Sharing national best practices on the protection of forests, speakers today deliberated ways of enhancing sustainable forest management in achieving global forest goals and explored their linkages with other major international frameworks and agreements, as the United Nations Forum on Forests continued its session.
Warning that the recent outbreak of violence in Sudan could jeopardize its bilateral relations with South Sudan, speakers urged both countries to continue their positive engagement in working to resolve border security and development issues and reach an agreement on the final status of Abyei, during a Security Council briefing today on the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s request to allot nearly $294 million, $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion for three United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) recommended respective reductions of nearly $1.7 million, $5.1 million and $3 million.
All efforts by the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to organize the next round of consultations with Syria continue to be unsuccessful, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, stressing the need for full cooperation by Damascus.
With 2023 a pivotal year for the United Nations Strategic Plan on Forests and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the United Nations Forum on Forests must identify concrete forest-based actions, address interlinkages and advance progress towards combating climate change and ensuring sustainable development, speakers today stressed as the Forum commenced its eighteenth session.
Speakers from around the globe underscored the vital role of inclusive planning and collective learning in harnessing data and artificial intelligence for sustainable development, as the Economic and Social Council concluded its two-day forum on science, technology and innovation.
While the Secretariat has effectively used improved management tools to avert a liquidity crisis and avoid spending restrictions this year, a senior United Nations financial official warned delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the lagging monthly collection rates for the Organization’s 2023 regular budget require careful monitoring.
Addressing the Security Council today with “a call for an immediate quest for peace”, the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stressed that, while a terrible battle rages in Europe, war is neither a necessity nor destiny, as he outlined the regional group’s focus for 2023.
The United Nations Committee on Information — concluding its forty-fifth session today — approved two resolutions detailing Member States’ priorities for the Department of Global Communications, from combating disinformation, misinformation and information manipulation to reducing disparities in information flows by enhancing assistance for developing countries.
The multiple crises of the last three years have dealt “a major blow” to the Sustainable Development Goals, requiring urgent action in sharing science, technology, innovation and digitalization to bridge that gap between haves and have-nots and ensure not just global progress, but survival, speakers told the Economic and Social Council today as it opened its two-day forum on the subject.
