COVID-19 disruption of UN meetings around the world

• President of UN General Assembly has cancelled in-person meetings for mandated processes until 17 April 2020
• ECOSOC meetings are being postponed or cancelled for the next eight weeks (until approx. 8 May)
• UNFCCC meetings cannot take place in person until the end of April 

As reported by the IISD Knowledge Hub there are numerous postponements and cancellations of UN meetings around the world that will affect, among others, the preparations for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and the fifth UN conference on the least developed countries (LDCs). 

The World Bank and IMF have also transitioned the annual Spring Meetings, scheduled for mid-April to a virtual format, with the World Bank announcing that it would cancel or postpone “all major events and conferences until further notice”. 

In addition to cancelling or postponing meetings, ECOSOC is exploring virtual options and solutions – see 18 March statement from President with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) being held virtually last week. Other regions, except for the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) which convened the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in February, are also postponing their annual regional fora or switching to a virtual format 

Negotiations on outcome documents of upcoming meetings, such as the ministerial declaration of the HLPF/high-level segment of ECOSOC in July 2020, may not take place in person.  

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