financing for development

20 Years of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and 20 Years UNECE Regional Implementation Strategy (RIS): Experiences, Achievements and the Way Forward

International Federation on Ageing invite you to join a virtual event in collaboration with NGO Committee on Ageing Vienna and Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (Austria):

20 Years Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) 20 Years UNECE Regional Implementation Strategy (RIS): Experiences, Achievements and the Way Forward

Please register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAsfuqhqD8rH9JeeDdWbD5_AJDsVYL6s

Speakers:

  • Alexandre Sidorenko Head of the UN Programme on Ageing 1988-2009 From Vienna to Madrid: The Role of the UN Programme on Ageing Erika Winkler Chair of the UNECE Working Group on Ageing 2010-2017 Austrian Initiative to Establish an UNECE Standing Working Group on Ageing
  • Dirk Jarré President of the European Federation of Older Persons Learning from Experience: The Role of NGOs and the Way Forward Frances Zainoeddin Vice Chair of the NGO Committee on Ageing New York MIPAA and What Else for Older Persons?
  • Vitalija Gaucaite-Wittich Secretary of the UNECE Standing Working Group on Ageing Sustainability of the Intergovernmental Work on Ageing
  • Christoph Angster Austrian representative at the OEWG-A Synergies of the MIPAA Network and the OEWG-A
  • Amal Abou Rafeh Director of the UN Programme on Ageing News from UN Regarding 20 Years MIPAA and the Way Forward

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit  ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org

Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

INVITATION

CIVIL SOCIETY MEETING

Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

Monday, 2 November 2020, 9:00-11:30 AM EDT

 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the social and economic crisis it triggered are threatening the well-being of billions of people and risk derailing the global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and address the growing climate emergency. In some parts of the world, the pandemic is fast turning into a humanitarian crisis, pushing entire populations into a state of acute food deprivation. International cooperation and solidarity among all stakeholders are imperatives to respond to the crisis induced by the pandemic and ensure an inclusive, sustainable and prosperous future.

On 28 May 2020, the Prime Ministers of Canada, Jamaica and the Secretary-General convened a High-Level Event on “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond” to join forces with Heads of State and Government, international organizations, and other key partners to enable discussions of concrete financing solutions to the COVID-19 health and development emergency, guided by the roadmap set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Six Member States-led Discussion Groups, including civil society representatives, produced a comprehensive and bold menu of policy options to survive and build back better from this crisis, which were presented to Finance Ministers at a High-Level Meeting on 8 September and to Heads of State and Government at a Leaders’ Meeting at 29 September.

Building on this initiative, the meeting will provide an open and inclusive space for dialogue between civil society and the UN Secretary-General in order to explore critical pathways to better recover from the crisis and systemic solutions to fix our broken global economic architecture. In focusing on development financing, the meeting will put a human face to the challenges exposed and magnified by the pandemic, including the intersections between systemic economic reforms and the challenges and demands of peoples and their communities.

Please indicate your intention to attend this Roundtable by registering here by Saturday, October 31st, at 5PM EDT.

 

For more information, please visit the website or email sdgfinancing@un.org

 

We hope you will join us for this exciting event.

Best wishes,

The SDG Financing Team

Civil Society Meeting

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Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

Monday, 2 November 2020, 9:00-11:30AM ET

Provisional Agenda

Opening Segment

Master of Ceremony Ms. Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

  • Opening Statement by H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Remarks by H.E. Munir Akram, President of ECOSOC
  • Remarks by H.E. Bob Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada
  • Remarks by H.E. Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica
  • Presentation of Financing for Development Initiative by Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda
  • Remarks by Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian People’s Movement on Debt & Development (APMDD)

Interlude 1 – Video Testimonial from Lima, Peru

Dialogue 1 –A New Global Economic Consensus to advance the 2030 Agenda

The first dialogue will focus on strategies proposed by civil society to strengthen the role of the United Nations in establishing a new global economic consensus to advance the agendas of human rights, gender equality, climate and sustainable development.

Moderator: Patricia Miranda, Global Advocacy Director, Red Latinoamericana por Justicia Económica y Social (LATINDADD)

  • A new feminist economy

Bhumika Muchhala, Third World Network and Women’s Working Group on FfD

  • Reconnecting UN processes on human rights & economic governance

Kate Donald, Director of Program, Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)

  • The UN role in promoting a Just Transition

David Boys, Deputy General Secretary, Public Services International (PSI)

  • Relaunching a vibrant UN process on Trade & Development

Tetteh Hormeku, Head of Programmes, Third World Network Africa

  • Strengthening the normative dimensions of the UN STI process

Elenita Daño, Co-Executive Director, ETC Group

  • Open Dialogue with interventions from the floor (2 min interventions)
    • Mohammed Ali Loutfy, Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities
    • Interventions from the floor

Interlude 2 – Multilingual music performance featuring artists from Latin America, Africa and Asia

Dialogue 2 – Menu of Options for Development Financing: Need to Focus on Strengthening Fiscal & Policy Space for Socio-Economic Transformation

The second dialogue will focus on civil society’s responses and proposals with respect to the Menu of Options, highlighting the elements of the menu that civil society supports and stressing the need for clear criteria on which elements on the menu the UN should focus on in order to strengthen fiscal & policy space for socio-economic transformation of developing countries.

Moderator: Jean Letitia Saldanha, Director, European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD)

  • Debt Sustainability

Farooq Tariq, General Secretary, Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee

  • Illicit Financial Flows

Caroline Othim, Policy Coordinator for Africa, Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ)

  • Intersection of Debt and Illicit Financial Flows with Food, Health and Education

Rebecca Malay, Co-Chair, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)

  • Global Liquidity and Financial Regulation

Artemisa Montes Sylvan, Executive Director, Mexican Observatory on Crises (OMEC)

  • Fiscal Consolidation, Austerity and Privatization of Public Services

Magdalena Sepulveda, Executive Director, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)

  • Need for a special focus on Social Protection

Nicola Wiebe, Social Protection Advisor, Bread for the World and Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors

  • Open Dialogue with interventions from the floor (2 min interventions)
    • Helen Saldanha, NGO Committee on Financing for Development
    • Paul Divakar, Asia Dalits Rights Forum
    • Interventions from the floor

Interlude 3 – Musical and dancing performance on social protection Closing Segment

Master of Ceremony Ms. Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

  • Concluding remarks by civil society:

Peter Kamalingin, Pan Africa Program Director, Oxfam International

Beverly Longid, Co-Chair, CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE)

  • Concluding remarks by Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

Closing Testimonial – Poem by Marumbo

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CoNGO Notes: To know more about the work of the NGO Committee on Financing for Development-NY, including how to become a member, send an email to its Chair, Anita Thomas, at ngosonffd@gmail.com, and visit their website, ngosonffd.org/.  See also the Committee’s social media handle on Facebook: NGOsOnFfD and @NGOsonFfD. 

Intersessional Meeting of the COP to the UN Convention Against Corruption: Asset Recovery

Intersessional meeting of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption: Thematic focus on asset recovery (Vienna)

This meeting is second of five preparatory meetings to be held before the Special Session of the General Assembly Against Corruption.

Tentative timeline available here: https://ungass2021.unodc.org/uploads/ungass2021/documents/session1/UNGASS2021_tentative_timeline.pdf

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

Public Dialogue with IATF on FfD: 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office, you are cordially invited to an informal public dialogue with the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (IATF on FFD) on the 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) on Tuesday, 17 November 2020, 10:00 – 11:00 EDT. Please find attached the draft agenda and link to the draft 2021 FSDR outline.

We welcome the participation of all delegations and all stakeholders to this briefing and look forward to your contributions to the dialogue.

All relevant information on the briefing is available on the Task Force website. Please send any queries to developmentfinance@un.org. Contact/explore the Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations: www.un.org/esa/ffd

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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 Social Development-Vienna, please visit https://ngocsdvienna.org/. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development-NY, please visit ngosocdev.org.

#75Words4Disarmament Congratulatory Event

#75Words4Disarmament Congratulatory Event by the #Youth4Disarmament Initiative
On Friday 23 October, watch the event live here: Join the Webex Event

If prompted, enter the following info:
Event number: 173 015 6470
Event password: WDYC2020

Background: In commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs held the “#75Words4Disarmament Youth Challenge”, which was launched on 12 August, the International Youth Day, and was closed on 26 September, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The “#75Words4Disarmament Youth Challenge” invited young people around the world to express what disarmament means to them and their communities in 75 words. The challenge provided an opportunity to think about disarmament not as an abstract concept, but as a practical means to help prevent armed conflict and promote peace and security.

The challenge was open to young people between the ages of 13 and 29, with three age groups: 13 to 18 years (middle and high school), 19 to 24 years (college and graduate school) and 25 to 29 years (early career professionals). The five winners from each group were selected by the panel of judges and will be announced at the congratulatory event at 9 a.m. (EDT) on Monday, 26 October, marking the Disarmament Week.

At the event, the winners will be announced by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and the young people’s concerns and cares for disarmament and ways for further youth engagement will be shared.

Our distinguished speakers:

Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
H.E. Mr. CHO Hyun, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN
Ms. Isa Begemann, UN Youth Champion for Disarmament
First Prize Winners

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights, please email the co-chair at marjones@nyc.rr.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

[5-year UN observance] World Statistics Day

At its 41st Session in February 2010, the United Nations Statistical Commission proposed celebrating 20 October 2010 as World Statistics Day (Decision 41/109).

Acknowledging that the production of reliable, timely statistics and indicators of countries’ progress is indispensable for informed policy decisions and monitoring implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the General Assembly adopted on 3 June 2010 resolution 64/267, which officially designated 20 October 2010 as the first ever World Statistics Day under the general theme “Celebrating the many achievements of official statistics.”

In 2015, with resolution 96/282, the General Assembly decided to designate 20 October 2015 as the second World Statistics Day under the general theme “Better data, better lives,” as well as to celebrate World Statistics Day every five years on 20 October.

Register for the World Data Forum, Oct. 19 – 21, here: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/undataforum/index.html

Program & agenda for the Forum available here.

{Virtual} UN75 Global Governance Forum (Day 1)

OPENING PLENARY

9:00am – 10:30am

Livestream Link: https://livestream.com/accounts/22723452/UN75GGForumSept16

Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/REUF-0065

CONCURRENT DIALOGUES

Post-COVID Recovery and the Future of Global Economic and Social Governance
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86964411976  Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/BBWD-3967

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has tracked more than 25 million confirmed cases of the virus globally, already causing nearly 850 thousand deaths (by 1 September 2020). The remarkable speed, global reach, and ease by which the virus crossed borders and is being transmitted between people have sent stock markets tumbling worldwide, with the World Bank projecting the deepest global recession since World War II (an estimated 5.2 percent contraction in global GDP in 2020). This excessive volatility, the sudden drop in confidence by consumers, and severe knock-on economic and social effects have resulted in a swift overnight contraction in cross-border finance, trade, air travel, and other sectors of our hyperconnected global economy, as well as millions of job losses. This session will examine measures to overhaul our system of global economic and social governance, both to respond to the immediate challenge of recovery from COVID-19 and redouble efforts to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Rethinking the World’s System of Collective Security 75 Years After San Francisco
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89314705291 Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/JJUP-0643

75 years after its inception, the United Nations faces daunting challenges regarding one of its main tasks: the maintenance of international peace and security. Multiple, concurrent, and recurring intrastate conflicts, exploited by international state and non-state actors, have reversed the declining global trends in political violence witnessed since the end of the Cold War, fueling refugee movements and human suffering, particularly in the fragile and less developed countries. Moreover, the modernization of nuclear weapons arsenals and the collapse of the existing control and disarmament regimes are adding to the global threat scenario. At the same time, the growing roles of women, civil society organizations, and businesses, whose voices are amplified through modern communications technologies, offer new opportunities for effective peacebuilding and governance reform and renewal while more research illustrates the effectiveness of organizing and nonmilitary approaches to security. The complexity of the 21st-century challenges to global peace and security requires a far-reaching overhaul of a peace and security architecture with the United Nations at its core. This discussion, therefore, takes off with a set of proposed reforms to the peace and security architecture of the United Nations that were developed in expert discussions prior to the September 2020 Forum.

Reimagining the Global Human Rights and Humanitarian Architecture
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84866014310 Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/XXTS-2744

Though a latecomer to the United Nations system’s informal “pillar structure” (and despite fears of backsliding in recent years), human rights has assumed over the past two decades a central space on the United Nations Agenda, alongside more traditional concerns with peace and security and sustainable development. Similarly, with the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, the worst refugee crisis worldwide since the Second World War, and proliferation of urgent human needs accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic, the viability and design of the global humanitarian system has also moved to the forefront of international policy-making. This session will explore steps to reimagine and improve the global human rights and humanitarian architecture, leveraging the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary Commemoration and Declaration in novel ways to ensure that “We The Peoples” drive deliberations on the future of global governance.

Climate Governance: The Paris Agreement and Beyond
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86051900433 Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/XVKP-4679

The currently inadequate global governance mechanisms leave humanity exposed to unacceptable levels of risk. Climate and ecological related risks are also interwoven with knock-on effects across other sectors. The window for action is narrowing for the international community, and the current situation calls for unprecedented levels of international cooperation and exponential action across every region of the world, and across the global economy. In response to these catastrophic risks, a number of new business models and technical solutions have been developed and are increasingly being accepted and implemented. However, a truly transformational shift away from a fossil fuel dependency will require global governance solutions that facilitate existing and new ways of delivering on policy goals as described in the Paris Agreement and beyond. This session will explore the leverage points in global climate governance which may allow for solutions to scale and to catalyze the necessary transformation.

A Global Civic Ethic, Countering Rising Nationalism, and The Future of Global Governance
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 12:00 – 1:30 pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84617435437 Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/MHTX-2168

Especially in an age of rising nationalism, modernizing and making more inclusive our institutions of global governance requires more than creative, often technocratic proposals recommending new tools and structural change. True global governance transformation must be underpinned by a moral and ethical vision for a more just, inclusive, sustainable, and peaceful world. Drawing insights and teachings from major world religions, philosophers, public intellectuals, and other global civil society actors, this session will speak to the moral and ethical principles associated with growing emergence of a Global Civic Ethics and the accompanying notions of global responsibility and citizenship. The roots of — and effective strategies for countering — exclusive forms of nationalism (which undermine and erode efforts to strengthen global cooperation and responsibility) will also be explored.

The Future of Philanthropy in Global Governance
Day and time: Day 1, September 16, 12:00 – 1:30 pm EST

Livestream Webinar Link: https://livestream.com/accounts/22723452/UN75GGForumFOP                                                       Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/YYTU-3866

This lively and interactive session will feature leading voices in the philanthropic sector working, in partnership with civil society, the private sector, governments, and the UN system, to build a more inclusive, effective, and just system of global governance. The dialogue will be framed around the past and present advances in global governance philanthropy, as well as future considerations for philanthropy and global governance systems. It will consider how philanthropic institutions worldwide can best empower and catalyze other partners seeking to achieve progressive changes in the global governance architecture, to better address issues of equitable sustainable development, human rights, and peace and security.

Technology, Financing and Global Governance Partnerships for Good Global Citizenship
Day and time: Day 1, Sept. 16, 12:00 – 1:30pm EST

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89808827586 Translation Link: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/FJZN-0000

In this challenging time, the need for universal connectivity and inclusive finance is greater than ever before. With the backdrop of the United Nations’ 75th anniversary, this session will explore how rapid advances in technology for digital cooperation and new perspectives of global citizens (private and corporate, national and multinational) can advance a more fair global economy for the better. The speakers include thought leaders who are innovating how global collective action problems can be addressed in our hyperconnected global economy. This interactive dialogue will give special attention to transformative approaches for fostering a more secure, just, equitable, and environmentally sustainable recovery to the COVID-19 crisis.

[Virtual Monthly Meeting] NGO Committee on Financing for Development – NY

Dear Committee Members,
 
The next  NGO Committee on Financing for Development meeting will take place by Zoom  on July 1 from 1:00- 3:45 pm.  I am thrilled to share that Dr. Lester Salamon, Director of the Center for Civil Society Studies, Johns Hopkins University will be joining us from 2:00 – 2:45 pm to speak on “Philanthropication” a people-centered approach to development financing. We have extended our normal meeting time by 15 minutes as Dr. Salamon has requested a bit more time for his presentation.  
 
Dr. Salamon is a world renowned expert on civil society organizations and pioneered the empirical study of the nonprofit sector in the United States and has extended this work to other parts of the world. He has published more than 20 books including  Philanthropication thru Privatization: Building Permanent Endowments for the Common Good (il Mulino Press) where he investigates a way to capture all or a portion of the enormous privatization transactions under way around the world for autonomous charitable endowments serving the social and economic needs of citizens. Please review the background documents uploaded to the shared folder and do come prepared with questions and to engage in the conversation. 
 
Please also invite any of your colleagues who might have an interest in this topic. 
 
The Zoom invitation is included below. Please note that you will need to register to access the meeting
 

When: Jul 1, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkceCtrTIiHNI2NNN9Z93U445N5Ad6iSTB

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 
All documents (listed below) for the meeting, including background materials for Dr. Salamon’s presentation are being uploaded to the July1 2020 Google folder . You can access the link here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pOpDnKlwA6O0TiTcV6wdh9MwXx9rQcq6?usp=sharing
1. Meeting material
  • Agenda for the July 1 meeting
  • Minutes of the June 3meeting” 
  • Annual report and financial report
  • Project description 
2.COVID-19 (& FfD related) reading materials
 
3. Upcoming events and other updates (please email me information on any upcoming events to be posted )
 
Best,
 
Anita Thomas 
Chair, NGO Committee on Financing for Development,
A Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN (CoNGO) 
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