Economic and Social Council: Meetings Coverage

The President of the Economic and Social Council today outlined the arrangements for the 54-member body’s annual Philanthropy event set to take place Monday, 27 February.

In a brief meeting today, the Commission for Social Development considered a proposed programme of work for the Division for Social Policy and Development for the biennium 2014-2015, which was to be “more precise, transparent, and measurable” than in previous years.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to 10 applicants from a range of fields, including art education, the elderly and penal reform, and removed 20 applicants from its list of consideration, while approving name change requests from another dozen applicants.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued consideration of its lengthy list of groups seeking status with the Economic and Social Council, recommending 11 organizations for special consultative status, while postponing consideration of 19 others, pending receipt of additional information from a variety of applicants ranging from an emergency medical service unit to trustees of a major United States university.

Adopting its 2012 work programme today, the Economic and Social Council approved the organizational arrangements for its substantive session — to be held in New York from 2 to 27 July — setting the stage for discussions at Headquarters on a range of critical themes, from creating decent jobs to assessing the impact of the financial crisis and bolstering development cooperation.

Speakers in the Commission for Social Development stressed today the importance of tackling youth unemployment, which was one of the main drivers of mass protests around the world, affecting both developed and developing countries. While youth had previously been disproportionately affected by unemployment, the current crises and trends had exacerbated the severity of the problem, they said.

Starting the second week of its 2012 substantive session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommend special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for seven organizations, and roster status for another, while postponing consideration of 20 other applications, pending receipt of additional information from the civil society groups.

Sidelined for too long, the rights of people with disabilities must be fully integrated into the development policy road maps to be hammered out at the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and at next year’s General Assembly High-level Meeting on Disability and Development, Shuaib Chalklen, Special Rapporteur on Disability, told the Commission for Social Development today.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) today recommended special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for four organizations and general consultative status for two others, while postponing consideration of 16 other applications pending receipt of additional information from the civil society groups.

Decent and productive employment — coupled with safety nets for protecting the most vulnerable — should be at the core of efforts to eradicate poverty, speakers said today as the Commission for Social Development continued its general debate, while warning that global economic woes now threatened the very existence of such initiatives.