In progress at UNHQ

Meetings Coverage

13 May 2011

DEV/2895

New Action Programme Vows to Halve Number of Least Developed Countries by 2020, as United Nations Conference Closes in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, 13 May — Slashing by half the list of 48 States with the most extreme poverty and vulnerability to crises is the goal of a new 10-year action plan agreed by the world’s Governments at the conclusion this evening in Istanbul, Turkey, of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

12 May 2011

SC/10250

Kosovo Seems Headed for Period of Greater Political Stability, Secretary-General’s Special Representative Says in Briefing to Security Council

Welcoming the recent start of a much-awaited dialogue between officials in Pristina and Belgrade, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council today that Kosovo had emerged from a constitutional crisis and appeared to be headed towards a period of increased political stability.

12 May 2011

SC/10249

Report on Post-Conflict Civilian Capacity Stresses Stronger National Ownership of Peace Processes, Need to Broaden Experts’ Pool in Security Council Debate

The next generation of United Nations peacebuilding must strengthen national ownership of peace processes, broaden the pool of international expertise and make United Nations support more appropriate, timely and effective, the Security Council heard today as it held a debate on post-conflict civilian capacity.

12 May 2011

GA/AB/3989

Under-Secretary-General for Management Briefs Budget Committee; Says Overall United Nations Financial Situation Improved

The United Nations top management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Organization’s overall financial situation had improved, as the number of Member States that had paid in full as of 10 May 2011 was above the level of a year ago across all funds except for one, the Capital Master Plan.

12 May 2011

ENV/DEV/1211

Commission on Sustainable Development Continues High-Level Segment with Round Tables on Sustainable Consumption, Transport, Chemical Management, Mining

Just one day shy of its anticipated deadline, the Commission on Sustainable Development today heard from experts in four intensive round table meetings, and held subsequent discussions aimed at advancing the adoption tomorrow of a strong outcome document for the Commission’s 2011 policy session.

12 May 2011

DEV/2894

Suffering Will Continue in Least Developed Countries Unless They Unleash Women’s Power to Impact Development, Thematic Debate Hears in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, 12 May — As central managers of families and communities, women held the key to unlocking human development potential, but unless they were equally empowered to access financial, social and health services, and engaged — from the start — in decisions that affected their lives, least developed countries would remain powerless to unleash it, said participants in the last of six high-level thematic debates held during the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

12 May 2011

DEV/2893

‘Here in Istanbul, as Chapter Closes on Brussels, We Have Opportunity to Rewrite Fate of Least Developed Countries,’ Conference Hears

ISTANBUL, 12 May — With negotiators edging towards consensus on the outcome of the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, speakers today used the gathering’s penultimate plenary session to press for a 10-year action plan grounded in sound policies that ensured delivery on past pledges for development assistance and brought down the barriers blocking their paths to economic growth.

11 May 2011

SC/10246

Security Council Urges Somalia’s Governing Institutions to Reach Agreement on Elections, as End of Transitional Period Approaches

Noting that the transitional period in Somalia would end in August, the Security Council today urged the East African nation’s Transitional Federal Institutions to reach agreement as soon as possible on the holding of elections for the President and the Speaker of Parliament. In a statement read out by Gérard Araud (France), its President for May, the Council expressed concern about the discord between the Institutions and its impact on the country’s political processes and security situation.

11 May 2011

ENV/DEV/1209

Twenty Years after Rio Summit, World’s Ecosystems Still Threatened by Unsustainable Consumption, Production, Commission Told as High-Level Segment Opens

Twenty years after participants to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro first recognized that unsustainable consumption and production patterns formed the biggest threat to the Earth’s capacity to satisfy human needs, that challenge continued to loom large and finding a framework to control it must be seen as a strategic priority, the Commission on Sustainable Development was told today, as it opened its three-day high-level segment.

11 May 2011

DEV/2892

Rethinking Approach to Managing Vulnerabilities of Least Developed Countries Focus of Thematic Debate, at Istanbul Conference

ISTANBUL, 11 May — An expert panel at the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries this afternoon considered the unique vulnerabilities of those countries and weighed strategies to help them rise above a raft of complex challenges, including geographical isolation, skyrocketing food prices, global warming, and lack of access to clean water.