The voices of the truly marginalized must be incorporated into public policymaking, the high-level political forum on sustainable development heard today during its consideration of the role of civil society in post COVID-19 recovery and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The General Assembly was unable this afternoon to elect either the Russian Federation or North Macedonia to sit on the United Nations Economic and Social Council, despite running through five rounds of voting. As neither of the two States obtained the two-thirds majority required to be elected, the General Assembly postponed the continuation of the process to a later date, while also adopting a resolution on strengthening connectivity between Central Asia and South Asia.
Buoyed by the endurance of a truce in Yemen that expires in three weeks, yet concerned with the country’s deepening humanitarian crisis, the United Nations top official for the country told the Security Council he would push to extend and bolster the truce as speakers stressed the importance of opening roads around the city of Taïz and ensuring adequate funding of United Nations humanitarian programmes.
With agricultural expansion driving 90 per cent of global forest loss and risk of species extinction growing at an unprecedented rate, speakers in the high-level political forum on sustainable development today called for rebalancing the relationship between humans and nature, exploring ways to better protect terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and land resources on a large, impactful scale.
Calls to achieve gender equality and preserve the ocean’s vast marine resources dominated the high-level political forum on sustainable development today, as delegates explored the myriad policy, legal, financial and environmental reforms needed to jump-start a holistic transformation of their countries emerging from the COVID-19 crisis, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and create a world that supports all people.
Despite positive political developments in West Africa and the Sahel — including recent elections in the Gambia and Senegal — the Security Council heard today that a series of coups d’état requires strengthened State institutions and a return to constitutional order to consolidate democratic gains, as members also highlighted proliferating terrorist activity and urged increased support for regional security arrangements to address persistent insecurity.
Temporary school closures during the COVID-19 crisis left 1.6 billion children unable to learn — 91 per cent of students worldwide — including nearly 369 million who rely on school meals for daily nutrition, speakers in the high-level political forum on sustainable development stressed today, as they called for the wholesale transformation of education systems towards those that place student needs at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
With food prices at near record highs, rising energy costs triggering fuel shortages and the financial squeeze induced by COVID-19 limiting the ability of the world’s least developed countries to bounce back, Governments must act now to save lives and foster holistic change across their societies, speakers stressed today as the Economic and Social Council high-level political forum opened its 2022 session.
LISBON, 1 July — The 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference concluded today with world leaders adopting an action-oriented Political Declaration to save the ocean from existing and future threats, including marine pollution, harmful fishing practices, biodiversity loss, and acidification.
