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.

The Security Council extended until 15 October 2018 a modification to the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) as laid out in two resolutions from 2011 and 2014, agreeing that it would be the final such extension until the parties took several measurable steps related to the contested border area.

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 are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the high-level seminar on “Big Data and the Sustainable Development Goals”, in Washington, D.C., today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the third high‑level assembly of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, in Washington, D.C., today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks at the high-level round-table discussion “Gender Matters: Investing in Women, Children and Adolescents”, in Washington, D.C., today:

The following statement by UN Secretary‑General António Guterres was issued today:

The Secretary-General is pleased to confirm that Bola Adesola of Nigeria, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Standard Chartered Nigeria, and Paul Polman of the Netherlands, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, will serve as the two Vice-Chairs of the Board of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

The President of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák (Slovakia), will convene a high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace on 24 and 25 April 2018 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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.