Remarks by the President of the
General Assembly,
H.E Philemon Yang,
at the Opening of the 63rd Session of the
Commission for Social Development
Monday, 10 February 2025
[As delivered]
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank the Chair of the 63rd Commission for Social Development, Ambassador Krzysztof Maria Szczerski, for the kind invitation to join you today.
Today, we unite around the common cause of strengthening the solidarity, social inclusion and social cohesion in delivering on the 1995 Copenhagen commitments.
Commitments that place people at the heart of development and direct our economies to meet the human needs of everyone, everywhere.
As we commence the 63rd session, the need for progress is tangible.
With a mere five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must inject momentum into our social justice and equity aims.
In a world of divisions, we must be clear about the challenges we face.
The impact of geopolitical tensions and climate change, rising health inequities and unresolved debt issues continues to ripple across global economies, tearing at the fabric of our communities and societies.
Over the last decade, the income gap between the haves and the have nots has grown, rising above 20 percent.
According to the World Bank, almost 700 million people live in extreme poverty today at this moment.
Millions of them are still struggling to return to the living standards they had known before the COVID-19 pandemic.
All this while, the latest figures indicate that about 4.5 billion people – more than half of the world’s population – are not covered by essential health services.
In 2023, 20 percent of young people were registered as not in employment, education or training – 2 in 3 of them are women.
We must reverse these trends.
By taking a values-based approach to economic development – one that prioritizes people and planet over power and profit – we can indeed quicken our pace to achieve this turnaround.
The social and solidarity economy, which the General Assembly endorsed in December, encompasses these aims and offers a key pathway to sustainable and inclusive growth, one that:
- Empowers local communities,
- Supports decent work,
- Promotes gender equality, and
- Prioritises equitable provision of health care and education and ensures social protection systems.
When every $1 dollar invested in social protection yields $3 dollars of return, measured in improved health and productivity – we literally have everything to gain.
It offers our best shot to ensure we leave no one behind.
Excellencies,
In the words of Nelson Mandela, I quote: “As long as poverty, injustice, and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”
The Second World Summit for Social Development in November will be a key moment to demonstrate what we have learned, assess the gaps, promote human dignity, and offer bold solutions that ensure socially equitable outcomes for future generations.
I thank the Permanent Representatives of Belgium and Morocco for their able leadership, as co-facilitators of the intergovernmental negotiation of the political declaration – the outcome of the Summit.
The Commission’s 63rd session marks a significant juncture in these preparations, and I encourage delegations in their deliberations to extend their outlook towards the Summit by agreeing to the progress we need.
Together, let us embrace solidarity.
Let us pursue innovative economic models and do our utmost, today, to ensure more just and equitable societies for all.
For until then, none of us can truly rest.
I thank you.
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Media Contacts
Sharon Birch, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, Tel: +1 212 963 0564, M: +1 646 342 5873, Email: birchs@un.org
Dr. Mariam Shaikh, Adviser/ Social and Digital Media/Media Relations, M: +1 917 3614990, Email: mariam.shaikh@un.org
