Financing for Universal and Crisis-Responsive Social Protection and Decent Work: Proposals of 2021 UN Inter-Agency Working Group

Join the NGO Committee on Financing for Development on Tuesday, April 26, from 8 – 9:30am EST for an official side event of the 2022 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on Financing for Universal and Crisis-Responsive Social Protection and Decent Work: Proposals of 2021 UN Inter-Agency Working Group

Speakers:

H.E. Mr. Phillippe Kridelka, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations
Mr. Helmut Schwarzner, Senior Social Security Specialist for the Americas, Social Protection Department, ILO Geneva
Mr. David Stewart, Chief of Child Strategy and Social Protection, UNICEF
Dr. Santosh Mehrotra, Research Fellow, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Germany
Ms. Tikhala Itaye, Director, Global Movement Building, Women in Global Health

Moderator: Dr. Barry Herman, Member Advisory Board, Social Justice in Global Development

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsfuqqrjwiHtLVutntuRo0xgsa9K_vEKxP

Co-sponsors: Vivat International, Women First International Fund, Salesian Missions, International Labour Organization, World Vision, Social Justice in Global Development

Background: Social protection refers to assuring a basic income floor and access to basic healthcare throughout the life cycle. It should be provided universally to all people in need, but that is far from current practice. While decent jobs, including self-employment, are mainly in the private economy, meeting the qualifications for most jobs usually requires education and good health, which are primarily public service functions. Thus, programs to promote social protection and decent jobs entail adequate, effective, and fair national systems of taxation, complemented by international assistance, often in the form of technical assistance but also sometimes in aid-financed budget support, as for low-income countries.

The experience of the pandemic laid bare inadequate systems to deliver cash transfers to compensate for the economic costs of the crisis and inadequate public health systems to deliver vaccines, tests, and protective equipment, along with the very limited capacity, especially in developing countries, to maintain employment during the crisis-induced economic contraction. The pandemic experience requires us to think about preparing better “shock responsive” social protection and health systems and stronger counter-cyclical policies. Preparation, in turn, requires consideration of ways to mobilize the necessary domestic and international financial resources on an ongoing basis and with the capacity to meet the higher expenditure needs at times of crisis.

While the inter-agency report concluded with 21 separate proposals, speakers in the side event will be asked to discuss one or more of the proposals. There is no expectation that all 21 proposals would be covered, nor is that necessary. What is necessary is to bring the attention of the FfD Follow-up Forum for consideration by policymakers the work of the 16 cooperating agencies in the task force and the civil society, labor, employer, and youth stakeholders that were consulted in preparing the report.

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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.

Financing for Universal and Crisis-Responsive Social Protection and Decent Work: Proposals of 2021 UN Inter-Agency Working Group

Join the NGO Committee on Financing for Development on Tuesday, April 26, from 8 – 9:30am EST for an official side event of the 2022 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on Financing for Universal and Crisis-Responsive Social Protection and Decent Work: Proposals of 2021 UN Inter-Agency Working Group

Speakers:

H.E. Mr. Phillippe Kridelka, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations
Mr. Helmut Schwarzner, Senior Social Security Specialist for the Americas, Social Protection Department, ILO Geneva
Mr. David Stewart, Chief of Child Strategy and Social Protection, UNICEF
Dr. Santosh Mehrotra, Research Fellow, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Germany
Ms. Tikhala Itaye, Director, Global Movement Building, Women in Global Health

Moderator: Dr. Barry Herman, Member Advisory Board, Social Justice in Global Development

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsfuqqrjwiHtLVutntuRo0xgsa9K_vEKxP

Co-sponsors: Vivat International, Women First International Fund, Salesian Missions, International Labour Organization, World Vision, Social Justice in Global Development

Background: Social protection refers to assuring a basic income floor and access to basic healthcare throughout the life cycle. It should be provided universally to all people in need, but that is far from current practice. While decent jobs, including self-employment, are mainly in the private economy, meeting the qualifications for most jobs usually requires education and good health, which are primarily public service functions. Thus, programs to promote social protection and decent jobs entail adequate, effective, and fair national systems of taxation, complemented by international assistance, often in the form of technical assistance but also sometimes in aid-financed budget support, as for low-income countries.

The experience of the pandemic laid bare inadequate systems to deliver cash transfers to compensate for the economic costs of the crisis and inadequate public health systems to deliver vaccines, tests, and protective equipment, along with the very limited capacity, especially in developing countries, to maintain employment during the crisis-induced economic contraction. The pandemic experience requires us to think about preparing better “shock responsive” social protection and health systems and stronger counter-cyclical policies. Preparation, in turn, requires consideration of ways to mobilize the necessary domestic and international financial resources on an ongoing basis and with the capacity to meet the higher expenditure needs at times of crisis.

While the inter-agency report concluded with 21 separate proposals, speakers in the side event will be asked to discuss one or more of the proposals. There is no expectation that all 21 proposals would be covered, nor is that necessary. What is necessary is to bring the attention of the FfD Follow-up Forum for consideration by policymakers the work of the 16 cooperating agencies in the task force and the civil society, labor, employer, and youth stakeholders that were consulted in preparing the report.

______________________________________________________________________________________

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.

24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion [registration open]

Bonjour,

We are happy to confirm the opening of registrations to the 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion – IUHPE 2022, being held in Montréal (Québec) Canada and in hybrid format from 15 to 19 May 2022. Registration is available for both in-person and remote participants to benefit fully from our hybrid conference, featuring a dynamic programme in English, French and Spanish under the conference theme “Promoting policies for health, well-being and equity”.

Visit our website here for full details on the registration process.

We look forward to welcoming you to Montreal, or online, in May 2022. For any questions, please contact the IUHPE 2022 Conference Secretariat – JPdL (iuhpe2022@jpdl.com).

Sincerely,

Carl-Ardy Dubois, Dean, École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal
Co-Chair 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion

Margaret Barry, President, IUHPE
Co-Chair 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion
IUHPE 2022 Conference Secretariat – JPdL

Contacts: iuhpe2022@jpdl.com or www.iuhpe2022.com

Background:

This major event of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) is held every three years and will take place from May 15 to 19, 2022 in Montréal, Quebec.

The School of Public Health of the Université de Montréal (ESPUM), which has hosted the IUHPE International Secretariat since 2017, is joining forces with the IUHPE to develop the 24^th World Conference on the theme: Promoting policies for health, well-being and equity. The Conference is organized by the School of Public Health of the Université de Montréal in collaboration with the Québec National Institute of Public Health, the Montréal Regional Directorate of Public Health as part of the “Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal”, the Université de Montréal Hospital Centre, and the “Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine.”

Health is a priority for all countries. Policies structure and guide action in various sectors of society. They are a key element in improving the health and well-being of populations and in reducing health inequalities. The development and adoption of policies that promote health and well-being for all and reduce inequalities have been central to health promotion strategies. Embedding health into policy and holding decision-makers accountable for the impact of their decisions on the health of the population is one of the priority areas of action set out in the WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and has been reinforced in subsequent WHO declarations and statements. Health promotion is a political action.

The IUHPE is the only NGO with a global scope that brings together decision makers, practitioners and researchers in the field of health promotion. Its mission lies in moving forward effective health promotion and the development and implementation of healthy public policy. Its purpose is to provide leadership and advocacy in facilitating the development and implementation of health promotion knowledge and strategies. It recognizes the need to strengthen the development of health promotion systems and ensure effective governance to improve health promotion action around the world and across sectors.

The 24^th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion will provide a unique opportunity to take stock of strategies and actions that can be taken to align policies with health, well-being and equity objectives (e.g. Health in All Policies), and to reinvigorate all sectors of society and all regions of the world concerned with supporting health and well-being. This will be an opportunity for researchers, health practitioners and decision makers and other sectors critical to population health to exchange knowledge and share experiences on progress and challenges in better aligning policies for the promotion of population health equity and well-being.

We very much look forward to seeing you in Montréal from May 15 to 19, 2022, for the 24^th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases, please visit ngocommitteerarediseases.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 Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org.