With the adoption of landmark resolutions on the concepts of peacebuilding and sustaining peace imminent, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged Member States to strengthen their focus on conflict prevention, address its root causes and embark on a “quantum leap” in funding those critical activities, in a briefing to the Security Council this afternoon.
Continuing volatility and a lack of trust were just some of the issues hindering private sector investment in developing countries, speakers said today, as the Economic and Social Council held three round-table discussions as part of its annual forum on financing for development.
Ministers and high‑level representatives today adopted a series of conclusions and recommendations on financing for development and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as the Economic and Social Council’s forum on financing for development entered its second day.
Member States must go beyond resolutions and statements and recommit to a new approach to peace, the General Assembly heard today during a high-level debate that explored opportunities for strengthening the United Nations work on sustaining peace.
Contrary to common perception, young people were not a nagging problem, but rather, powerful agents for resolving and preventing conflict throughout the world, the Security Council heard today during an open debate on youth, peace and security that featured the first‑ever United Nations report on the topic.
The upturn in the world economy was encouraging and provided a platform for further progress, but lingering economic vulnerabilities, the escalation of geopolitical tensions and natural disasters could derail development gains, ministers and high-level officials emphasized today, as the Economic and Social Council’s Forum on Financing for Development got under way.
Indigenous peoples must be more involved in the work of the United Nations, and allowed to determine who participated on their behalf, speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said today, with some questioning Governments’ commitment to further consider that issue.
Following three weeks of deliberations, the Disarmament Commission concluded its 2018 substantive session — the first of its new three-year cycle — with the approval by consensus of its draft report to the General Assembly as well as the reports of its subsidiary bodies.
While circumstances had tested commitment to the peace agreement in Colombia, a united Council had helped to sustain resolve, demonstrating how it could effectively contribute to peace, members of that body heard this morning.
Following the completion of the 14‑year‑long mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) on 30 March, the Security Council stressed today that the Organization would remain an important partner for the West African nation as it continued to consolidate peace and stability in the future.
