Blog

The UN Forum on Forests will begin its twenty-first session, which will run from 11 to 15 May. In the morning, the Forum Chair, Economic and Social Council President, President of the General Assembly and Assistant-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs will make opening remarks. The launch of the Global Forest Goals Report 2026 will follow.

At 10 a.m., the Security Council will hold a debate on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with High Representative Christian Schmidt expected to brief on the latest report of his office.

The Security Council meets on the United Nations Interim Force in Abyei.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meets on the UN financial situation.

The two-day Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, held 6-7 May, will focus on the theme "Transformative, equitable and coordinated science, technology and innovation for the 2030 Agenda and a sustainable future for all”. In the morning, Economic and Social Council President Lok Bahadur Thapa and Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Bjørg Sandkjær will make opening remarks. Wednesday will feature a ministerial session under the theme “Strengthening the science-policy nexus to drive sustainable development” and a session on "Transforming water systems with science, technology and innovation".

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) will begin the second part of its resumed session from 4 to29 May with a discussion on its organization of work for the session: A/C.5/80/L.31. Afterwards, it consider the Board of Auditor's reports on UN peacekeeping operations as well as various reports related to the administrative & budgetary aspects of financing peacekeeping operations, namely: the support account; Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda; United Nations Logistics Base; closed peacekeeping operations and financing of current peacekeeping.

At 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 May, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will conclude its twenty-fifth session. The two-week session - which opened on 20 April and featured an address by Secretary-General António Guterres - has focused on the theme “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict”. The Forum - a high-level advisory body of the Economic and Social Council - was established in 2000 by resolution 2000/22, with the mandate to address Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

The Security Council will convene for an open briefing under the agenda item “Non-proliferation", concerning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The meeting was requested by Council members Bahrain, Denmark, France, Latvia, the UK, and the US, as well as non-Council members Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's “continued violations of multiple Security Council resolutions” two years after the disbandment of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 Sanctions Committee. UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and James Byrne, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open Source Centre, are expected to brief.

At 3 p.m., the Security Council will take action on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which is set to expire today. Today's vote follows a 17 April briefing by Anita Kiki Gbeho, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for South Sudan and Head of UNMISS, who described a 25-30 per cent reduction in the mission's operational capacity; and Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who reported that two thirds of South Sudan's population requires aid.

The eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), from 27 April to 22 May, will convene at a time of heightened international tension and armed conflict.