Advocacy Priorities

Commission on Social Development 61st Session 2023 (6-15 February 2023) Advocacy Priorities for full and productive employment and Decent Work.

ADDRESS GROWING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PROTECT, WAGE AND FORMALISATION OF WORK

We call upon member states of the United Nations to:

  • Recognize, redistribute and support unpaid care work with social protection systems and floors and reaffirm that care work is a collective responsibility to be equally shared among men and women, and across society. 
  • Promote formalization of work so that all workers’s rights are protected both in the informal economy and self-employment. 
  • Insist on equal pay for work of equal value between men and women, and establish non-discriminatory livable wages. 
  • Create “Decent Work” by legislation and regulations assuring safe and secure work environments free from abuse, harassment and violence. 
  • Commit to the global implementation of Universal Social Protection Systems and floors, recognized as a way to reduce inequalities, alleviate poverty and honor social inclusion. 
  • Increase sustainable employment opportunities and productivity of labor for low income groups in rural and agricultural areas. 
  • Maximize the benefits of labor migration for origin and destination countries and protect and promote labor rights for all migrant workers, and in particular women migrant workers. 
  • Promote and facilitate the unionization of workers to ensure their protection and rights.

ENACT INCLUSIVE, PEOPLE-CENTERED AND GENDER-SENSITIVE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS.

We call upon member states of the United Nations to:

  • Increase participation of people living in poverty, seeking employment, or needing education and up-skilling in the development of policies and programs to affirm human dignity and eliminate all discriminations. 
  • Encourage transparency and accountability in a rights based approach evaluating gender sensitivity, sustainability, and inclusivity of all program development. 
  • Strengthen trust and reliability through accountability mechanisms between communities, institutions, and other stakeholders, and create safe spaces to empower all members of society to be part of a social dialogue on the ongoing process of sustainable development.

PROVIDE EDUCATION, SKILLING, UP-SKILLING, AND DIGITAL TRAINING, FOR ALL.

We call upon member states of the United Nations to:

  • Ensure affordable access to quality and life-long education so that all people can reach their potential as individuals and contribute to the transformation of a peaceful, prosperous, and human-rights based society. 
  • Ensure a safe working environment and decent pay for educators, and a safe, equitable, inclusive, and healthy learning environment for students. 
  • Promote universal access to the internet and digital technology, as a public good and a right for all. 
  • Provide digital training and mobile technology for all, including persons with disabilities, women and girls, and older adults to eliminate the digital divide.

INVEST IN INITIATIVES AND POLICIES FOR HUMAN CAPITAL CREATION AND REDISTRIBUTION.

We call upon member states of the United Nations to:

  • Invest in human capital through universal health care, education, job training, housing, universal social protections, and in sustainable resilient infrastructure and technology 
  • Extend debt relief and forgiveness for the least developed countries based on values of justice and solidarity 
  • Establish “A Global Fund for Social Protections” to support the least developed countries through official development assistance, increased international cooperation on taxation, and contributions from international financial institutions.

HIGHLIGHT AND ENERGIZE THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS A RENEWED SOCIAL CONTRACT AND THE WORLD SOCIAL SUMMIT IN 2025.

We call upon member states of the United Nations to:

  • Forge a “Renewed” Social Contract anchored in human rights for a new era in which people, states and other actors work together to foster trust, increase participation and inclusion, and redefine human progress and development. 
  • Fully support the call of the Secretary-General’s proposal to hold a World Social Summit at the highest political level in 2025 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Copenhagen Declaration.
SIGN TO SUPPORT THE CIVIL SOCIETY DECLARATION 2023!