COVID-19 has cast a dark light on the global gap in social justice. It has evidenced inequalities and exclusion and hit the most vulnerable among us hardest. Digital technologies have been powerful instruments of resilience, but only for some of us. To bridge that gap, we must work together.
In the framework of the UN 59th Commission for Social Development (CSocD), Club de Madrid and Frederich-Ebert Stiftung organise this Live Session to share with the global community the policy recommendations of the Working Group on Social Justice and Inclusion resulting from our 2020 Policy Dialogue ‘Multilateralism that Delivers’.
At a time in which the COVID-19 health and economic crisis is disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable communities, the UN institutions, Member States and civil society must all cooperate to tackle the widening inequalities brought about by the pandemic. In a push for more multilateral solutions on social justice and inclusion, Club de Madrid and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung will echo the Working Group’s call for a new World Summit on Social Development.
Join us in building momentum around a new global compact on social development
Title: Live Session – Transforming Multilateralism For Social Justice and Inclusion
Day and Time: 10 February – 10am EST / 4pm CET
Register
Join the conversation on Twitter at #Summit4SocialDev
Programme
10:00
Welcome remarks (3 minutes)
–Michael Bröning, Executive Director, Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung New York
10:03
The Working Group on Social Justice and Inclusion – Key Recommendations on Transforming Multilateralism for 21st Century Social Justice and Inclusion (7 minutes)
–Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation
10:10
Panel Discussion – The call for a new global compact on social development (25 minutes)
–Danilo Turk, President of Club de Madrid, President of Slovenia 2007-2012, UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs 2000-2005, Ambassador of Slovenia to the UN 1992-2000
–Juan Somavia, Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations (1990-1999), President of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit for Social Development (1993-1995), ILO Director General (1999-2012), President of the Foro Permanente de Política Exterior (Chile).
10:35
View from UN Member States – National approaches to multilateralism for social justice and inclusion (15 minutes)
–H.E. Guillermo Fernández de Soto, Ambassador of Colombia to the United Nations
–Nuno Mathias, Deputy Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations
10:50
Multilateralism, social inclusion and the digital divide (10 minutes)
–Maria Fornella-Oehninger, Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Social Development, UN Representative of Soroptimist International
11:00
Q&A (20 minutes)
Delivering on our Call to Action
Club de Madrid convened a global Policy Dialogue in October 2020 on ‘Multilateralism that Delivers’. More than 30 democratic former Heads of State and Government got together with representatives from governments, international organisations, civil society, academia and the private sector to recommend multilateral action to face urgent challenges, such as COVID-19, social exclusion and digitalization.
The resulting Call to Action included recommendations from the Working Group on Social Justice and Inclusion chaired by Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, bringing together the perspectives of organizations as diverse as the OECD, the International Trade Union Confederation, the Brookings Institute and the World Justice Project. These recommendations, which we will outline during the Live Session, include measures of equity and social protection, tax reform, debt relief and the role of international financial institutions, in addition to a call for the new World Summit on Social Development.
