Meetings Coverage

While some advances had been made for women, true change would require the participation of men and boys to challenge dynamics at the personal and professional levels, the Commission on the Status of Women heard today.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 16 March — Speakers in Sendai today called for a paradigm shift to avert the calamitous effects of disasters from a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach that drew on contributions from local leaders and communities, districts and villages, during a discussion titled “Governing Disaster Risk:  Overcoming Challenges”.

Welcoming the completion of the transition process in Afghanistan and the launch of its 2015-2024 Transformation Decade, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in that country (UNAMA) for another year, until 17 March 2016, until and decided that it and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative would continue to lead and coordinate international civilian efforts on achieving established priorities.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 15 March — Building back better after earthquakes, cyclones and other destructive forces and international cooperation in reducing harm from future crises were the focus of high-level discussions today in Sendai, Japan, as the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction continued.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 14 March — “Sustainability starts in Sendai,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared at the opening of the Third World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, asserting the largest-ever high-level meeting on the subject was “the first stop on our journey to a new future”.

Concluding its 2015 session, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations adopted without a vote Friday evening the draft report of the session, laying out the proposals, recommendations and conclusions submitted by its Working Group of the Whole on a wide range of peacekeeping issues.

Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today expressed concerns about the costs and efficacy of implementing a flexible workplace environment at United Nations Headquarters and welcomed the development of a long-term capital maintenance programme for the Organization as they scrutinized the Secretary-General’s proposals on both topics.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment must be at the heart of efforts to address the world’s most critical emerging challenges, including climate change, delegates told the Commission on the Status of Women today.

The plight of women in situations of armed conflict should remain at the forefront of the international community’s agenda, the Commission on the Status of Women heard today as it continued its general debate.

Opening their ninth session, members of the Peacebuilding Commission’s Organizational Committee today elected that body’s 2015 bureau and chairs of its country configurations, as well as discussed its goals for the coming year.