4 November 2010: The Principals of the Executive Committee of Economic and Social Affairs (ECESA) and of other relevant UN entities met at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 4 November, in an effort to define a common UN vision and expectations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, also called Rio+20).

UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang, Convenor of ECESA and UNCSD Secretary-General, invited the Principals of ECESA to engage in a “frank, interactive dialogue” during which they brainstormed initiatives to be launched at UNCSD. The meeting focused in particular on the two themes of the UNCSD: a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD). Participants also discussed potential individual and joint outreach activities that would encourage stakeholder participation. Under-Secretary-General Sha called on UN system entities to make substantive contributions to enrich the preparatory process, such as inputs to the Secretary-General’s Report, technical papers on priority themes, expert meetings or briefings, support for national and regional preparatory activities, secondment of staff, and sharing experiences of best practices. [UNCSD News Report]