Supportive, connected and stimulating family environments based on a foundation of love have the potential to educate for peace, strong intergenerational relations and solidarity. This is why families all over the world play a vital role in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

This year’s International Day of Families was celebrated at the United Nations Headquarters New York (UNHQ), emphasising the role of families in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote life long learning. Some circumstances make it difficult for families to fulfill this, such as work lives of parents and family lives are increasingly influencing each other, shifts in gender roles have been asymmetric, working hours are long and there is a lack of flexibility. It is therefore crucial that there are effective and supportive policies to enable modern families to fulfil their roles in achieving SDG 4 and contributing more generally to the 2030 Agenda. Examples include legislation addressing paid family leave and early childhood education.

To read more about the event at UNHQ click here.
To learn more about the Division’s work on families click here.

On the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), we celebrate the thousands of Indigenous languages being spoken all over the world.

There are between 6,000 and 7,000 oral languages in the world today. About 97% of the world’s population speaks only 4% of its languages, while only 3% of the world speaks 96% of all languages. A great majority of these languages are spoken by indigenous peoples.

Watch the video to learn more and listen to a wide variety of languages from indigenous peoples all around the world.

“Nothing About Us Without Us”
UNPFII 16 Closes with Strong Recommendations

Taking stock of future progress and future challenges, UNPFII closed on May 5 after two weeks of dialogue between indigenous peoples and Member states. The Forum sent the Economic and Social Council three draft decisions on its future work, the first of which would authorise a three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Sustainable development in territories of indigenous peoples”. The second and third draft decisions concerned the venue and dates for the seventeenth session of the Forum and the provisional agenda for that meeting.

Examples of recommendations include: encouragement of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote the ratification of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 by urging all States to substantially increase the human, financial and technical resources made available to implement the Declaration; urging States to cooperate with indigenous peoples to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against indigenous women, children, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities, and to support measures aimed at ensuring their full and effective participation in decision-making processes at all levels; and the Forum also called upon relevant United Nations forums to include representatives of indigenous youth-led organizations in their meetings.

Other recommendations addressed the Deatnu river fishing agreement, culture, education, health, economic and social development, the environment, the future work of United Nations funds, programmes and specialised agencies, and dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Read more about the recommendations here.
Read the rapporteur’s advance, unedited version of the report of UNPFII 16th Session here
Learn more about the Division’s work on indigenous peoples here.

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Bankrolling the SDGs using a Universal Approach to Poverty

One clear message from the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development (FfD) Follow-up (22 to 25 May, UNHQ) was that global, strategic and effective financing, although absolutely crucial, would not achieve the 2030 Agenda alone. Attesting to the complexities of poverty and strategies to eradicate it, the FfD made it clear that a holistic bottom-up approach to poverty is also required. A universal approach to poverty involves recognising its multidimensionality. Social issues and different social groups are key elements of the concept of multidimensional poverty and the FfD did not shy away from committing to tackling current social concerns, among others. Social issues addressed by the FfD include women’s and girls’ empowerment, long term investments and vulnerable groups, corporate social responsibility, and financial inclusion and the gender gap.

To read more about the FfD and social concerns click here.
To learn more about the FfD click here.

The transformative power of science, technology and innovation is clear and it is a task for the international community to ensure that this power is “unlocked to our advantage”, according to the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr Peter Thomson, at the opening of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum at UNHQ (15 to 16 May). The Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD UNDESA) took part in two events during the Forum, focusing on the role of STI in reaching SDG 1 (poverty eradication) and SDG 3 (mental health and well-being). In both events DSPD acknowledged the important role of STI in the 2030 Agenda, however, not without highlighting a caveat: accessibility. Unless we ensure that everyone has equal access to STI, the poverty gap and digital technology gap will widen and those who are most in need will continue to be left behind.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) launched its 2017 flagship report in Bangkok on 1 May titled ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017’. This year’s survey highlights the need for better governance and effective fiscal management to promote durable economic dynamism, social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability in Asia and the Pacific. These areas are fundamental to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Global recovery is firming up, however the growing distrust and emerging protectionist tendencies have created global uncertainties which if not addressed will have implications for growth prospects for Asia and the Pacific. To its credit, the region has skillfully managed exogenous shocks particularly the shrinking of advanced economies output and trade since the global financial crisis. Given the prolonged weakness in external demand and global trade, economic growth in Asia-Pacific region has relied more on domestic demand, especially private consumption. This has been supported by low inflation and low interest rates. These changing global dynamics underscore the urgency of increasing domestic and regional demand and overcoming the region’s remaining challenges so it can realise its full economic potential.

To read the full report click here.

Multimedia 

5 to 9 June: The Ocean Conference 13 June: International Albinism Awareness Day 13 to 15 June: 10th Session of States Parties to the CRPD 15 June: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day