Economic issues

There had been deliberate increases in Israeli attacks on Palestinian farmers during the olive-harvesting season, with some 8,000 trees uprooted, burned or destroyed this year alone, the Observer for Palestine told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it took up the question of permanent sovereignty of Arab peoples under occupation over their natural resources.

Despite fewer people suffering chronic hunger and a drop in the proportion of the world’s population that was undernourished, gains in tackling hunger and food insecurity were “nowhere near good enough”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today.

The 2016 habitat world summit — Habitat III — should reinvigorate, at the highest political level, the global commitment to sustainable urban development through the accelerated implementation of a new “Urban Agenda for the 21st Century”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today.

Any international plan to combat the risks of sovereign debt default must be capable of handling a potential crisis in one of the world’s largest economies, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today.

Although least developing countries were overwhelmingly dependent on trade as an engine of growth and development, they had enjoyed a mere 1.4 per cent share of global trade in 2011, India’s representative told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it concluded its consideration of macroeconomic policy questions.

Adverse imbalances in international trade were exacerbating the impacts of the global economic and financial crisis, especially for developing countries, Algeria’s representative said today, as the Second Committee took up macroeconomic policy questions.

The comprehensive approach of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration remained the best way to effectively address financing for development, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today.

While the international community had been “extremely generous” in addressing the many humanitarian crises with consequences for migrants in recent years, more could be done to improve its responses, the representative of the United States said today, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up its agenda item on globalization and interdependence.

Despite working far beyond its mandate, the office charged with responsibility for countries in special situations was not receiving resources commensurate with its expanded role, its new High Representative told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

Millions of poor people around the world deserved the best and most serious efforts from the international community, stressed United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson today, as the Second Committee took up operational activities for development.