With the world still deep in the grip of COVID‑19, many countries find themselves no more than a crisis or two away from sliding into conflict, speakers warned today during a virtual joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding Commission that focused on ways to forge solidarity and develop conflict-sensitive responses to the worst global pandemic in a century.
In progress at UNHQ
Economic and Social Council: Meetings Coverage
The Economic and Social Council, holding the first plenary meeting of its 2021 session in the General Assembly Hall today, adopted four resolutions and one decision, took note of more than 50 texts adopted by the silence procedure during COVID-19-related restrictions at Headquarters and filled subsidiary body vacancies, but failed to agree on a draft ministerial declaration on sustainable development ahead of the Decade of Action on achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Commission on the Status of Women opened its sixty-fourth session today, adopting a political declaration commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which together offer the world’s most progressive blueprint for achieving gender equality.
The Commission for Social Development concluded its fifty-eighth session today, forwarding three resolutions — including the first-ever text on homelessness to be approved by a United Nations intergovernmental body – to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.
From income-linked caps on rents and homebuilding incentives to the power of sport to affect change, speakers today put forward a range of potential solutions to the complex and global challenge of homelessness, as the Commission for Social Development concluded the general debate of its fifty-eighth session.
The legacies of conflict, colonialism and a lopsided global financial system took centre stage as drivers of inequality — and in turn, homelessness — as the Commission for Social Development continued its general discussion today.
Tackling homelessness throughout the world means tackling social issues as vast and varied as income inequality, housing shortages, racism and women’s empowerment, the Commission for Social Development heard today, as speakers who have personally experienced homelessness shared their thoughts with Member States and representatives of non-governmental organizations on the third day of its fifty-eighth session.
Despite development strides which have lifted more than 1 billion people out of poverty in recent decades, soaring inequality and exclusion continue to pose challenges around the globe, delegates heard today, as the Commission on Social Development continued its fifty-eighth session.
Homelessness is a global problem that affects people in both developed and developing countries, regardless of economic, social and cultural backgrounds, and addressing it in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will require both innovative policies and inclusive partnerships, the Commission on Social Development heard today as it opened its fifty-eighth session.
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) concluded the first part of its 2020 session today, adopting a report that contains the results of its substantive work in recent weeks, including its decision to recommend 274 groups for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.