United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on nations to intensify efforts to reduce stockpiles of weapons capable of inflicting large-scale devastation and death, as the United Nations held a series of events worldwide to observe the annual International Day of Peace.

"As long as such weapons exist, no one is safe," said Mr. Ban after ringing the UN Peace Bell in a ceremony at UN Headquarters. "On this international peace day, I have a simple message for all: We Must Disarm! We must have peace." He added.

The Secretary-General's 100-day campaign on weapons of mass destruction  "WMD-We Must Disarm" - culminates on 21 September to coincide with the International Day of Peace, which is being marked today by the UN because Monday is a public holiday in much of the world.

During the campaign Mr. Ban, UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas and the United States actor Rainn Wilson raised awareness of the dangers and costs of nuclear weapons by issuing a reason a day explaining the importance of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation on social networking websites and tools such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

"Most of the victims of conflict are powerless, innocent civilians, fathers, mothers, (and) children," said Mr. Ban at the Peace Bell ceremony, adding that without peace "they have little hope of improving their lives. Little hope of escaping poverty."

Later in the morning, Mr. Ban underscored his message at a gathering of over 1,000 students and teachers at UN Headquarters, noting that he sent messages on Twitter to involve the whole world in the campaign to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

"Not just political leaders but citizens everywhere  including students like you. You are the future leaders and owners of this planet earth," he said.

Mr. Ban read some of his own reasons for disarming that he tweeted, including: "Because the world is over-armed and peace is under-funded.  Because disarmament contributes to development… And because nukes threaten humankind. Let's get rid of them for good.”

The International Day of Peace was first established by the General Assembly in 1981 as an opportunity for people around the world to promote the resolution of conflict and to observe a cessation of hostilities.

While noting the release of a certain number of political prisoners in Myanmar, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon  called on the authorities to free all those still detained, including opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to further national reconciliation and a democratic transition.

"Following his visit to Myanmar in July, the Secretary-General called on the Myanmar authorities to take credible steps in response to several proposals which he left with the senior leadership, including the release of all political prisoners," Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a statement made available to Correspondents at the UN Headquarters.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), was convicted on 11 August of violating state security laws after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to her home. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has already spent over 12 years under house arrest, was sentenced to a further 18 months of the same punishment.

Immediately after the sentencing, Mr. Ban and the Security Council reiterated their frequent calls for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.

In a related development, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to the leaders of the so-called Group of 20 (G20) industrialized nations to cement their commitment to help the world's most vulnerable who are bearing the brunt of the global economic turmoil.

In his letter to the leaders ahead of their gathering next week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States and which a copy was made available to Journalists in New York, Mr. Ban exhorted them to deliver on the $1.1 trillion pledge especially the $50 million earmarked for the poorest nations - made in London earlier this year

He also called on them to honour their official development assistance (ODA) commitments made in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005, of $155 billion by next year, with over one-third of that allotted for Africa.

Mr. Ban in the letter said that action must be accelerated to achieve the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adding that strides have been made in areas where global investments have been scaled up, including AIDS and tuberculosis, progress is lagging in education, maternal health, smallholder agriculture and basic infrastructure.

The Secretary-General also urged progress on the fight against climate change through the setting up of a fair financing mechanism to provide $250 billion annually by 2020, in addition to ODA.

Meanwhile, the new General Assembly President, Ali Treki of Libya, has reiterated his call for the revitalisation of the 192-member body, saying its decisions should be respected.

"At present only the decisions of the 15-member Security Council are binding.  The majority of countries are in favour asserting the authority of the General Assembly, which represents the world as a whole," he told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

Dr. Treki made a similar call for UN reform when he opened the Assembly's 64th session on Tuesday, and he reiterated today the need to enlarge the Security Council to give it greater world representation.

Asked about his priorities, Dr. Treki cited a long list, beginning with the strengthening of international peace and security, disarmament, human rights, the environment, and climate change.

He also included combating extreme poverty; infectious diseases such as AIDS; achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),which aim to slash a host of social ills by 2015; the economic, financial, food and energy crises; and the question of Palestine.

In addition, Ms Asha-Rose Migiro said that the crises may have long-term consequences, with tens of millions of children suffering from cognitive and physical injury caused by malnutrition as a result of the food and economic crises.

Ms. Migiro warned that the spread of the H1N1 influenza pandemic to countries already devastated by the economic crisis, or the onset of new natural disasters, are among the last straws that may "break the back of overstretched populations and governments."