IPA

The United Nations ECOSOC holds its Substantive Session during the month of July annually in alternative years in UN Headquarters, New York and Geneva. The month-long Session includes the two key functions of ECOSOC – Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and once in two years the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) during the first week. The purpose of the month-long event is to…

• assess progress in achieving the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals
• hear national voluntary presentations on progress and challenges with regard to development
• debate on the annual thematic review
• enhance cooperation, coordination, coherence in the efforts among development partners.

This year, the Session is held in New York with the theme “Promoting productive capacity and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth at all levels for achieving the Millennium Development Goals”. See http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/.

The UN ECOSOC provides opportunity to NGOs to contribute to the preparatory process during the month-long Session. IPA’s contributions were:

• In response to the call by ECOSOC, a written statement ‘Addressing root causes of inequality’ was submitted early April 2012
• A request to make an oral statement (2nd item) ‘Investing in agriculture pays high dividend in terms of quality of life and dignity for rural people living in poverty’.
• We avail the opportunity to make interventions when appropriate while participating in some of the events of Substantive Session.

Some Highlights from AMR and DCF 2-9 July 2012:

• More than 500 Ministers, Member States, Parliamentarians and Civil Society members have participated in the event. IPA members – Alice Jones (Friends of Nano from Texas), Mary McFadden and Fatima Rodrigo – were among them!
• Eight countries including Ecuador made National Voluntary Presentations re what works at national level in the efforts towards achieving development goals.
• Global concerns raised included: 205 million people are unemployed – in particular the issue of youth unemployment; inequality – uneven progress within and between countries in achieving the development goals; impact of climate change on development; debt crisis; the present economic model is not working for all; commitment to Official Development Assistance (ODA) has not been kept other than the five Nordic countries.
• Zambia expressed concern over the irresponsible behavior of mining extractive industries polluting the rivers with effluent from the industries causing illness and death; people are not aware of their rights to sue the company; the need for people to be educated.
• Norway is a role model for aid effectiveness; Norway does not give aid with one hand and take away with many hands; Gender equality and women’s participation in Norway leads to immense wealth.
• Social Protection Floor (SPF) can deliver MDGs overnight; SPF is affordable; 11 trillion dollars held in off-shore assets by high net worth individuals denies the world global taxation around 240 billion US dollars, that is three times the collective aid delivered by the rich nations as ODA to the poor nations. (Click here for the International Trade Union Confederation Keynote Address)
• While reviewing the commitments made in the Ministerial Declaration 2011 on the development goals on education, Member States expresses the need to focus on quality education, secondary and tertiary education and technical education.
• After the week-long debate, the Member States adopted a Ministerial Declaration (link) with reservations expressed by some countries. Commitments include…
• • • to work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection and thereby to benefit all
    • to promote opportunities for full, freely chosen and productive employment as well as decent work for all, with full respect for fundamental principles and rights at work under conditions of non-discrimination, equity, equality, security and dignity
    • to make further progress on the themes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, namely, a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development
    • to improve food security, access to goods and services and the development of employment along the agricultural value chain, as well as trade capacity-building in the agricultural sector, so as to raise incomes in both the farm and non-farm sectors in rural areas and to help poor households cope with higher food prices, and reiterate the importance of empowering rural women as critical agents for enhancing agricultural and rural development and food security and nutrition
    • to enhance and strengthen domestic resource mobilization and fiscal space, including, where appropriate, through modernized tax systems, more efficient tax collection, the broadening of the tax base and the effective combating of tax evasion and capital flight
    • to focus on the needs of those living in or who are vulnerable to poverty and to give particular consideration to universal access to basic social security systems, recognizing that social protection floors can provide a systemic base from which to address poverty and vulnerability
    • to support national regulatory and policy frameworks that enable business and industry to advance sustainable development initiatives, taking into account the importance of corporate social responsibility.

Reflection

By adopting the Ministerial Declaration, the UN Member States have committed to work together to promote inclusive and equitable economic growth to reach the Millennium Development Goals with a specific focus on job creation and eradication of poverty. In the words of Economic and Social Council President Miloš Koterec, “When you see young people on the street yearning for work, then you see how important it is for us to get our act together.”

The Ministerial Declaration 2012 could be used as a source of reference for our advocacy works – at local, national, international levels – in relation to IPA’s decision to address the root causes of poverty. Lessons learnt from the advocacy works at various levels could be used as the basis for a collective informed IPA global statement during the 2013 Annual Ministerial Review when UN Member States will review the progress made in the implementation of the commitments made in the Ministerial Declaration 2012.

Fatima Rodrigo pbvm and Mary McFadden pbvm

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