MDGs Gap Report; Food Security; Iran Sanctions; Floods in Pakistan; Child Protection

MDGs Gap Report: SG Ban Ki-moon held a press conference on the newly released MDG Gap Task Force Report today, urging a stronger global partnership to advance progress on the development targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015. “The report paints a troubling picture,” said Mr. Ban, as the report finds that significant gains risk slowing due to declining aid and weaker progress on the eighth goal, the focus of the report.

Food Security: The UN system High Level Task Force on Food Security, chaired by the SG with the Director General of the FAO as the Vice Chair, met today. The Task Force concluded that Governments and the international community have the opportunity to prevent rising food prices creating additional hardship within the current context of the international food security situation.

Iran Sanctions: The SC was briefed by Ambassador Nestor Osorio of Colombia this morning concerning sanctions on Iran, stressing that both “tougher sanctions” and “deeper diplomacy” are needed on the country. The Council then moved into consultations to discuss the work of the Sudan sanctions committee and the situation between Sudan and South Sudan and held a formal meeting on Afghanistan.

Floods in Pakistan: OCHA announced today that floods have affected nearly 4.5 million people in Pakistan, causing 370 deaths and injuring some 1,200 people. WFP is set to distribute food to 20,000 households and WHO has also provided essential medicines to nearly 300,000 people.

Child Protection: The SC passed a resolution stating their readiness to adopt targeted sanctions against parties that persistently violated the rights of children in armed conflict after meeting on the topic yesterday.