck drivers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict,” he said.

Mr. Guterres expressed his appreciation for the tremendous financial support provided by the US for the humanitarian response, but warned the members of the sub-committee of “a real risk of this conflict spilling over across the region.”

In that connection, the UN has voiced grave concern at the reported Syrian helicopter strikes on 18 March in the Lebanese region of Arsal, in violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Just last week, the Security Council unanimously underscored its grave concern over such incidents, and underlined the importance of full respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity

“The Secretary-General stresses the importance of the Security Council’s call, and urges the Syrian authorities to heed that call,” Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said. “It is imperative that all concerned in the region abide by their obligations under international law and prevent any escalation.”

Mr. Ban discussed the prospects for peace in Syria by phone today with the Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, who is continuing his efforts towards this end.

In a joint news release, the Director-General of the World Health Organizations (WHO), Margaret Chan, and the Executive Director of the Global Fund, Mark Dybul, said significant funds need to be mobilized to prevent the spread of multi-drug resistant TB, also known as MDR-TB.

“We are treading water at a time when we desperately need to scale up our response to MDR-TB,” said Dr. Chan. “We have gained a lot of ground in TB control through international collaboration, but it can easily be lost if we do not act now.”

In 2011, 1.4 million people died due to TB, with the greatest per capita death rate in Africa. MDR-TB presents a major threat, with an estimated 630,000 people ill worldwide with this form of TB today.

WHO and the Global Fund said the $1.6 billion is needed to fill the funding gap in 118 low- and middle-income countries, the majority of which are located in Africa. These funds could enable full treatment for 17 million TB and MDR-TB patients, and save some 6 million lives in the next three years.

“It is critical that we raise the funding that is urgently needed to control this disease,” said Dr. Dybul. “If we don’t act now, our costs could skyrocket. It is invest now or pay forever.”

The call for an increase in funds for TB comes ahead of World TB Day on 24 March, which commemorates the day when Robert Koch discovered the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis in 1882. The Day seeks to raise awareness about the global epidemic and efforts to eliminate the disease.

In addition to the $1.6 billion annual gap in international financing, WHO and partners estimate that there is a $1.3 billion annual gap for TB research and development for the 2014-2016 period, including clinical trials for new TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.