The United Nations (UN) has pledged that it, along with its partners, would "spare no effort to address the challenges resulting from piracy."
The UN's under-secretary general for political affairs B Lynne Pascoe made the promise in a letter to ITF general secretary David Cockroft and president of the International Shipping Federation (ISF) Spyros Polemis on 19 October. It was written on behalf of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
The letter is a response to the 13 organisations that last month jointly presented a petition to the International Maritime Organization, a specialised agency of the UN, containing almost one million signatures demanding action on piracy. The petition was part of an ongoing international campaign against piracy, backed by the shipping industry, the ITF and trade unions worldwide.
"We welcome the secretary general's assurance, and hope that what we are being promised here is real action following his report to the UN Security Council this month," said ITF general secretary, David Cockroft.
