Economic and Social Council

The President of the Economic and Social Council today outlined the arrangements for the 54-member body’s annual Philanthropy event set to take place Monday, 27 February.

In a brief meeting today, the Commission for Social Development considered a proposed programme of work for the Division for Social Policy and Development for the biennium 2014-2015, which was to be “more precise, transparent, and measurable” than in previous years.

Everyday people — from a Japanese oyster fisherman cultivating his business by planting trees in an estuary devastated by the 2011 tsunami, to two Michigan teenagers campaigning to ensure Girl Scout cookies and other palm oil-based products were deforestation-free — were among the panellists sharing their grass-roots approaches to forest preservation at a Headquarters press conference today.

People who have made special contributions towards protecting forests and forest communities will receive the Forest Heroes Award at a special ceremony hosted by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat to mark the conclusion of the International Year of Forests, on 9 February at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to 10 applicants from a range of fields, including art education, the elderly and penal reform, and removed 20 applicants from its list of consideration, while approving name change requests from another dozen applicants.

Adopting its 2012 work programme today, the Economic and Social Council approved the organizational arrangements for its substantive session — to be held in New York from 2 to 27 July — setting the stage for discussions at Headquarters on a range of critical themes, from creating decent jobs to assessing the impact of the financial crisis and bolstering development cooperation.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued consideration of its lengthy list of groups seeking status with the Economic and Social Council, recommending 11 organizations for special consultative status, while postponing consideration of 19 others, pending receipt of additional information from a variety of applicants ranging from an emergency medical service unit to trustees of a major United States university.

Starting the second week of its 2012 substantive session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommend special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for seven organizations, and roster status for another, while postponing consideration of 20 other applications, pending receipt of additional information from the civil society groups.

Speakers in the Commission for Social Development stressed today the importance of tackling youth unemployment, which was one of the main drivers of mass protests around the world, affecting both developed and developing countries. While youth had previously been disproportionately affected by unemployment, the current crises and trends had exacerbated the severity of the problem, they said.

Young people around the world are deeply concerned about a lack of job opportunities and are calling for increased investment in that area, according to the latest World Youth Report, issued today by the United Nations. In the aftermath of the economic crisis, the global youth unemployment rate saw its largest annual increase on record in 2009, resulting in around 75.8 million unemployed youth.