Economic issues

The General Assembly would demand that Israel stop exploiting, damaging, depleting, and endangering the natural resources in occupied Arab lands, according to the terms of one of seven draft resolutions approved today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

More than 10 years after the Monterrey Consensus was adopted, most countries remained well short of allocating 0.7 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) to official development assistance (ODA), and sharp reductions planned in response to the global economic and financial crisis made for a bleak forecast of future growth in foreign aid, the President of the Economic and Social Council told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

While the United Nations Global Compact represented a significant development in relations between the Organization and business, contributing significantly to the emerging consensus on the value of corporate sustainability, it was important to build on that progress, speakers in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as they considered global partnerships.

The links between energy and food would continue to grow, with the high cost of oil contributing to soaring food prices, because demand for commodities was increasingly interconnected, a top Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official said today during a Second Committee (Economic and Financial) panel discussion.

Major developments in urbanization since the Second United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat II) made a strong case for holding a third meeting, Joan Clos, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it began considering that agency’s work today.

The planet would suffer irreversible damage if “business as usual” continued, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs warned today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) began its consideration of sustainable development.

Emphasizing the vital importance of international trade to the growth and development of least developed countries, delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) underlined today the urgent need to successfully conclude a development-oriented outcome to the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations.

Governments must unite to create jobs or face the pressing danger posed by the massive movements organizing around the world, Juan Somavía, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said today during a joint meeting of Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Economic and Social Council.

Arbitrary detention and disproportionate use of military force, the expansion of settlements and the blockade of the Gaza Strip continued to constrain the functioning of the Palestinian Authority while contributing to the growing economic and social hardship faced by its citizens, Rima Khalaf, Executive Secretary for Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

Farmers were not just farmers, they were also entrepreneurs and should be treated as such, the representative of the Netherlands told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it concluded its consideration of agriculture development and food security.