Social Development Commission

February 6th marked the beginning of the Social Development Commission at the UN. 

It was a full week of input from the Commission on Inequality, decent work and full employment for all.

The NGO Social Development Committee headed by Sr. Jean Quinn, Daughter of Wisdom, and the executive committee did an outstanding job in creating the civil society forum this week. Over the last several years a close working relationship has been developed with the UN DESA Office, and the partnership of Friedrich, Ebert and Stiftung civil society.

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) – Foundation for social democracy is the oldest political foundation in Germany with a rich tradition in social democracy dating back to its foundation in 1925. The foundation owes its formation and its mission to Friedrich Ebert, the first democratically elected German President.

The work of the foundation focuses on the core ideas and values of social democracy – freedom, justice, and solidarity. They have been a friend of the Ngo CSOCD for many years and help provide the financial support to host a full day during the CSOCD Commission in the UN.  It is truly an incredible partner for the Ngo.  Without Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung the organization would not be able to hold an all-day conference in the UN.

Here are some of the concepts that have been shared during the social development commission.

• Decent work for all is essential to achieving SDG 8
• Decent work must be green and inclusive
• Childcare is imperative to aid full and decent employment
• Lifelong learning is a key to full and decent employment
• Migrants are agents of change.  Their remittances are an invaluable contribution to their homeland.
• Migrants are overrepresented in the supply chain pay gaps. Migrants contribute to the SDG 10
• Globally 2 billion people – 60% of all working people are working in the informal economy where they have no labor or social protection.
• 58% of all working women are working in an  informal economy.
• Different countries like Mali, note that poverty among women is twice as much as men
• ILO has put out a global call for a human centred recovery from Covid 19.
• Spiritual principles of persons are fundamental to full and decent employment
• The Ambassador to Finland presented an “Economy of Wellbeing,” that is a policy orientation and governance approach that puts people and their wellbeing at the very center of policy and decision-making and progress monitoring. It also makes the mutually reinforcing interlinkages between economy and wellbeing visible. 
• Lower income countries are still in need of Universal Social Protection systems 
• There is a call for a new paradigm of social and economic development by Finland

These are just a few of the highlights of the commission this year.We have a long way to go to create decent and full employment for all globally.

We can’t stop now.