As the commission tasked with preparing for the entry into force of a new treaty on maritime biodiversity opened its first session today, speakers both underlined the importance of moving this process forward and emphasized that the proper care must be taken in designing the modalities by which to do so.
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Meetings Coverage
The General Assembly today decided to hold the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, Turkmenistan, from 5 to 8 August, as the 193-member organ adopted several drafts, including those recommended by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).
The Commission on Population and Development failed to adopt an outcome document today as it concluded its fifty-eighth session, with delegates sharply divided about support for sexual and reproductive rights, and some questioning commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Declining fertility rates, persistently high child mortality rates, international migration, and a surge in urbanization over the past several decades have significantly shaped global population trends — and will continue to do so, the Commission on Population and Development heard today.
In the wake of hundreds of reported Israeli air strikes across Syria since 8 December 2024, the Israel Defense Forces’ public confirmation that it built multiple positions in the area of separation and statements by Israeli leaders on their intent to stay in Syria for the foreseeable future, senior UN officials told the Security Council today that all parties must uphold their obligations under the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
Overstretched, underfunded health systems that cannot meet the needs of the most vulnerable are undermining gains made towards sustainable development, the Commission on Population and Development heard today as it entered the third day of its current session.
Russian Federation airstrikes in Ukraine continue to kill and maim civilians — including children at a playground last week — the United Nations top humanitarian official told the Security Council today. In what he called an “era of savage cuts”, he also appealed to Council members to provide at least the security and resources needed to save as many survivors of this war as possible.
The Security Council met today to consider the role of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, with some members advocating for its restructuring or gradual drawdown, while others emphasized its ongoing relevance in supporting regional stability and facilitating dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
Ahead of the ministerial meeting on peacekeeping that will be held this May in Berlin, speakers in the Security Council today both urged the importance of technological advances to ceasefire monitoring and acknowledged that such efforts alone will not create the sustainable peace that the United Nations seeks to achieve in conflict zones around the world.
In a world in which every individual has access to high-quality, affordable health services, including sexual and reproductive care, young people can shape their own futures and older persons can age with dignity, speakers at the Commission on Population and Development stressed today as it continued its fifty-eighth session.