Social Development Link is an Online Newsletter published quarterly by the Civil Society and Outreach Unit of the Division for Social Policy and Development. It aims at providing a sharp and synthetic summary of major activities carried out by DSPD. It also intends to highlight some aspects of the work of DSPD that do not fall under a specific cluster and are, therefore, left in the dark. As its title shows, this publication will serve as a link between DSPD and its major partners, from civil society actors to social development practitioners and scholars.
In this Issue
Feature Articles
Commission for Social Policy and Development
47th Session of the Commission for Social
Development, 4-13 February 2009
The 47th session of the Commission for Social Development concluded with the adoption of resolutions on the most pressing issues in society today.
The Commission for Social Development held its 47th session from 4-13 February under the chairmanship of H.E. Ambassador Kirsti Lintonen of Finland. In view of its 2009-2010 priority theme, “Social integration”, taking into account the relationship with poverty eradication and full employment and decent work, this year’s review session aimed at building a consensus on social integration and laying the ground for concrete policies to be recommended to Governments at its policy session in 2010.
The Commission discussed “The current global crises and their impact on social development”, which was under its emerging issues agenda item, and also reviewed the implementation of the United Nations plans and programmes of action as well as programmes questions pertaining to the situation of older persons, persons with disabilities and youth.
Two panel discussions were held – the first was on the priority theme while the second was in relation to the emerging issues. The Commission also featured an interactive dialogue with the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers Programme. Last but certainly not least, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on disability reported on her work in that field over the past six years.
DESA, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization and the Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan, launched the first World Day of Social Justice to coincide with the Commission for Social Development. A panel discussion was organized as part of the commemoration of the event.
Several Ministers, Vice-Ministers and other high level personalities participated in the Commission. Among the delegates present were Ms. Paula Risikko, Minister of Health and Social Services of Finland; Mr. Wim Kik, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and representative of the Club of Madrid; Ms. Biance Gawanas, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs; and Mr. Xavier Prats-Monné, Director for Employment Policy of the European Commission.
Three resolutions were adopted in the 47th Commission for Social Development. These were the resolutions on promoting full employment and decent work for all, on the first review and appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002, and on policies and programmes involving youth. The Commission also recommended to ECOSOC the adoption of a draft resolution on the “Social Dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development”.
The Chair’s summary of the Commission’s discussion on social integration as well as on the emerging issues of the current global crises will be included in the Report of the session.
 The 47th Session of the Commission for Social Policy and Development Website, 4-13 February 2009.
Statements by Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs
Statements by Date
Chairperson's Summary of the discussions related to the priority theme and emerging issues.
Interactive panel
Documents
Resolutions
Civil Society Participation
NGOs Statements
Press Releases
 Photos
 Videos
Implementing rights for indigenous peoples
In September 2007, the General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, marking a major victory for the world’s indigenous peoples and an extraordinary achievement in international standard setting. The adoption of Declarationsignals a new mandate for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in this regard, establishing that:
The United Nations, its bodies, including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and specialized agencies, including at the country level, and States shall promote respect for and full application of the provisions of this Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration.
At its seventh session, the UNPFII recommended that the Council authorize an international expert group meeting to discuss in greater detail the way in which the Permanent Forum should address its new mandate under article 42 of the UN Declaration. At its regular session in 2008, ECOSOC approved the Forum’s recommendation in decision 2008/249.
The Expert Group Meeting was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14 to 16 January 2009. It was attended by indigenous experts and UNPFII members as well as interested Member States, UN Agencies and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations. During the meeting, participants were asked to outline approaches that the Permanent Forum can take to promote the implementation of the UN Declaration and to set out methodologies by which the Permanent Forum can fulfill its new responsibilities. Specifically, participants were requested to consider the following discussion points detailed below and make recommendations regarding each.
- Integration of the UN Declaration into the ongoing work of the Permanent Forum
- Capacity development for indigenous and non-indigenous communities and organizations
- Promotion of respect for and full application of the UN Declaration at the State level
- Dialogue with States regarding respect for and application of the UN Declaration and follow up on its effectiveness
- Cooperation within the United Nations system
Following discussions, the expert group recommended that the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues decide to invite participants to the Forum, States in particular, indigenous peoples and UN agencies to submit written reports under Article 42 of the Declaration providing substantive information on the application and implementation of the Declaration at the national and local level; and to appoint a task team consisting of eight members of the Permanent Forum to examine reports and communicate with the submitting parties as may be appropriate. The experts also recommended that the Permanent Forum encourage national human rights institutions and indigenous peoples’ institutions to promote respect for and full implementation of the Declaration at the national and local levels; encourage States to incorporate adequate information on the implementation of the Declaration in the ‘core report’ to the human rights treaty bodies; and recommend that States should ‘in the spirit of harmonious and cooperative relationship with the indigenous peoples’ establish as soon as possible where it does not already exist a national dialogue with indigenous peoples on human rights based on the Declaration .
The meeting also recommended that the Permanent Forum request the Secretary-General to provide an adequate budget for the purpose of meeting the requirements of Article 42 of the Declaration and remind UN agencies to take note of and respond to Article 42 of the Declaration and, as a matter of priority, directly integrate relevant provisions of the Declaration into the respective policies, programs and strategies of each UN agency. Furthermore, such agencies should undertake initiatives, within a reasonable timeframe, to ensure indigenous peoples’ effective engagement, dialogue and negotiations regarding the exercise of their human rights.
The report of the Workshop will be presented to the eighth session of UNPFII. For more information: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/
Publications and Outreach
The UNPFII Message Stick Special Edition March 2009 is now available online. The Message Stick is a quarterly newsletter that highlights the efforts and acitivities of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
Growing Together: Youth and the Work of the United Nations
The brochure is a welcome example of how the United Nations system and the young people it serves are growing together. By taking stock of UN system activities related to youth development, the brochure provides a chance to assess how effectively the United Nations system is responding to this important development challenge, and it helps to identify any gaps that may exist in our approach.
World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009
The world economy is mired in the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. Recent issues of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) had already warned of this risk. The underlying factors analyzed in these reports have now played out and have pushed the world economy into recession.
Integrated Civil Society Organizations System (iCSO)
This consolidated database of civil society information in economic and social affairs provides online participation and facilitates the application procedure for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Accredited NGOs with ECOSOC can also submit their quadrennial reports and designate representatives to international conferences convened by the United Nations.
Users can search and browse more than 12.000 organizations to find out more about their activities, meeting participation and accreditation status in the areas of sustainable and social development, advancement of women, financing for development, forests and public administration.
The NGO Section of DESA has created a new online Calendar of Events, providing information on events and meetings related to economic and social development, taking place at, and around, United Nations headquarters.
The system provides online pre-registration to United Nations meetings and conferences open for civil society participation.
The World Bank has issued a report entitled, Swimming Against the Tide: How Developing Countries are coping with the Global Crisis, in advance of the meeting of the G-20 (full text, pdf). The World Bank predicts that the global economy will shrink for the first time since World War II.
The International Labour Office (ILO) has issued its annual Global Employment Trends report. The report assesses the impact of the global financial crisis on employment, unemployment, working poverty and labour market vulnerability in 2009.
The report of the Secretary-General on the World demographic trends has been issued (E/CN.9/2009/6). According to the report summary, today's world population stands at 6.8 billion and is projected to reach 9 billion in 2045, if fertility continues to decline in developing countries.
Social Development Related Activities conducted by UN Regional Commissions and UN Specialized Agencies
The Links displayed under this section are related to the activities conducted by the United Nations Regional Commissions and UN Specialized Agencies listed below:
Calendar of Events
International Expert Workshop on Indigenous Peoples' Rights:Corporate Accountability and the Extractive Industries, 27-29 March, Manila, Philippines.
Commission on Population and Development
42nd session, New York, 30 March-3 April
Economic and Social Council
Global Preparatory Meeting for the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review
New York, 31 March
Expert Group Meeting on "Family policy in a changing world: Promoting social protection and intergenerational solidarity”
14-16 April, Doha, Qatar
Expert Group Meeting on "Mainstreaming Disability in Millennium Development Goals policies, processes and mechanisms: Development for All”
14-16 April, WHO Headquarters, Geneva
Global Youth Service Day
24-26 April
Special High-level Meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Trade Organization and UNCTAD
New York, 27 April
Expert Group Meeting on "Cooperatives in a world in crisis”
New York, 28-30 April
Economic and Social Council
2009 organizational session (resumed), New York, 29-30 April
The preparations for the
Eighth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are under way. For Further information, please go to the following link:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/session_eighth.html
New York 18-29 May
Multimedia
23 January
Group of 77 is critical to overcome global crisis
At the handover ceremony of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China, Mr. Sha Zukang, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs states that “DESA is directly involved in supporting the Secretary-General in addressing the challenge of climate change” and that the financial crisis is on top of DESA’s agenda. “The full and active participation and collaboration of the G77 and China is vital to forming meaningful outcomes on global challenges like these”, says Mr. Sha. [ Video]
4 February
Press Conference: Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Ambassador Kirsti
Lintonen, Permanent Representative of Finland; Elsa Stamatopoulou from DESA's Division for
Social Policy and Development; and Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs at the
African Union, discuss social integration, the theme of the current Commission for Social
Development session. [Video - English: 33 minutes]
4 February
Social Integration Panel: The Commission held a panel discussion on the priority theme entitled“Social integration” and heard presentations by Mr. Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of the
Netherlands and a member of the Club of Madrid; Ms. Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social
Affairs, African Union; Ms. María Ines da Silva Barbosa, Programme Coordinator, Regional Office
for Brazil and Southern Cone, UNIFEM; and Mr. Bimal Phnuyal, Country Director, ActionAid
Nepal. [Video - English: 2.5 hours]
10 February
Launch of the World Day of Social Justice: Organized by DESA/DSPD and ILO. Opening
remarks by H.E. Kirsti Lintonen, Chairperson of the Commission for Social Development,
Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations. Statements made by the President of
the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant-
Secretary-General, DESA, Ms. Mary Robinson, Founder and President, Realizing Rights: The
Ethical Globalization Initiative and Member of The Elders, Mr. Lucas Benitez, Co-Director,
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Ms. Renana Jhabvala, Self Employed Women’s Association
(SEWA), Ms. Tahirih Naylor, Chair of the NGO Committee on Social Development
[Video - English: 2.5 hours ]
9 February
Emerging Issues Panel: The Commission held a panel discussion on Emerging issues entitled: “The global crises and their impact on social development” and heard presentations by:
Ms. Elsa Stamatopoulou, Acting Director, Division for Social Policy and Development [Video - English: 20 minutes]
Mr. Tariq Banuri (Pakistan), Director, Division for Sustainable Development [ Video - English: 20 minutes]
Ms. Faith Innerarity (Jamaica), Ministry of Information, Culture, and Youth and Sports [Video - English: 20 minutes]
Mr. Xavier Prats-Monné (Spain), Director for employment policy and international relations at the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union [Video - English: 20 minutes]
Mr. Tavengwa Nhongo (Zimbabwe), Africa Policy Director, HelpAge International [Video - English: 20 minutes]
Mr. Henk-Jan Brinkman (Netherlands), World Food Programme
[Video - English: 20 minutes]
Mr. Juho Saari (Finland), University of Kuopio
[Video - English: 20 minutes]
24 February
United Nations University (UNU) Lectures Series Emerging Thinking on Global Issues: "Explaining the Financial Crisis and What It Mean for the Future of Global Development", by Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University and 2001 Nobel Laureate in Economics.
[Video - 1 hour and 29 minutes]
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