Welcome to the United Nations
8th February 2024, United Nations Headquarters New York: The objective of the panel and discussion was: The presentation, introduction and promotion of the Global Coalition for Social Justice to the delegates of the CsocD62.
The Panelists were : Amb. Valérie Berset Bircher, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland, Gilbert Houngbo, Director General ILO; Sarah Hendriks, UN Women; Maria Francesca Spatolisano, UNDESA; Norine Kennedy, United States Council of International Business; Cathy Feingold, Deputy President, International Trade Union Confederation and Kaisa Juuso, Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Finland. The panel was moderated by Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, Special Representative of the ILO to the UN.
The different partners of the coalition have explained their priorities in the coalition and the public was able to share what ideas they have for the coalition. Different NGOs took the floor to insist on some priorities: ageing population, care, transgenerational aspects, social protection, investment in education. The role of the civil society in the coalition was also mentioned.
The DG of the ILO mentioned the aim of the coalition which is to promote strong, sustainable and inclusive development through reinforced global solidarity, policy coherence and concerted action among a wide array of stakeholders. The ultimate goal is to achieve a greater balance amongst the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The reduction of inequalities is essential. The coalition has to date 150 partners and partners are governments, employers, workers, and various institutions as well as NGOs and academia.
All panelists mentioned the reason why they are part of the coalition or announced their participation. The cooperation between UN organizations in order to achieve social justice was at the heart of the discussion. UNWomen mentioned 3 priorities for the coalition: care, jobs and social protection and financing. UNDESA insisted on the need for revitalizing solidarity and the need for investing in social issues. For Switzerland, the priorities are a better coherence between UN organizations and the financial institutions, the agenda of jobs and productivity and the agenda of trade and labour.
For more information about the 62nd Commission for Social Development (CSocD62), please visit: https://social.desa.un.org/csocd/62nd
Source: Government of Switzerland and ILO