Launch of FACTI Panel Interim Report

Launch of the Interim Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda

High-Level Launch Event and Panel Discussion
24 September 2020, 12.00 – 14.30 (UTC) / 8.00 – 10.30 (EDT)

The event is being convened to present the interim report of the FACTI Panel, which identifies the major gaps in implementation and the systemic shortcomings of the existing international frameworks for tax cooperation, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering. It will provide a high-level forum for discussing the priority actions for addressing the identified challenges, particularly in light of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on progress toward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The event will bring the FACTI Panel chairs together with high-level representatives from Member States. It will also foster a discussion amongst civil society, international institutions, academia and the business sector to explore the issues highlighted in the FACTI Panel’s interim report.

The event will consist of two parts: a high-level segment and a moderated panel discussion among invited speakers with a brief interactive dialogue.

*Registration is required. Please register here to receive the connections details.

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

[Virtual HLPF Side Event] Overcoming systemic challenges to address hunger, unemployment and healthcare

Overcoming systemic vulnerabilities and financing challenges for a fairer and sustainable future- intentional collaborative actions to address hunger, unemployment and healthcare in the context of COVID-19

A virtual conversation organized by the NGO Committee on Financing for Development-NY

Panel discussion: 8:00 – 9:00 am New York Time
Breakout session: 9:00 – 9:30 am

Register by July 12: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-ihrjkvHdblKZvD5FxOqkbpFnnjd1U_

According to recent figures from the World Food Program (WFP), lives and livelihoods of 265 million people in low and middle-income countries will be under severe threat as a result of corona virus pandemic. This is nearly double the 135 million people in 55 countries that the Global Report on Food Crises 2020 has estimated as facing acute hunger as a result of conflict, the impact of climate change and economic crisis prior to the onset of COVID-19. ILO estimates that as many as 25 million people could become unemployed, with a loss of workers’ income of as much as USD 3.4 trillion due to COVID19 globally. The evidence from the drastic effects of the pandemic clearly speaks to a broken system , social safety nets, health care, and social protection systems, that are either severely lacking or completely missing and that will continue to amplify poverty and income, wealth, health, gender, trade, debt and market inequalities in many of the developing and least developed countries.

As Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared, “The best defense against disease outbreaks and other health threats is preparedness, which includes investing in building strong health systems and primary health care. […] If we don’t invest in both, we will face not just health consequences but the social, economic, and political fallout that we’re already experiencing in this pandemic.” Now is the time to reevaluate, invest where it is needed the most, and fix these broken systems, because if we do not nobody else will.

The panel will explore financing challenges in the aftermath of COVID -19 and strategize on how best to build effective collaboration and partnerships between, pubic private and civil society organizations to address hunger, unemployment and healthcare. Panelists will share specific challenges faced by migrants, women, workers in the informal and agricultural sectors, and micro small and medium enterprises as they strive to revive their livelihood and economy. We will hear voices from the communities most impacted by the lock downs and fall-out from COVID-19. Panelists will also share positive impacts of measures they have taken to address the challenges and propose further action to reevaluate, reinvest and rebuild.

Moderator:

Anita Thomas, Chair, NGO Committee on Financing for Development

Speakers:
Harsh Mander, Director, Center for Equity Studies, India
Ziada Nabembezi Zalwango, Co-Founder and Programs Director at ZACHEDO, Uganda
UN Member State Representative (TBC)
Representative from ILO (TBC)
Representatives from Sub-national Government / Planning Forum, Kerala, India (TBC)

Cosponsoring organizations:

Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc., New Humanity Focolare Movement, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a substantive committee of the Conference of
NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. To learn more about the work of the Committee, visit ngosonffd.org.

[Virtual Panel Discussion} Skills for a Resilient Youth in the Era of COVID-19 & Beyond

World Youth Skills Day 2020 [virtual panel discussion]

Owing to the COVID-19 situation, the celebrations of the World Youth Skills Day 2020 will have a virtual format. A panel discussion will bring together multiple stakeholders in skills development including young people, member States, TVET institutions, the private sector, 4 workers’ organizations, policy makers and development partners. An online discussion with the audience will follow.

RSVP: cutt.ly/WYSD2020

The World Youth Skills Days is co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka to the United Nations, together with UNESCO, ILO and the Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth.

The objectives of the World Youth Skills Day 2020 are to:

● Assess the situation of young people regarding skills required for work during and after the health and socio-economic crises brought by the COVID-19 pandemic;

● Learn how young people have been living through the crisis and mobilized; and highlight success stories of youth innovation and resilience;

● Share lessons learnt by TVET institutions and firms since the beginning of the crisis; this will include best practices in protecting apprentices, trainees and trainers and ensuring the continuity of training, and preparedness for further outbreaks of COVID-19 or other new diseases;

● Share experience in distance training, including no-tech, low-tech and high-tech solutions (use of mobile phone, TV, radio, offline and online devices, disruptive technologies such as using artificial intelligence, block chain technologies, big data analytics, drones, 3D printing, fab labs, smart agriculture, smart manufacturing, fintech, internet, etc.), and reflect on the use of distance training after the pandemic is over;

● Review prospects for skills development including apprenticeships as the economic crisis unfolds, and on the effectiveness of national recovery plans and support from development partners;

● Reflect on how skills development can help reconcile the short-term need for economic recovery with the urgent need for accelerating the transition to sustainable development;

● Launch the ILO Toolkit for Quality Apprenticeships Volume II for practitioners to improve the design and implementation of apprenticeship programmes; and

● Announce the winner of the ILO Innovation Skills Challenge Innovation Call, a global competition to identify innovative approaches to address skills mismatch.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing – Geneva, visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing – NY, visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing – Vienna, visit ngoageingvie.org. For information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, email the Chair, Rosa Perla Resnick at rositaresnick@yahoo.com or the Vice Chair, Susanne Seperson at susanneseperson@gmail.com.

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