Economic and Social Council

Bretton Woods institutions are playing a crucial role in ensuring financial stability and promoting development, their representatives said today, even as some speakers expressed concern about their private-sector-first approach.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the 2025 Economic and Social Council forum on financing for development follow-up, in New York today:

With two months to go before world leaders meet in Seville to discuss financing for development, speakers at an Economic and Social Council forum on that topic put forth an urgent call for global cooperation in restructuring debt and revitalizing international trade.

The Economic and Social Council concludes its Youth Forum today.

The Economic and Social Council continued its Youth Forum today.

Youth are leading the charge in solving development challenges — driving innovation, demanding accountability and building more inclusive and sustainable futures — even as they face rising conflicts, soaring unemployment, escalating climate crisis and a widening digital divide, the Economic and Social Council heard today as it opened its Youth Forum.

Overstretched, underfunded health systems that cannot meet the needs of the most vulnerable are undermining gains made towards sustainable development, the Commission on Population and Development heard today as it entered the third day of its current session.

Development cooperation must not retreat when the world needs it the most; rather, it must become more equitable, impactful and country-led, the biannual Forum on that topic heard today.

The Forum, held today at UN Headquarters in New York, serves as a key platform for engaging a wide range of actors in the work of the Council and the High-Level Political Forum. 

Concerned about worsening global humanitarian and economic crises, natural and man-made disasters, threats to international peace and security and the effects of climate change on forced migration and food production, the General Assembly today took action on several resolutions addressing these issues.