Ahead of the World Bank's Spring Meetings here this week, government ministers from almost 40 developing countries are meeting with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, UK International Development Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell, Chair of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation HRH the Prince of Orange, and major donors and water and sanitation sector organizations, to discuss speeding up global access to water and sanitation.

Low-cost solar panels and solar batteries will be provided to poor communities in 14 countries in Africa and Asia in the next four years, the UN Development Programme said Thursday.

A total of 33 million people in the 14 countries will be able to make use of solar energy for commercial businesses and economic development, using the solar panels to be developed by a Mauritius-based company called ToughStuff, UNDP said.

Several animal species including gorillas in Rwanda and tigers in Bangladesh could risk extinction if the impact of climate change and extreme weather on their habitats is not addressed, a U.N. report showed on Sunday.

Launched on the sidelines of global climate negotiations in Durban, the report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation shows how higher temperatures, the rise in sea levels, deforestation and excessive land use have damaged the habitats of certain species, especially in Africa.

Rainfall patterns in southern Africa are becoming erratic as climate change takes its toll, threatening long-term production of staple and cash crops in the region.

Countries like South Africa, Zambia and Malawi have enjoyed bumper harvests of their staple maize crop in recent years, ensuring food security in a region which has often known hunger.

But farmers, who for centuries have known when to expect summer rains, are now finding planning difficult.

The number of young children who die each day has plunged over the past two decades, new United Nations figures show, but the world is still lagging far behind in efforts to achieve its target for reducing child mortality.

Child mortality rates are dropping in every region of the world, including the area with the highest number of under-five fatalities, sub-Saharan Africa, where the rate of the decline has even accelerated in recent years.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki set fire to five tonnes of contraband ivory on Wednesday, a symbol of his and Africa's renewed commitment to fight poaching.

Elephant numbers had started to recover after the ivory trade was banned in 1990, but observers say the rising wealth of east Asian countries has caused a price and demand spike in recent years.

Mirroring a ceremony by former Kenyan presid