UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will host a two-day meeting bringing together the heads of 14 major international organizations and groups to discuss international peace and security.

The meeting is scheduled for January 11 and 12 in New York under the title "Cooperating in Times of Crisis," said Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"The focus of the meeting will be to assess recent experiences and explore new avenues for cooperation across disciplines ranging from peacemaking and conflict prevention, to peacekeeping and crisis management," he added.

Ban has invited the heads of organizations including the African Union, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Arab League, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), NATO, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Also invited is Joao Vale de Almeida, the director of external relations for the European Commission, and the commission president's representative to the G8 and G20.

"The Security Council is also recognizing the critical importance of this issue," Nesirky added.

China, which holds the council's rotating presidency in January, has already planned a thematic debate on the issues of cooperation between the UN and other organizations that will follow Ban's meeting on January 13.