GCSPF E-Newsletter #20 - February 2019

Members of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors will participate in the fifty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD57). The CSocD57 will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 21 February 2019.
The Priority Theme for the 2019 Session is Addressing inequalities and challenges to social inclusion through fiscal, wage and social protection policies. Review of relevant UN plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups:

* Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
* World Programme of Action for Youth
* Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002
* Family issues, policies and programmes

GCSPF: Informal meeting Members of the GCSPF will hold an informal meeting. In case you are planning to participate, please send an e-mail to Ana (anaclau@item.org.uy).

SIDE EVENTS: Visit here the draft list of side events.

This event will examine homelessness as a direct consequence of social inequalities and inefficient governmental policies through the experiences of advocates, researchers, policy makers and people living on the streets. Speakers will contribute to an open dialogue on the importance of addressing the structural causes of homelessness in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda of ensuring adequate housing for all.
February 11, 1.45 - 2:30 pm, Conference Room A, UN Headquarters. Read more

The side event will highlight inequality and social exclusion as it relates to evictions, land, social injustices and gender inequality. The event will discuss human rights violations related to housing and land, in particular forced evictions, while it will explore the community ownership of land and housing cooperatives as an alternative to the private ownership of land and housing.
February 13, 11.30 - 12:45 pm, Conference Room 12, UN Headquarters. Read more

In the context of the thirtieth anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Movement ATD Fourth World, SOS Children’s Villages, UNICEF, the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors are organizing a side event to explore how to strengthen the linkages between child protection and social protection in a way that is more supportive of family-based and community-based responses. It will also address the prevention of violence, including institutional violence.
The panel will comprise grassroots delegates, representatives from member states, non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies.
Thursday, 14 February - Conference Room 12 - Time: 11:30 -12:45 pm. Read the concept note here and the flyer here

The side event will discuss conceptual issues as well as practical solutions pertinent to the priority theme of CSocD57. The event aim is to promote reflection, debate and innovative thinking, including on emerging challenges on social protection as a tool for the reduction of inequalities. The presenters will focus on the accountability dimension of social protection in designing and delivering accountable social protection schemes, the links between social protection and human rights in reducing inequalities and explore the role of civil society in social protection accountability monitoring.
February 14, 1.15 - 2:45 pm, Conference Room 7, UN Headquarters. Read the programme here and the concept note here

Although SDG10 of the 2030 Agenda asks for action to counter the dramatic increase of inequality, its prescriptions to change the underlying structural dynamics that continue to exacerbate inequalities are limited. Moreover, with multilateral institutions under increasing threat, many Member States recognize that the UN must be significantly strengthened and further revitalized if the SDGs are to be achieved by 2030. This session will consider how international rules and global economic governance arrangements should be changed to counteract the increasing inequalities within countries and to reduce inequalities between countries. Panelists will also be asked to consider how the opportunity of an event commemorating the UN’s 75th anniversary may be used to develop synergies among the major UN reviews occurring in 2020 that would include a process of robust stocktaking and review to advance ambitious and achievable reforms of the Organization, particularly as it relates to SDG10 and macroeconomic policy.
February 14, 1.45 - 2:30 pm, Conference Room A, UN Headquarters. Read more

Organised by youth, this side event brings young people into the conversation of social protection. We, the youth want to explore how we are impacted by lack of social protection in the areas of education, employment, and our capability to respond to environmental challenges. Lack of effective and efficient social protection systems is detrimental to youths’ potential, and drives inequalities within societies. Youth are an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, and their inclusion in society, which begins with social protection, is essential in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring no one is left behind.
Tuesday, February 19, 11:30 - 12:45 pm, Conference Room 12, UN Headquarters. Read more

Following the screening of the documentary “Mahila” an interactive discussion will take place to share the positive results and the ongoing challenges of the Economic Justice Project that the Good Shepherd sisters supported by the Good Shepherd International Foundation are running in four different villages focused on empowering 600 Dalit and tribal women.
The interventions of the project are aimed at economic, social and political empowerment of Dalit and tribal women, among the most marginalized in Indian society. The women’s lives are transformed from a situation where they have limited power, to a situation where their power is enhanced in knowledge, understanding and skills; economic decision making power, access to and control over assets; and ability to collectivize for economic activity and rights.
Tuesday, February 19, 1:15 - 2:30 pm, Conference Room A, UN Headquarters. Download the flyer - Read more

In 2019, progress in implementing SDG10 will be reviewed for the first time at the High Level Political Forum. This provides a powerful opportunity to remind the international community of the radical promise made in including this goal amongst the SDGs. As part of the prelude to that inquiry, the Baha’i International Community and its partners in collaboration with UN DESA DSDGs, will host a multi-stakeholder breakfast dialogue to carry forward both the optimism and transformative promise of Goal 10.
The meeting will examine latest findings and explore issues around persistent and increasing inequalities in access to even basic services, despite there being enough material resources for the health and well-being of the world’s population, and the role that can be played by SDG10 to set a path towards equitable distribution of opportunity and outcome. A two-page outcome document will summarize key points from the conversation.
20th February 2019: 8:30 until 9:45 AM: Baha’i Offices, 866 United Nations Plaza Read the programme here and the concept note here