DESA News May 2014: Islands 2014, Indigenous Peoples, Sustainable cities

	May 2014 - Vol. 18, No. 5 | Print version
	Renewing focus on sustainable islands "Many of the challenges facing Small Island Developing States are shared by the international community, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, oceans and seas, disasters [...]," said UN DESA's Under-Secretary-General Wu Hongbo, as preparations accelerate ahead of the UN Conference on Small Island Developing States. DESA News also spoke with some of the conference bureau members who shared their hopes for this major event. Read More
	Good governance - recognizing indigenous peoples for who they are The thirteenth session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will take place on 12-23 May with principles of good governance at the forefront of discussions. For indigenous peoples, good governance is grounded in the right to self-determination, which is a pre-condition for the enjoyment of all other rights as it means the right to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Read More
	Cities for a sustainable future By 2050, about 70 per cent of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas and over 60 per cent of the land projected to become urban by 2030 is yet to be built. If done right, urbanization can help deliver a sustainable future. Taking aim at the topic of sustainable urbanization, ECOSOC is gathering high-level representatives from across the globe for a three-day event on 27-29 May. Read More
Global dialogue Negotiating sustainable development goals Importance of families for present and future generations Financing for development and the post-2015 agenda   Trends and analysis ICTs - game changer for development beyond 2015 Strengthening collection of international trade data   Capacity development Assessing strategies for data dissemination Improving vital statistics   Publications Launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2014