Reform of the United Nations development system has strengthened cooperation, coordination and collaboration among its member agencies worldwide despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but more must be done and faster to address such challenges as poverty, migration and climate change, speakers told the Economic and Social Council as it continued its segment on operational activities for development.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Economic and Social Council Operational Activities segment, today:
Countries must up the ante on development cooperation, which is vital to tackle the dual challenge of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and fighting climate change, speakers said today as the Economic and Social Council concluded a two-day forum on the subject.
The global COVID-19 pandemic is testing international development cooperation like never before, magnifying existing challenges, but also creating a unique opportunity to embrace risk-informed approaches in the final push towards the Sustainable Development Goals, speakers said today as the 2021 high-level meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum got under way.
The sixth annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals concluded today with panel discussions focusing on emerging trends and challenges, as well as the Technology Facilitation Mechanism established by the United Nations to support implementation of the Goals.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Maria Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, to the Economic and Social Council Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, held today:
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of science and technology for the well-being of global populations, and advances in these fields are necessary not only to recover better from the crisis, but also to address other global challenges, such as poverty, inequality and climate change, speakers said today as the Economic and Social Council opened a two-day forum on the subject.
The United Nations is best positioned to rally a broad range of stakeholders behind efforts to address such global challenges as conflict, underdevelopment, climate change, and most recently the coronavirus pandemic, speakers told the Partnership Forum today, stressing that such an inclusive alliance can be a “game changer” for sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The international community must join forces to finally end the offshore tax havens and policy loopholes that are draining billions of dollars needed to advance sustainable development and recover from the COVID-19 crisis, experts stressed today as the Economic and Social Council held its annual Special Meeting on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.
With the number of new COVID-19 cases around the world nearly doubling over the past two months — approaching the highest infection rate observed during the pandemic — the unequal distribution of vaccines is not only a moral outrage, but economically and epidemiologically self-defeating, the head of the United Nations health agency told a special ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council today.
