Second Committee

Conflicts over water -- the world’s most precious resource -- were at the heart of regional instability, but they could be a catalyst for cooperation and peace if managed properly, Aaron Wolfe, a specialist in water resource policy and conflict resolution, said this morning during a panel discussion on “Enhancing governance on water” held by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

The Millennium Development Goals could only be achieved with the participation of all stakeholders, including Governments, the private sector and civil society, the representative of Sweden said today, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered global partnerships.

An estimated 35 million new homes with the attendant infrastructure and services must be built annually over the next 25 years in order to accommodate the burgeoning number of urban dwellers in cities from Calcutta to Rio de Janeiro, Sudan’s representative told the Second Committee today, as it began considering implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

One out of every three people residing in cities around the globe lived in a slum, and unless the problem was dealt with, another 400 million people would join their ranks by 2020, Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it continued its consideration of sustainable development.

If Member States accepted a lesser deal during the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Conference than what was scientifically needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, they would be threatening the very existence of small island countries, the representative of the Federated States of Micronesia told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it began its consideration of sustainable development today.

In the wake of the economic crisis, a “new regime” of governance was under way in the global financial system, several experts told the Second Committee this afternoon during a panel discussion on “Revitalizing the international financial system”.

30 October 2009

General AssemblyGA/EF/3261

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Sixty-fourth General Assembly

Second Committee

26^th Meeting (PM)

Information and communications technology must be harnessed to eradicate poverty, several delegates told the Second Committee today, as the Committee concluded its consideration of information and communications technologies for development.

With the well-being of the world’s natural resources and physical environment hanging in the balance, senior officials from the five United Nations Regional Commissions shed light on their respective efforts to protect the populations and economies they served during an interactive dialogue with the Second Committee this afternoon on “regional perspectives on the economic impacts of climate change.”

Israel’s restriction of Palestinian movement and access to natural resources has deepened the hardship suffered by the Palestinians, Amr Nour, the director of the Regional Commissions New York Office told the Second Committee this afternoon.