UN in Focus Newsbrief N0. 7/2010 November 2010 Quick Links FES NY Events FES NY Publications More About Us Dear Friends, This month's newsbrief is being released right before heads of states and governments of the Group of 20 come together in Seoul. The relationship between the UN and the G20 was addressed during two of FES New York's recent activities: In October, the FES New York co-hosted a retreat for the UN's Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC). The high-level debates with participants from the UN Missions, the Secretariat and officials from the G-20 focused on a re-evaluation of the role of ECOSOC in global economic governance against the background of an increasingly complex global economic and social development. Moreover, FES New York and The Century Foundation organized a lunch-time discussion which analyzed issues such as whether the G-20 makes a substantive contribution to economic policymaking- and about whether it should enlarge its competence to begin dealing with other issues as well. Addressing a crucial security issue, on October 26, FES New York and the Century Foundation invited to discuss"Taliban Across Borders: The Pakistani Problematic". The debate explored the complex relationships among Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and governments. FES New York also got involved in this year's meeting of the UN's Disarmament Committee. During a side event, experts and delegates discussed proposals to re-animate the Conference of Disarmament. Lastly, this month, the FES New York is looking forward to hosting its fifth annual Fall Acadamy"Understanding the United Nations" from November 15th to 19th. The invited 18 young policy analysts will be able to learn hands-on about the work of the United Nations.