Commission for Social Development
Forty-sixth Session, 6-15 February 2008
The 46th Session of Commission for Social Development (CSocD) took place from February 6 – 15, 2008 at the UN Head quarters, New York. The priority theme was promoting full employment and decent work for all. CSocD deals with Disabled Persons, Youth, Ageing and Family issues. Last year was the review session and this year was the policy session in the 2-year cycle on the priority theme.
The Civil Society Forum took place Feb 5th prior to the Commission the theme of which was “Making Copenhagen Work: Decent work for a Decent Life”. One of the speaker at the forum said that in 1990s most money for developing countries came through IMF and WB, however now countries do not want money from the IMF and WB.
On the first day the Commission held a panel discussion entitled “Promoting full employment and decent work for all”. After the presentation the Commission engaged in an interactive dialogue
The representative of G-77, consisting of 130 countries said that approximately 84% of the global labor force is found in developing countries, often with non-existing or nascent unemployment protection mechanisms. The resulting poverty and social exclusion strip people of their dignity and prevent them from being able to care for themselves and their families. Dy. Secretary-General said that decent work is not just an end in itself. It is crucial for poverty eradication and social integration, the two other planks of social development.
The Commission identified constraints, best practices and possible approaches for achieving full employment and reversing trends towards low-paying, insecure and temporary jobs.
The Commission concluded on 22 February acknowledging and calling for a people-centered approach to be at the heart of economic and social development and asked the Governments to match their words with deeds in terms of eliminating poverty by ensuring decent employment for all.
Commission on Sustainable Development
Sixteenth Session
May 5 – 16, 2008
Philo Morris at the 16th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
The sixteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 16) was convened at the UN headquarters in New York, from 5 – 16 May 2008. After the Earth Summit of June 1992, CSD was set up in December 1992 to follow up on the Summit’s agreements. In all, 680 Major Group representatives from 126 organizations participated in the event. Along with the official sessions consisting of Thematic and Regional discussions taking place was the Partnerships Fair, Learning Center events and numerous side events.
The cluster of themes for the implementation cycle 2008-2009 – review session are as follows:
(a) Agriculture (d) Drought
(b) Rural development (e) Desertification
(c) Land (f) Africa
CSD 16 covering the vast terrain of agriculture, rural development, land, drought,, desertification and Africa was happening at an appropriate time when the global community was facing a human-induced crisis of food prices that are spinning out of control. The session surfaced critical global concerns.
Chair’s Summary – Part I and Part II: In the second week the Chair’s Summary came out in two parts. G-77 said that the summary needs to be strengthened with references to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; international cooperation; means of implementation; climate change; agricultural infrastructure; impact of drought; security of land tenure of indigenous people and women; terms of trade; capacity building; technology transfer; science, research and education and water, etc.
Ministers identified several issues that should be addressed in the seventeenth session in 2009 including poverty eradication in developing countries, rural development, meeting commitments to financing for development, the food crisis, a global development partnership, donor support, environmental governance, improved market access for agricultural exports of developing countries, and the preservation of biodiversity.
The Food Crisis: Many governments spoke about the causes of current food crisis. Mexico reaffirmed its commitment to invest in the land in order to improve their agricultural sector and to promote economically sustainable development. Many delegates from the developing countries asked for increased Official Development Assistance (ODA) and some brought out the problem of debt servicing and also touched on fair mechanism for trade.
Dialogue with Major Groups: In the dialogue with Major Groups women said that women farmers need additional knowledge and access to agricultural services, and drew attention to the high rate of suicide among farmers.
Closing Plenary: At the Closing plenary session local authorities stated that rural-to-urban migration might become a “human tsunami” if proper action is not taken. As part of the closing statement NGOs read out a poem on Africa and called upon the delegates to move from shop talk to workshop and called for result in action oriented policies on the most important issues identified at CSD 16 on bio-fuels, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and nanotechnology. For a copy of the poem please contact MMS UN office. For more information on each of the topics covered please visit http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/review.htm
Poem recited by the CSD 16 NGOs at the Closing Session
Africa...
Land of many nations, many colours and biodiversity
You are part of the world, Africa!
See a partner in Africa!
Fight against drought, fight against desertification,
We can overcome the food crisis;
Land of the Nile, land of the Niger
Let's protect our waters!
Get out the tools
it is time to cultivate the land
Hear the cries of the mothers and daughters of Africa
Hear the cries of the women of the world
HUM OHO!
Let us build Africa, land of natural resources!
Another world is possible
Delegates, think of your children
Tomorrow knocks on the door
We cannot wait for another crisis
Wake, wake, wake
This is no time for sleep!
Together we can save the world!
Today!