Norway

2022 Vienna Discussion Forum: Women on the Move

The Permanent Missions of Finland, Norway, and Sweden in Vienna, together with UNODC and UNIDO, invite you to the 2022 Vienna Discussion Forum: “Women on the Move – Surviving Forced Displacement and Building a New Life

The VDF is a hybrid meeting, taking place in MS Teams or in person in the Vienna International Centre, Conference room 4 (7th floor C-Building). Register here!

Agenda:

Opening Remarks

· Ghada Waly, Executive Director, UNODC 

· Fatou Haidara, Managing Director, Directorate of Global Partnerships & External Relations, UNIDO

· Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland

· Nadia Murad, Nadia’s Initiative, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador and survivor of human trafficking

Panel Discussion

· Ilias Chatzis, Chief, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC

· Ciyong Zou, Managing Director, Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development, UNIDO

· Anna Ekstedt, Ambassador-at-large for Combating Trafficking in Persons, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

· Sarah A Tobin, Research Director, Christian Michelsen Institute

Closing Remarks

· Felipe González Morales, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

 

Background:

The 2022 Vienna Discussion Forum (VDF) will discuss the importance of ensuring that measures to address migration and displacement are gender-responsive and take a human rights-centred approach. This includes understanding the gendered displacement patterns caused by human insecurity and conflict situations, providing effective support for both women and men in their transit to their final destination, safeguarding them from human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as supporting them once they have arrived in their final destination through economic empowerment.

Through drawing on the mandates of UNODC and UNIDO, the discussion will identify how the organisations can support the international community in developing gender-responsive policies, programmes and measures to address migration and displacement.

The Vienna Discussion Forum is an annual event to discuss gender equality and the empowerment of women in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Details on the 2021 Forum can be found here and here. Details on the 2020 Forum can be found here and here. Details on the inaugural 2019 Forum can be found here and here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons, please visit ngocstip.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Protecting Education from Attack: A Call for Improving Data Monitoring and Policy Response

Virtual side event to the ECOSOC High-Level Political Forum

The event will be entirely virtual, with simultaneous translation provided in English and French. Please register here, by Tuesday, 5 July, to participate. The event will also be livestreamed on UN Web TV.

Background

Attacks on education have harrowing effects, ranging from tragic deaths on account of damage to physical infrastructure, psychological injuries and threats that lead to school disruption and loss of learning over time. Long recognized by the international community in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Right to Education obliges Member States to ensure its protection, respect, and fulfilment for all. In contexts of armed conflict, this inalienable human right has been further reiterated and reinforced by international humanitarian law and other prominent soft law mechanisms and tools, such as the Safe Schools Declaration and its guidelines, which aim to protect schools from military use. However, as it stands, the right to education is denied for many conflict-affected children and other vulnerable populations who fall victim to attacks on education. To this end, much needs to be done to ensure stronger evidence-based policies and conducive environments at the national level for the effective implementation of international legal frameworks.

Objectives

Organized in the margins of the ECOSOC High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the virtual side-event will underscore the need for Member States to ensure full protection of the right to education in times of armed conflict, and will particularly aim to enhance government capacities to formulate and implement evidence-based policies on attacks on education within national data systems to better guide their actions towards realizing SDG 4. More particularly, this virtual event will bring together UN Member States, UN agencies and education stakeholders to highlight key challenges and promising practices around the following objectives:

  •  Inform key stakeholders on data, policy measures and tools needed to strengthen national capacities in order to effectively review, respond, prevent, and mitigate occurrences of attacks on education and military use of schools to better deliver and accelerate progress towards SDG 4.
  • Identify linkages for Member States to strengthen national action on data collection and analysis on attacks on education as enhanced data collection and management will allow for better-informed robust policies to prevent, mitigate and respond to attacks on education and ensure educational continuity for all during times of peace and war.
  • Promote greater quality and institutionalization of attacks on education data into national education systems to foster greater national ownership and increased harmonization and integration into education sector policies and plans. This will further enable the inclusion of the most vulnerable populations in crisis contexts while bridging the humanitarian-development divide in delivering education for all.
  • Secure further introduction of tools especially designed to assist refugees and vulnerable migrants, in particular Qualifications Passport for Refugees as a recognition tool particularly designed for these individuals.
  • Identify key recommendations on how to engage with international actors and mechanisms and optimize national actions in line with ongoing preparations for the Transforming Education Summit (TES), which aims to strengthen and accelerate the implementation of existing multilateral agreements, particularly the 2030 Agenda framework, and galvanize action towards meeting SDG4 goals at the national and global levels.

Organizers

This virtual event is co-organized by Belgium, Malta, Norway, the State of Qatar, Gabon, UNESCO and OSRSG-CAAC.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

Girls and Women: Leading the Charge to Ensure #LearningNeverStops

This virtual event will offer an intergenerational space for dialogue and profile the extraordinary steps taken by extraordinary girls and women of all ages and in all contexts to support girls’ continuity in learning and their safe return to school.

This event will take place on Zoom, with simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish. Register here to participate. The event will be livestreamed on the UNWebTV.

Background:

In April 2020, schooling was disrupted for over 1.5 billion learners in more than 190 countries following nationwide closures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Today, a year into the crisis, over 800 million students are still out of school, students are on average losing two-thirds of an academic year and more than 20 million girls are projected to be at risk of dropping out.

This unprecedented disruption to education has the potential to roll back substantial gains made on girls’ education in recent decades, with broader immediate and longer-term effects on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to poverty reduction, health and well-being, inclusive quality education and gender equality.

The priority theme of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) recognises the critical role girls and women play as leaders and decision-makers in all aspects of public life to achieve gender equality, eliminate gender-based violence, and empower women and girls. This virtual event, held on the sidelines of CSW, will offer an intergenerational space for dialogue, and profile the extraordinary steps taken by extraordinary girls and women of all ages and in all contexts to support girls’ continuity of learning during school closures and return to school.

On March 24, leaders will aim to speak on behalf of the millions of at-risk girls whose voices are going unheard. They will highlight the essential need to build back equal through gender-transformative education systems that end harmful gender norms, free girls and boys from narrow aspirations and enable them to work together in the classroom today for a more equal world tomorrow.

This CSW65 event is hosted by UNESCO, PLAN International, the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of the Argentine Republic to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, and the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. 

Education for Sustainable Development: A Driver for Building Back Better

Consisting of a briefing session and a panel discussion on the crucial role of Education for Sustainable Development as a key enabler of successful achievement of the SDGs, especially within the context of Building Back Better from the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will provide a platform for participants from the UN Member States, UNESCO, other intergovernmental organizations and academia will engage with audience members.

Register here.

The virtual briefing will bring together Member States, key UN agencies and education experts around 4 objectives:

  • Highlight ways to harness the transformative power of ESD in achieving sustainable societies and sensitize the UN membership on the latest developments and trends;
  • Share the best practices on how ESD can contribute to building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • Facilitate exchange of good practices and provide a platform for the UN Member States to engage with key UN agencies and leading education experts on advancing ESD and integrating it into education plans and programmes;
  • Provide updates on the preparation and objectives of the upcoming World Conference on ESD.

The briefing session on Education for Sustainable Development is organized by the Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning, as co-chaired by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Czech Republic, Japan, Kenya and Norway, together with UNESCO.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

International Equal Pay Day

On behalf of the EPIC Secretariat we are pleased to invite you to participate in the celebration of the first ever International Equal Pay Day on 18th September 2020 at 15h00 CEST.  Please register here.

Panellists:

The event will be moderated by Conversational Strategist Nozipho Tshabalala

Remarks:

Call to action:

You may find a more detailed invitation here in multiple languages:
Arabic | English | French | Spanish | Russian

To help us promote the event further on social media, please follow us on twitter @EPIC2030 and visit our new LinkedIn page.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women – Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women – NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women – Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch.

[HLPF virtual side event] Green Economy & COVID-19 Recovery

PAGE (Partnership for Action on Green Economy) @ #HLPF2020

Green Economy & COVID-19 Recovery: Implications for the Decade of Action

Join the virtual conversation: How can a green economic recovery contribute to accelerated action on the Sustainable Development Goals?

As we enter the Decade of Action and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must unlock the opportunity to build a better tomorrow. Green recovery responses will not only address the root causes of the current crisis but also build resilience to future economic shocks and accelerate action towards the achievement of inclusive sustainable development.

Drawing on the unique expertise of the Partnership and its commitment to supporting action on green economy, this high-level panel discussion will connect how targeted policies and investments can create jobs and income while addressing global sustainability challenges. This conversation will rally around renewed commitment towards the Sustainable Development Goals and climate and biodiversity targets, highlighting the ways in which an inclusive green economic recovery can support the Decade of Action.

Register now: mailchi.mp/8928be644e7c/page-hlpf-registration

Moderation by: Nozipho Tshabalala, Conversation Strategist and Global Moderator

Distinguished Speakers:

  • Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
  • Omar Paganini, Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Uruguay
  • Arifin Rudiyanto, Deputy Minister for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources, Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia
  • Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade and green Digital Economy, Kingdom of Morocco
  • Sveinung Rotevatn, Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway, and President, United Nations Environment Assembly
  • Claudio Moroni, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Argentina
  • Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs of the Republic of South Africa
  • Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme
  • Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization
  • Li Yong, Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  • Nikhil Seth, Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information, on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development-NY, visit ngosonffd.org. 

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