WASHINGTON -- Jim Yong Kim, the new head of the World Bank, warned Wednesday that almost all areas of the world will be affected by the ongoing European financial crisis.

"To put it starkly, what's happening in Europe today affects the fisherman in Senegal and the software programmer in India," Kim said in his speech at the Brookings Institution. "Therefore, it is urgent that European countries take all necessary measures to restore stability."

It was his first public speech since take office July 1.

Kim, a Korean-born physician, stressed the importance of boosting prosperity and eradicating poverty worldwide -- the main mission of his institution, with 188 member states.

He called on South Korea and other emerging markets to take on a greater role in financing development as their contributions to global growth.

"Even as an unprecedented number of people in the developing world are ascending into the middle class, segments of the poorest populations are being left behind, and other segments of the middle class are at risk of falling back into poverty," he said. (Yonhap News)