Economic and Social Council: Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly today adopted several texts, including one that urged Member States to strengthen health systems towards the provision of equitable universal health coverage.

The United Nations Forum on Forests concluded its twenty-first session today, adopting its omnibus resolution emphasizing the urgent need to accelerate implementation of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests and its six Global Forest Goals by 2030.

With the window to 2030 “narrowing”, the United Nations Forum on Forests opened its twenty-first session by launching the Global Forest Goals Report 2026, calling for faster action, stronger partnerships and scaled-up resources to keep agreed forest commitments within reach.

Safeguard open access for emerging technologies, leading scientists from around the world underscored today at a United Nations forum on how their work can support development.

The crucial question about artificial intelligence is not how powerful it is, but who it is being designed for, the United Nations heard today from a scientist whose life and work experience spans multiple continents.

The largest global gathering of Indigenous Peoples concluded its annual session at the United Nations today, adopting a number of recommendations, one of which drew attention to how Indigenous Peoples’ health is “cultural, collective and rooted in ancestral territories, languages, spiritual practices and governance systems”.

The Economic and Social Council’s Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up concluded today with Member States reaffirming the 2025 Sevilla Commitment as the renewed global framework for financing sustainable development and for closing the estimated $4 trillion annual financing gap.

The Forum on Financing for Development continued its session today with speakers emphasizing that unlocking private capital for sustainable development will depend on reducing perceived risk, strengthening domestic financial systems and ensuring that financing reaches local economies and communities.

The Forum on Financing for Development continued its session today with speakers warning that a tightening “finance squeeze” and a more fragmented global economy are narrowing fiscal space for developing countries.

With debt‑service burdens in developing countries at a 20‑year high in 2024 and official development assistance (ODA) falling by 23 per cent in 2025, United Nations senior officials and ministers from Member States underscored the urgency of translating commitments into action under the Sevilla Commitment — the global blueprint for financing sustainable development — as the 2026 Financing for Development Forum opened.