Meetings Coverage

The Economic and Social Council concludes its Youth Forum today.

While Libya’s ceasefire agreement is holding, ongoing military build-up, fierce competition for territorial control among Western armed groups, recent armed mobilizations in and around Tripoli, coupled with a crippling economic crisis, have renewed fears about a potential outbreak of violence in the capital, the UN’s top official in the country told the Security Council today.

In the third day of its first session, the commission responsible for preparing for the entry into force of a new treaty on maritime biodiversity addressed issues including the location, frequency and format for meetings of the Conference of the Parties to that accord, as well as the procedural rules that will apply to its subsidiary bodies.

The Economic and Social Council continued its Youth Forum today.

With the adoption of two draft resolutions today, the General Assembly moved to foster sustainable forest management around the world by proclaiming 2027–2036 as the United Nations Decade for Afforestation and Reforestation and bolstered cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

The Economic and Social Council today adopted two draft decisions, “Theme of the humanitarian affairs segment of the 2025 session of the Economic and Social Council” (document (E/2025/L.4) and “Economic and Social Council meeting on the transition from relief to development” (document E/2025/L.5). Neither decision carries any programme budget implications.

A sharp deterioration in South Sudan’s political and security situation threatens to undermine the peace gains achieved so far and plunge the country back into war, the Head of the UN Mission warned the Security Council today, stressing the need for all parties to cease hostilities and honour the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.

As eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remains gripped by violence, mass displacement and grave human rights violations, especially of women and children, the United Nations top official for the Great Lakes region urged the Security Council to support and encourage peace efforts — “messages of hope” — to end the decade-long conflict.

Youth are leading the charge in solving development challenges — driving innovation, demanding accountability and building more inclusive and sustainable futures — even as they face rising conflicts, soaring unemployment, escalating climate crisis and a widening digital divide, the Economic and Social Council heard today as it opened its Youth Forum.

The commission tasked with preparing for the entry into force of a new treaty on maritime biodiversity continued its first session today, taking up issues relating to how subsidiary bodies established under that accord will function as well as those pertaining to the functioning and location of its future secretariat.