Meetings Coverage

The engagement of young people in shaping the global development agenda was critical, as they were the leaders of the present era, senior United Nations officials told the Economic and Social Council’s two-day Youth Forum today, which convened under the theme “#Youth2015: Realizing the future they want.”

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard the introduction of a draft resolution on the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for the 2014/15 fiscal year, but failed to take action on the text.

The Security Council expressed its disappointment and concern that the election of a new President of Lebanon did not take place within the constitutional time frame.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) for one year and expanded it to include support to the Federal Government and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) by providing strategic policy advice on peacebuilding and State-building, including in the lead-up to elections in 2016.

The Security Council voted unanimously to extend by six months the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, stressing that the consolidation of peace and stability could only result from a consensual, inclusive and nationally owned transition process.

The Security Council today unanimously voted to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei for four months, until 15 October, calling on the communities and Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to work with the United Nations towards resumed community dialogue and administration, under the supervision of a joint oversight body.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) would need $313 million to meet its immediate and essential start-up costs for the period from 10 April 2014 to year-end, a senior United Nations official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.

Concluding the Economic and Social Council’s first-ever integration segment today, a wide range of stakeholders — ranging from United Nations agencies and local authority groups to civil society organizations and slum dwellers — tackled the complex question of sustainable urban planning.

Despite hope for a “new chapter” for Ukraine after Sunday’s presidential elections, violence continued and deadly fighting peppered towns in the east, with the Secretary-General calling for the release of international monitors and appealing to all with influence to assist, Security Council members heard today.