Meetings Coverage

International cooperation in tax matters aimed at enhancing dialogue among national tax authorities was the focus of a special meeting of the Economic and Social Council today.

Briefing the Security Council on the work of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, including the transfer of cases to the Residual Mechanism, judges and prosecutors alike noted progress but stressed the need for continued support, while speakers in debate generally agreed that the voices of victims were being heard and historical records were being preserved.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today recommended for adoption by the General Assembly a draft resolution that would urge Member States and the United Nations to implement measures identified by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

If urgent funding were not secured immediately, hard-won gains made in Somalia would be reversed, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.

Member States today welcomed a proposal to incorporate youth-focused target areas in the post-2015 development agenda, as the Economic and Social Council concluded its two-day Youth Forum.

The engagement of young people in shaping the global development agenda was critical, as they were the leaders of the present era, senior United Nations officials told the Economic and Social Council’s two-day Youth Forum today, which convened under the theme “#Youth2015: Realizing the future they want.”

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard the introduction of a draft resolution on the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for the 2014/15 fiscal year, but failed to take action on the text.

The Security Council voted unanimously to extend by six months the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, stressing that the consolidation of peace and stability could only result from a consensual, inclusive and nationally owned transition process.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) would need $313 million to meet its immediate and essential start-up costs for the period from 10 April 2014 to year-end, a senior United Nations official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.