Economic and Social Council

A vastly altered development landscape had evolved since adoption of the Millennium Development Goals nearly 15 years ago, mandating the United Nations to adapt by building on its core strengths: its universal presence, legitimacy and quality of expertise, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Economic and Social Council today.

The Economic and Social Council this afternoon unanimously adopted its programme of work for 2014, as orally revised. It elected a member of its Bureau and appointed a member of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti.

Pledging support for the new organizational and institutional structure of the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations top economic and social affairs official today said it would bolster that body’s capacity to fortify the ambitious global post-2015 development agenda.

Describing the Sustainable Development Goals and post-2015 agenda “at the very heart” of the work of the United Nations, Martin Sajdik (Austria), speaking at a Headquarters press conference in his new role as President of the Economic and Social Council, said it was a time of great transition, including with regard to the Council’s own structural reforms.

Resuming its substantive session today, the Economic and Social Council adopted a draft ministerial declaration of its 2013 high-level segment and two draft decisions, and filled a vacancy on its Peacebuilding Commission.

Resuming its 2013 substantive session, the Economic and Social Council met this morning to fill vacant seats in its subsidiary bodies and to take action on draft proposals.

The Commission on Sustainable Development had helped to shape the global agenda for the twenty-first century, its Chairperson said today as the body held its final session, 20 years after its inception.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations met briefly this morning to adopt, as orally revised, the report of its 2013 resumed session, held from 20 to 29 May, during which it recommended to the Economic and Social Council 161 such organizations for consultative status and deferred 219 for further consideration at its regular session in 2014.

In a call to action, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues approved a draft decision today recommending that the Economic and Social Council rename it as the “Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, at the close of a two-week session marked by a dynamic effort to preserve those peoples’ identity, ensure their rights and secure a fully fledged place on the global stage.

The international community’s attention to indigenous peoples appears to be waning, and, after 12 years of existence, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues might be experiencing “fatigue”, the expert body heard today as it wrapped up its substantive work on the penultimate day of its twelfth session.