industrial policy

UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development

Education for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Our planet and its inhabitants are under increasing pressure: Human-induced climate change, limited and recklessly exploited resources, rising temperatures and sea levels, pollution and shrinking biodiversity are just a few of the issues governments and populations face around the world. The current Covid-19-pandemic amplifies existing weaknesses and challenges in our societies.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is crucial to empower people to have the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to meet these crises and other sustainable development challenges. The new ESD for 2030 framework provides us with an important opportunity to move away from the disastrous path of climate and other emergencies by transforming our societies through education.

The UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development will highlight the crucial role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a key enabler for the successful achievement of all SDGs, the COVID rebuilding process, and to create momentum for strengthening ESD in policy and practice.

The Conference will take place as virtual event. Further information on participation and how to register for the Conference will be made available shortly on this website. Read the full concept note here.

All UNESCO Member States will be invited to attend the event and nominate a delegation including participants from diverse backgrounds.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-New York, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on 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. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

What the World Wants: A Briefing on the UN75 Global Consultation

On Friday 15 January, from 1630 to 1745 GMT / 1130 to 1245 EST, the UN’s 75th anniversary team will partner with UN entities based in the UK to hold a policy briefing on the findings of the global consultation conducted to mark the Organisation’s milestone at this turbulent time for the world.

The event will be hosted by the United Nations Association – UK, a charity devoted to providing information and analysis of the UN.

Join the Zoom webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83991850723

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity was grappling with the paradox of diminishing global cooperation against a backdrop of ever more challenges requiring global cooperation: from the climate crisis to deepening inequalities. The pandemic has added to this suffering and exposed long-standing fragilities in our societies and economies.

In this context, the UN75 initiative was an opportunity to for the Organisation to listen to the people it serves. Over 1.5 million people took part, sharing their hopes, fears, priorities and solutions for the future.

This event will see Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on UN75, Fabrizio Hochschild, present the results.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on 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

Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN-Climate Working Group Meeting

Dear friends,
I hope this note finds you well! I am writing to update you all on a few considerations related to the next steps for the Committee of Religious NGOs  Climate Working Group (CRN CWG). Our next meeting will be on Monday, 1 February from 10-11 AM (zoom link here). Here is a bit more context:
  • Because of the CSocD, CSW, international women’s day and other winter/spring events, we would like to propose meeting on the first Monday of the month for the next few months. Apologies if this causes any inconvenience, but we are hopeful that it will reduce conflicts.
  • The meeting on Feb. 1 is meant to cover a few items (agenda will be here in the coming days). Namely: what are the various areas of focus we would like to prioritize this year? and what are the main ideas we wish to develop collectively? This, of course, in addition to other matters we will address at future meetings such as what are the opportunities and, specifically, how to engage with UNFCCC COP.
  • Finally, a few items that might be nice to refer to. First is the Climate Adaptation Summit taking place next week. Second is a link to a number of key reports, including the recent adaptation gap report. And third is a link to an interesting recent meeting between the Dalai Lama and Greta Thunberg regarding feedback loops.
Finally, as many of us are losing friends, acquaintances, and family members – let us do our best to keep each other in our prayers.
Warmly,
Dan, Beth and Julia, CRNGO CWG executive committee
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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

[NGO CSW] Global Mental Health in a Pandemic: Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on Women’s Psychosocial Wellbeing

Join our first Monthly Meeting of 2021! The purpose of this session is to raise awareness, and to provide resources regarding issues related to women’s mental health challenges experienced during this unprecedented period of COVID-19 restrictions. The discussion will focus on sharing insights on the disproportionate psychosocial health outcomes of the pandemic, and to provide strategies to better manage.

Register here!

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-New York, please visit ngocsw.org. 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-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch

UNCTAD XV: Achieving prosperity for all after COVID-19

Co-organised by the Third World Network; the Civil Society Financing for Development (FfD) Group;
Our World Is Not for Sale; and the Third World Network – Africa

Join the Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, Richard Kozul-Wright, to discuss the recent flagship Trade and Development Report 2020: From global pandemic to prosperity for all: avoiding another lost decade.

Thursday, January 21st, 23:00 Manila / 20:30 New Delhi / 18:00 Nairobi / 16:00 Geneva / 16:00 Lagos / noon Sao Paulo / 11:00 Bridgetown / 10am Washington, DC

Register here!

Covid-19 has served as a reminder that we live in a closely interdependent world that brings opportunities but also carries dangers. It has, just as importantly, shed light on a whole series of pre-existing conditions – from heightened inequality, to unsustainable debt and rampant environmental destruction – that were left unaddressed after the Global Financial Crisis.

The most recent Trade and Development Report argues that the global economic crisis caused by Covid-19 throws up a stark choice: continue misguided policy choices or collectively chart a new path that leads from recovery to a more resilient, more equal and more environmentally sustainable world in line with the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Neither path is preordained. Building a better world is a matter of conviction and collective action. The lives of future generations and of the planet itself will depend on the choices we all take over the coming months.

Kozul-Wright will share with civil society leaders from around the world some of the policy prescriptions recommended in the TDR, including:

· Increased government spending including a big public investment push into cleaner energy, environmental protection, sustainable transport systems and the care economy, including through industrial policies;

· Coordinated macroeconomic expansion focused on job creation and higher wages;

· Labour market regulation that supports employees’ compensation;

· Expanded use of Special Drawing Rights to boost global liquidity;

· Financial support for boosting the health emergency response to COVID-19 in developing countries through a Marshall Plan for Health Recovery;

· A Global Debt Authority to stop a repeat liquidity crises from turning into serial sovereign defaults;

This webinar is being held in the context of the XV Conference of UNCTAD which is scheduled for October 3-8, 2021 in Bridgetown, Barbados, which will set the mandate of UNCTAD for the next four years on the interrelated issues of trade, development, finance, technology, industrial policy, debt, investment, e-commerce, and more.

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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.

ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development

The 2021 session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up, also known as the FfD Forum, is scheduled to convene from 12-15 April 2021.

The 2020 Forum was originally planned to take place from 20-23 April, in New York, US. Due to the COVID-19 situation, an informal event took place virtually on 23 April 2020.

The FfD Forum is an intergovernmental process with universal participation mandated to review the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda) and other financing for development outcomes and the means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The FfD Forum is an intergovernmental process with universal participation mandated to review the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda) and other financing for development outcomes and the means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2021 session of the Forum is expected to include a special segment on “concrete steps towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” in relation to SDG and AAAA achievement efforts. The session may also seek to integrate the menu of policy options developed through an initiative of the Governments of Canada and Jamaica and the UN Secretary-General on financing the 2030 Agenda in the era of COVID-19 and beyond.

FFSD Office, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA): un.org/ecosoc/en/events/2021/forum-financing-development-follow

As information becomes available, it will be posted to the website.

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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 Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. Fore more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

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