Economic and Social Council: Meetings Coverage

The Commission for Social Development continued its annual session today with a ministerial forum examining how national policies can translate commitments made in both Copenhagen and Doha into reality.

As global inequalities deepen, speakers opening the Commission for Social Development’s annual session said social development and social justice are central — far from secondary — concerns and called for coordinated action to translate commitments into tangible change.

“Raw power” is testing the resilience of multilateralism, the UN’s Deputy Chief warned the Economic and Social Council today, urging Member States to “double down and deliver” concrete action to unlock financing for development, ease debt burdens and accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Amid mounting global tumult, meeting sustainable development targets will only be possible if Governments, civil society and the private sector share both tools and resources in defence of the world’s most vulnerable, officials told the Economic and Social Council’s annual Partnership Forum today.

The Economic and Social Council today adopted without a vote a resolution concerning the Commission on the Status of Women, even as many delegates regretted that the text missed opportunities for a genuine revitalization of that body.

The Economic and Social Council commenced its 2026 session today, and as Canada handed its presidency to Nepal, speakers pointed to the important role that the organ must play in responding to the myriad challenges of the moment.

Following panel discussions on how the United Nations and its Member States can advance multilateral cooperation in a changing world, the Economic and Social Council today concluded its high-level segment with the adoption of a ministerial declaration in which world leaders pledged to “reach the furthest behind first”.

Amid growing inequality, escalating climate threats, persistent poverty, and widening digital divides, world leaders today warned that sustainable development remains critically off track — underscored by a staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap. At the conclusion of the High-level Political Forum held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, Member States adopted a ministerial declaration reaffirming the international community’s unwavering commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While trumpeting the virtues of multilateralism, speakers in the Economic and Social Council’s high-level segment today warned that the principle is under attack as conflict and one-sided economic policies threaten to obstruct — or, in some cases, reverse — development gains as 2030 draws near.

With just five years remaining to meet the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress is uneven — and in many areas, dangerously off track — amid shrinking national budgets, rising nationalism, and trade-disrupting tariffs, speakers warned today at the opening of the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council.