Second Committee

Millions of poor people around the world deserved the best and most serious efforts from the international community, stressed United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson today, as the Second Committee took up operational activities for development.

The international community must launch a “fully fledged war” to eradicate poverty, the world’s greatest challenge, the representative of the Dominican Republic told the Second Committee today, as it concluded its general debate. Poverty denied people their right to a decent life, broke down democratic institutions and made full participation in society elusive, he said, adding that it was no coincidence that drastically reducing poverty was the major aim of the Millennium Development Goals.

The international community must not lose sight of the emerging and interconnected threats of food insecurity and climate change, Cambodia’s representative warned delegates today, as the Second Committee continued its general debate.

An effective centralized State was needed to ensure the existence of an inclusive economic structure, delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as they opened the first general debate of the sixty-seventh General Assembly session.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to fill the remaining vacant position on its Bureau for the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the General Assembly today elected, by acclamation, George Wilfred Talbot (Guyana) as Chair of its sixty-seventh session.

Concluding its session today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved three draft resolutions, including one on information and communications technology for development, by which the General Assembly would stress that the development promise of science and technology remained unfilled for the majority of the poor.

The General Assembly would stress the importance of continuing to consider the issue of development cooperation with middle-income countries, according to one of six draft resolutions that the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved by consensus today.

The General Assembly would stress the need for active measures to reduce excessive food-price volatility, while acknowledging the incomplete understanding of its causes and the importance of carrying out more research, according to one of five draft resolutions that the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved by consensus today.

The General Assembly would urge the international community to adopt urgent measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries as they were inconsistent with the principles of international law and the multilateral trading system, according to one of 14 draft resolutions approved by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.