Economic and Social Council

Meeting briefly in a resumed organizational session today, the Economic and Social Council this morning adopted its theme for an upcoming event on transition from relief to development, considered outstanding vacancies on two of its subsidiary bodies, and heard a briefing on the work of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination.

The Commission on Population and Development, adopting a consensus resolution as it closed its forty-sixth session late in the evening, called on States to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants and to take a comprehensive and balanced approach to the increasingly complex issue of migration.

Resuming its 2013 organizational session, the Economic and Social Council met this morning to hold elections to fill vacant seats in its subsidiary bodies and adopt themes for some items of its upcoming substantive session.

Advances in science and technology not only improved living conditions in both developed and developing countries, but enhanced the lives of migrants and enabled progress towards internationally agreed development goals, a senior official of the Economic and Social Council told Population and Development Commission members in today’s session.

The increasingly complex movement of international migrants — who now flowed circuitously between countries, bringing with them skills, ideas and capital — had a profound impact on families and communities around the world, declared speakers today as the Commission on Population and Development continued its forty-sixth session.

Market solutions alone were not enough to handle the problems caused by excessive sovereign debt, a Nobel Prize-winning economist told delegates at a special meeting of the Economic and Social Council today.

The dual face of migration, providing wide-ranging opportunities for development but also dangers, was emphasized today as delegates in the Commission on Population and Development shared their national experiences on a broad array of trends in the demographics of migration.

Harnessing the rapidly evolving opportunities presented by migration must be a key component of the post-2015 development agenda, speakers emphasized today as the Commission on Population and Development opened its forty-sixth annual session.

Amid sluggish global growth and declining aid flows, financing sustainable development would require significant funding from various sources, and the Economic and Social Council could play a crucial role in promoting a “forward-looking” development agenda to foster transformative change beyond 2015, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said today, as the 54-member body convened its annual high-level meeting with international finance and trade institutions.

On 23 and 24 April, at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, a forum on partnerships and a special dialogue highlighting the role for philanthropy in the post-2015 agenda will be held. Keynote speakers will include United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim.