Statements and presentations

DAY 1 (Monday, 30 March)

Opening of the Integration Segment [WATCH ARCHIVED VIDEO]

• Opening remarks by the Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, H.E. Mr. Vladimir Drobnjak (Croatia)
• Address by the President of the General Assembly of the sixty-ninth session, H.E. Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa (Uganda)
• Address by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Jan Eliasson

Keynote Addresses

• H.E. Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania
• H.E. Mr. Perry Gladstone Christie, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
• H.E. Mr. Stefan Lofven, Prime Minister of Sweden

Perspectives from Business and Labour

• Ms. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Mr. Daniel Funes de Rioja, President, International Organization of Employers (IOE)

The 'Big Think' on Jobs and Growth [Biographies] [Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Mr. Richard Quest, CNN

Panelists

• H.E. Ms. Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Mobility
• Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization
• Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
• Prof. Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Economics, Columbia University

Mind the gap: How widening inequalities undermine development [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Mr. Matthew Bishop, Globalisation Editor, The Economist

Panelists

• H.E. Mr. Alfonso Navarrete Prida, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mexico
• H.E. Mr. Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister, Human Resources and Social Security, People's Republic of China
• Ms. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Professor Stephanie Seguino, University of Vermont

Report back from country level consultation in Indonesia, "Achieving sustainable development through employment creation and decent work for all"

• H.E. Mr. Hanif Dhakiri, Minister of Manpower, Indonesia (Biography)

Report back from preparatory meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lima, Peru. Consultations on, "Decent Work, Climate Change and Sustainable Development"

• H.E. Ambassador Maria Emma Mejia Velez, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council

Voices from the Real Economy [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Dr Michael Shank, Director of Media Strategy at Climate Nexus and Senior Fellow at the JustJobs Network

Panelists

• H.E. Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala, Deputy Mayor of Durban, South Africa
• Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Director of SEWA Bharat
• Ms. Vicenta Trotman, Community leader and member of the Administrative Board of Rural Water Supply in the Ngabe-Bugle indigenous territory of the No-Kribo region, Panama
• Mr. Paul Hazen, Executive Director, Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC), International Co-operative Alliance

 

DAY 2 (Tuesday, 31 March)

10:00 - 11:30

Solutions to Climate Change: Growing Decent Jobs [Biographies] [Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Mr. Michael Renner, Senior Researcher, The Worldwatch Institute (moderator)

Panelists

• H.E. Mr. Miles Sampa, Deputy Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia
• Professor Robert Pollin, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts [Presentation]
• Ms. Gayle Schueller, Vice President, Global Sustainability, 3M Company [Presentation]
• Mr. Peter Poschen, Director, Job Creation and Enterprise Development Department, ILO (discussant)

Making Dignity and Prosperity the Norm [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Keynote:

• Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Moderator

• H.E. Ambassador Benedicte Frankinet, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations and Co-Chair of the Group of Friends of Decent Work for Sustainable Development (Moderator)

Participants

• H.E. Mr. Luis Eduardo Garzon, Minister of Labour, Colombia
• H.E. Mr. Radosław Mleczko, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Poland
• Mr. Phil Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union
• Mr. Edward E. Potter, Chair of Labour and Employment Committee of the United States Council for International Business; and Director of Global Workplace Rights, The Coca-Cola Company

Assessing progress 20 Years after Beijing and Copenhagen

• H.E. Ambassador Simona Mirela Miculescu, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations and Chairperson of the Commission for Social Development
• H.E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations and Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women

At Work in Africa [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• H.E. Ambassador Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins, Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations and Co-Chair of the Group of Friends of Decent Work for Sustainable Development (moderator)

Participants

• H.E. Mr. Ebrahim Patel, Minister for Economic Development, South Africa
• H.E. Mr. Hakim Ben Hammouda, Former Minister of Finance, Special Advisor to the African Development Bank (AfDB) President
• Mr. Aeneas Chuma, Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, ILO
• Mr. Alioune Sall, Executive Director of the African Futures Institute

Discussant

• Mr. Maged Abdelaziz, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa

General debate

South Africa on behalf of G77 and China, France, Belgium, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan and Switzerland

 

DAY 3 (Wednesday, 1 April)

Finding the Opportunities: Matching Education and Skills to Market Demands [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Mr. Antonio Prado, Deputy Executive Secretary, ECLAC (moderator)

Participants

• H.E. Ms. Omobola Johnson, Minister, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Nigeria and Chairperson of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD)
• Ms. Elizabeth A. Vazquez, CEO and Co-Founder, WeConnect International
• Mr. Ron Bruder, Founder, Education for Employment
• Mr. Zach Sims, Co-founder and CEO, Codecademy

General debate

Trinidad and Tobago, Italy, India, Paraguay, Tunisia, Russian Federation, Canada [EN, FR], Honduras, Republic of Korea, Panama, Israel, Rwanda, Albania, Argentina, Australia, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Means of Implementation: Financing for Development and Partnerships for Decent Work [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• H.E. Mr. George Wilfred Talbot, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, and Co-Facilitator of the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development

Participants

• H.E. Dr. Rania Antonopoulos, Alternate Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, Greece (via video link)
• Prof. Dr. Robert Shiller, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Economics, Yale University
• Mr. Martin Khor, Executive Director, The South Centre
• Mr. Richard Kozul-Wright, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD (Discussant)

16:15-17:45    Wanted: 600 Million Jobs! [Biographies][Watch archived video]

Moderator

• Mr. Ali Velshi, Host, Al Jazeera America (Moderator)

Participants

• H.E. Mr. Alexander Mora, Minister of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica
• Ms. Marie-José Nadeau, Chair of the World Energy Council
• Mr. Pavan Sukhdev, Founder-CEO of GIST Advisory
• Dr. NS Rajan, Chief Human Resources Officer and Member of the Group Executive Council, Tata Group

Closing Remarks

• Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Mr. Thomas Gass, Assistant-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, UN-DESA
• H.E. Mr. Vladimir Drobnjak, Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council