World Bulletin/News Desk

United Nation (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim stated on Friday that they will pay a visit to several African states between November 4-7 in order to draw attention to the economic and security problems in the continent. 

"It is time to provide good job opportunities and access to safe and quality health and education services," Kim told reporters in UN Headquarters in New York, speaking via video link from Washington, at a joint press conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban said that conflicts and crisis in the Sahel Region needed serious efforts to be resolved, adding that 11 million people living there experienced a harsh famine and more than 5 million children under the age of 5 face malnutrition.

They will reportedly visit Mali on November 5, Niger on November 6, Burkina Faso and Chad on November 7.

The two officials have paid a visit to the Great Lakes Region in Africa in May this year. This will be their second visit to Africa. 

Ban and Kim will be accompanied by African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, African Development Bank Donal Karebuka and European Union Commissary of Development Andris Piebalgs.