Describing the Sustainable Development Goals and post-2015 agenda “at the very heart” of the work of the United Nations, Martin Sajdik (Austria), speaking at a Headquarters press conference in his new role as President of the Economic and Social Council, said it was a time of great transition, including with regard to the Council’s own structural reforms.
In progress at UNHQ
Economic and Social Council: Press Conference
A positive trend was emerging towards consolidated legal frameworks for the rights of Africa’s 50 million indigenous people, said experts at a Headquarters press conference today, as they convened on the margins of the twelfth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
At a Headquarters press conference today, advocates for indigenous people called on Governments worldwide to work with them to improve the lot of indigenous communities battling land dispossession, exploitation of their natural resources, endemic poverty and socioeconomic marginalization.
An infusion of youth perspectives — drawn from such events as today’s Economic and Social Council Youth Forum on science and technology and a newly launched online campaign known as “Innovate Your Future” — would bring a “real renewal” to the work of the United Nations, said Council President Néstor Osorio of Colombia at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
Calling for a universal response to the problem of violence against women and girls, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN-Women said today that Governments were the key to ending the “pandemic” of violence targeting females worldwide.
Integrating the three pillars of sustainable development into United Nations development efforts would underpin the work of the Economic and Social Council in 2013, the organ’s newly elected President said at Headquarters today.
The United Nations needed to regain relevance to rise to the twenty-first century’s new challenges, including the recent food and financial crises, the Senior Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council told reporters today at Headquarters, as he announced a special ministerial meeting on sustainable development — “Building the Future We Want” — to be held here on 24 September.
The high-level segment of this year’s Economic and Social Council substantive session will focus on productive capacity, employment, decent work and development cooperation, the President of that main United Nations organ said at a Headquarters press conference today.
A new milestone for the rights of indigenous peoples — their first ever World Conference, slated for 2014 — was on the horizon, said leaders and activists at a Headquarters press conference today, noting that the meeting would offer a unique opportunity to create a framework for addressing the most pressing challenges facing indigenous peoples today.
The enduring impact of historical wrongs must be a priority for States as they reviewed their relationships with indigenous groups, emphasized leaders and activists at a Headquarters press conference marking the opening today of the eleventh annual United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.