Meetings Coverage

The World Bank promised to “listen with heart and soul” to the voices of indigenous people, its newly appointed Senior Adviser for Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities told the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as meeting participants scrutinized the expressed commitments and project portfolios launched and supervised by global and regional financial institutions.

Pointing to the further deterioration of Syria’s security situation, a senior Secretariat official asked the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today for an extra $8 million to maintain the United Nations peacekeeping operation stationed in the Golan Heights.

In a historic vote today, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended special consultative status to a Lesbian medical organization, as it continued to put under scrutiny the dozens of applications before it — approving special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 16 organizations and deferring action on 38 applications.

GENEVA, 23 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — The private sector, a key driver of innovation and investment, should be at the heart of disaster risk reduction efforts, said speakers at a meeting organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued vetting the dozens of applications before it, recommending special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 28 organizations, general consultative status for 1, and deferring action on 29 applications.

GENEVA, 23 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — Building disaster resilience into urban planning will be increasingly crucial as cities continue to burgeon worldwide, said panellists this morning. There was currently more investment in urban areas than at any other time in history, and in some parts of the world cities were becoming more expensive and displacing persons to the peripheries. The result: congestion, inequality, unrest and urbanization without urban planning.

Chronic marginalization, insecurity, non-recognition of land rights, poor infrastructure and limited commercialization had all combined to make traditional pastoralists some of the poorest, most vulnerable and disenfranchised people in the world, speakers stated today as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues considered the plight of those populations in Africa.

GENEVA, 23 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — Auditing and regulatory experts today said that accountability is paramount for all actors in disaster risk reduction, from victims and taxpayers to national Governments, international organizations and civil society. The experts were discussing disaster risk management standards and accountability for business and citizens as part of the Global Platform on Disaster Reduction, which opened on 19 May and ended today.

Acting on the recommendation of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for one year, deciding also to readjust its presence so it could help the West African nation restore constitutional order following the 2012 military coup and hold elections by the end of this year.

GENEVA, 22 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ Children can and should play a crucial role in disaster risk reduction, a panel of children from disaster-prone regions told the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction this afternoon. Children from Ethiopia, Japan, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Lesotho, Norway and the United Kingdom shared their experiences with disasters and suggested how they and other children could be instrumental in reducing disaster-related risks.