After meeting with the House Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Representative Howard Berman, Mr. Ban took part in a working breakfast this morning where he spoke about United Nations reform, in particular the restructuring of support for peacekeeping.

The US still owes some $1 billion to the world body, the Secretary-General pointed out. While the nation generously supports the UN’s work, “we cannot do the work you ask us to do without the resources to get the job done,” he said.

Other topics discussed included Afghanistan, Haiti, Sudan, Gaza and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Somalia, climate change, human rights and the upcoming UN conference on intolerance, racial hatred and discrimination, as well as next month’s meeting of the so-called Group of 20 (G20) nations.

Mr. Ban also held talks with Senator John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with climate change, Gaza and US arrears to the UN being among the main issues discussed.

Later today, the Secretary-General will meet with other members of that committee, as well as with the House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce before wrapping up his trip and returning to New York.

Yesterday, he and Mr. Obama discussed the potential for stepped up US-UN cooperation on a host of issues.

“The United Nations and the United States share common visions and objectives for peace, stability, development and human rights,” Mr. Ban told reporters after the meeting at the White House.

Calling 2009 a “make-or-break” year, he said that collaboration is essential to address various crises to turn this year into a “make-it-work” one, “full of optimism and resolution.”

Mr. Ban and Mr. Obama jointly called for strengthening efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight ambitious anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, noting that strides can be made even in a difficult economic climate.

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Ban, President Obama discuss boosting US-UN cooperation