Meetings Coverage

Severe austerity measures, weak policies and a dearth of jobs were constraining efforts to reduce poverty and to trigger real recovery from economic crisis and sustainable “green” growth, the Economic and Social Council heard today as it concluded its special high-level meeting with international financial and trade institutions.

In overcoming the challenges posed by the dramatic changes in the Middle East and North Africa, strict commitment to political reform and inclusiveness were needed, as well as an international change in attitude towards the Arab world, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in a meeting addressed by Government ministers and other high-level officials this morning.

The Security Council this morning extended the authorization for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for one year, with a modified mandate subject to review within six months, while also adjusting the sanctions regime imposed on the country at the start of last year’s civil war.

There was a real will to strengthen democratic institutions in the Dominican Republic so that they fully guaranteed the rule of law and genuinely defended fundamental human rights and freedoms, Héctor Virgilio Alcántara Mejía, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, told the Human Rights Committee today, as it opened its 104th session.

In light of new global challenges such as massive unemployment and climate change, the Economic and Social Council focused today on new strategies to overcome them in the areas of coherence, coordination and cooperation in the context of financing for development.

The Commission on the Status of Women today sent a strong message to ensure that gender equality was woven tightly into a blanket of initiatives spanning armed conflict to natural disaster assistance, as it approved seven draft texts, one by recorded vote, to be sent to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.

Meeting this morning on the penultimate day of its fifty-sixth annual session, the Commission on the Status of Women heard introductions of a number of draft texts — tackling topics ranging from the particular needs of indigenous women to the release of women and children hostages — on which the body was expected to take action tomorrow.

The Special Representative for the Secretary-General in Haiti told the Security Council this morning that progress in security conditions and rule of law institutions allowed the planned drawdown of the United Nations Mission to proceed, although he was deeply concerned over the political tensions that resulted in the recent resignation of the Prime Minister and said it could threaten the progress of the country to democracy.

As post-revolution Libya began to undo its authoritarian past and piece together a democratic future, the top United Nations official in the North African country today urged the Security Council to support the creation of a compact, flexible United Nations mission that could respond effectively to the priorities set by the Libyan Government and help ensure a genuine role for women and youth in the transition process.

Since young people had great ideas, but trouble implementing them, the United Nations should lead by example, allowing those under age 16 to take part in conferences, the Commission on the Status of Women heard during a lively interactive panel discussion today on engaging youth to advance gender equality.