Meetings Coverage

Six months after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Port-au-Prince and left some 1.6 million Haitians homeless, less than 2 per cent of the $10 billion pledged to help rebuild the country had been received, according to the Haitian Government’s Special Envoy to the Secretary-General, who addressed the Economic and Social Council today in a joint event of its operational and humanitarian segments, on transitioning from relief to development in the Caribbean nation.

In an effort to raise awareness of the role women could play in maintaining peace and security around the world, the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged Committee members to use the forty-sixth session, opening today, to recognize the tenth anniversary of the Security Council’s landmark resolution on women, peace and security.

Despite progress, crucial elements still needed to be put in place for an Iraqi national mechanism to replace the fund that funnels the country’s export revenues towards development needs and international obligations, Jun Yamazaki, United Nations Controller, told the Security Council this morning.

Enhanced coordination was essential not only for the United Nations system to provide quality support for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals at the national level, but also to streamline relevant efforts, avoid duplication, lower transaction costs, and simplify reporting methods, senior officials from the world body’s funds and programmes stressed today, as the Economic and Social Council continued its operational activities segment.

The Security Council today condemned the attack which led to the sinking of the Republic of Korea naval ship "Cheonan" off the coast of the Korean peninsula on 26 March, with the loss of 46 lives.

Reaffirming that everyone should enjoy the human right to education, the General Assembly this afternoon called on Member States to ensure that right for all affected populations in all phases of emergency situations, and urged them to implement strategies and policies towards that goal as integral to humanitarian responses.

The demands of least-developed, developing and middle-income countries required a broad mix of capacities from the United Nations, and the Organization had to evolve in its response to such new and unique needs, national policymakers stressed today as the Economic and Social Council weighed efforts to improve overall development cooperation.

Globalization had created a complex interdependence across countries, with many developing nations emerging as powerful players on the world stage, and there was now an urgent need to reflect those changes in the structures and practices of global economic governance, delegates stressed today as the Economic and Social Council continued consideration of those and related issues on day three of its coordination segment.

Opening a day-long debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council that it must broaden its focus to both causative and normative factors in order to address a “huge common challenge”, as non-combatants remained targeted around the world.

With the world economy still reeling from the profound repercussions of the global economic crisis, which had rocked financial markets in the North and threatened to reverse recent gains in developing countries, the Economic and Social Council today examined the United Nations short- and long-term response, which was seen as critical to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.