Continuing its regular session for 2018, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 42 organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and deferred action on the status of 44 others.

Concluding the second day of the two‑day Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, young people and representatives of Government and civil society gathered to share their findings on how youth could help implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and help to build sustainable and resilient communities.

Against a backdrop of an ongoing “mega-trend” of ageing and its myriad challenges across many regions, there was no time to waste in protecting the world’s oldest persons, the Commission for Social Development heard today during a high-level panel discussion on how much States could do to protect their elders.

Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks at a ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, in New York today:

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Mami Mizutori of Japan as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).  Ms. Mizutori will succeed Robert Glasser of Australia to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and excellent leadership of UNISDR.

Convening its first 2018 meeting amid several major shifts in the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, the Peacebuilding Commission today elected Ion Jinga (Romania) as Chair of its twelfth session, while also adopting a workplan aimed at expanding the Commission’s work and building synergies both within and beyond the United Nations system.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres departed New York on Thursday, 25 January, for Ethiopia.  During an hour-long layover in Lomé, Togo, he had a courtesy call with President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé at the airport. The Secretary-General arrived in Addis Ababa late on Friday, 26 January.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners have launched a funding appeal for $157 million to help 250,000 people impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region.  Since it began in 2013, the Boko Haram conflict has internally displaced 2.4 million people.

Following UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the 2018 Investor Summit on Climate Risk:  Capturing the Global Investment Opportunity in the Paris Agreement, in New York today:

A ministerial debate on building regional partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia was among the signature events of a January packed with meetings and discussions, Security Council President Kairat Umarov (Kazakhstan) told members during an end-of-month “wrap-up” meeting today.