44th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD44) | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Priority Theme “Review of the first United Nations Decade on the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006)”

The 44th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD44) took place from 8 to 17 February 2006 at UN Headquarters in New York. The priority theme was “Review of the first United Nations Decade on the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006)” and the review of relevant United Nations plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups.

On the priority theme, the Commission heard a keynote address by Clare Short of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and held a panel discussion. The Commission decided to transmit the Chairperson’s summary of the discussion to the coordination segment on “Sustained economic growth for social development, including the eradication of poverty and hunger” of the 2006 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council.

Also under the priority theme, the Commission heard a presentation by the Division for Social Policy and Development on a technical cooperation project “Tackling poverty together: the role of young people in poverty reduction”.

The Commission adopted a resolution on “Social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development”, according to in which the Council would recommend that the Commission continue to give prominence to the social dimensions of the New Partnership during its forty-fifth session. In connection with its review of plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups, the Commission adopted a resolution on modalities for the first review and appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002. To promote wider awareness of the first review and appraisal, a panel discussion was organized in order to bring before the Commission experts with indepth knowledge of ageing issues and bottom-up participatory methodologies. The Chairperson’s summary of the discussion is contained in the annex to the present report.

The Commission also recommended to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of a resolution on a comprehensive and integral international convention to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and a resolution on promoting youth employment. The Commission addressed the subject of the further review of the methods of work of the Commission, and recommended to the Council that the theme for the 2007/2008 review and policy cycle would be “Promoting full employment and decent work for all”, taking into account the interrelationship between employment, poverty eradication and social integration.

Members of the Bureau

Function	Name	Country
Chairperson	H.E. Mr. Javier Loayza Barea	Bolivia
Vice-Chairpersons	Ms. Valerie Bruell-Melchior	Monaco
	Mr. Victor Leu	Republic of Moldova
	Ms. Nina Djajaprawira	Republic of Indonesia
	Mr. Luvuyo Lonsdale Ndimeni	South Africa