Economic and Social Council

Closing its forty-eighth session this evening, the Commission on Population and Development failed to adopt a draft resolution that had been prepared by its Chair after several days and nights of intense negotiations.

The impact of conflict and natural disasters and the often resulting flows of refugees and displaced persons must be included when considering contemporary population trends and transitions and their integration into the new development agenda, the Commission on Population and Development heard today.

Integrating population issues into sustainable development was inevitable if new goals were to be achieved, experts and delegates said in an exploration of holistic approaches towards that end, as the Commission on Population and Development continued its forty-eighth session.

Addressing the needs and rights of today’s youth must be at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda, the Commission on Population and Development heard today as it continued its session, with some speakers declaring that young people should be both the chief beneficiary and the driving force behind the new plan.

In a quest to reach agreement on the population issues that were central to defining and implementing a post-2015 vision for sustainable development, the Commission on Population and Development opened its forty-eighth session today under the theme, “Realizing the future we want:  integrating population issues into sustainable development, including in the new agenda”.

Concluding the first of its Coordination and Management meetings for 2015, the Economic and Social Council today elected 17 members to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality for three-year terms, beginning 1 January 2016.

The Economic and Social Council today postponed the election of 17 members to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women, to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2016, for procedural reasons.

The Economic and Social Council today opened the first of a series of coordination and management meetings in its 2015 session, adopting without a vote a resolution recognizing the “unprecedented” window of opportunity to combat HIV/AIDS, as well as three decisions put forward by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations.

Speakers at the Economic and Social Council drew attention today to the multidimensional nature of the challenge of generating equitable and inclusive employment opportunities as part of achieving sustainable global development, as that body concluded its 2015 integration segment.

In three interactive panel discussions today, the Economic and Social Council looked at how climate change challenges could be met through creating decent jobs, how dignity and prosperity could become the norm for working people, and how policies could translate sustained economic growth in Africa into “broad-based and job-rich outcomes” towards inclusive sustainable development.