GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTERFEBUARY 2013
In this issue:
 The Commission for Social Development convened in New York Partnership for Action on Green Economy launched Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board meeting in New York
 Useful resources and links
 The Commission for Social Development convened in New YorkThe 51st session of the Commission for Social Development, one of the functional
commissions of the Economic and Social Council and an important forum for debate andpolicy guidance on social matters of international significance, was convened in New York
from 6 to 15 February, covering a wide range of issues pivotal to the promotion ofsocieties rooted in respect for the dignity of every individual, including youth, disability,ageing and African development.
Two weeks of negotiations, panel discussions and general debate, whose the priority
theme was designated to be “Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty
eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all”, resulted in
the adoption by consensus of the texts of all draft resolutions that were submitted forconsideration. Representatives of Governments and civil society organizations from aroundthe world described efforts to stimulate job creation, combat poverty and create inclusive
societies, with a view to informing the Commission’s policy session next year, and more
broadly, the global development agenda beyond 2015.
Delegates and many other speakers affirmed the essential role of Governments increating an enabling environment to empower people by providing the necessary tools andcapacity-building opportunities. Many delegates reiterated that decent work was also vitalto promoting empowerment, reducing poverty and enhancing social inclusion. TheCommission laid the foundation for the 52nd session next year, when the 47-member
body would produce a policy outcome on the priority theme. Several of the draft
resolutions approved by the Commission highlighted the critical importance of empowering
people and of their participation in advancing social development.
A draft resolution on “Policies and programmes involving youth” would have theEconomic and Social Council urge governments, in consultation with young people, todevelop holistic and integrated policies based on the Programme of Action for Youth. Thetext also underlined the importance of consulting with young people in the elaboration ofPage 1 of 6the post-2015 development agenda, encouraging states to consider including youth
representatives in all relevant discussions of the Council and the General Assembly.
Following that action, Ahmad Alhendawi, sworn in during the work of theCommission as the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, addressed the Commission for
the first time, saying that, with three years to the deadline for attaining the Millennium
Development Goals, it was a “golden period” for governments, civil society, youth andothers to set the development agenda for the post-2015 period, and that his mission
would be to help young people participate in that framework.
Along similar lines, a draft resolution on “Mainstreaming disability in thedevelopment agenda: towards 2015 and beyond”, submitted by the Chair and approved
without a vote, would have the Council welcome the upcoming High-level Meeting on
Disability and Development, which will be held on 23 September and seeks to ensure theinclusion of all persons with disabilities in all aspects of development. It would encourage
states to “seize every opportunity” to include disability as a cross-cutting issue on theglobal development agenda.
A draft resolution on the “Second review and appraisal of the Madrid International
Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002”, would have the Council call on states to promote andprotect the rights of older persons. It would have them adopt measures to provide
economic and social security and health care to older persons, and ensure their fullparticipation in the decision-making processes affecting their lives.
The other two drafts approved focused on, respectively, the observance of thetwentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family (1994) and the social
dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
In its final action, the Commission took note of several documents: the SecretaryGeneral’s report on “Promoting the empowerment of people in achieving poverty
eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all”; a note by theSecretary-General entitled “Emerging issues: the social dimension in the globaldevelopment agenda beyond 2015”; and the report of the United Nations ResearchInstitute for Social Development. It also approved the draft provisional agenda anddocumentation for its 52nd session, as well as a draft report on the organization of thesession just concluded.
ICSW representatives participated actively in the work of the Commission during thediscussions at the plenary submitting a statement, and took part in various side events.
 Partnership for Action on Green Economy
On 19 February 2013 four UN agencies-- the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Industrial Development Organization(UNIDO) and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) launched thePartnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE). The Partnership will help participating
countries to shift investment and policies towards the creation of clean technologies,resource-efficient infrastructure, green skilled labour and good governance, among otherPage 2 of 6

services. The reduction of environmental risks and the acceleration of the transition to agreen economy have been identified as the key goals of the new Partnership, which aims
at catalyzing change at the national level though targeted economic and policy
instruments and the training of local staff. Developing countries could be major
beneficiaries, if they can put in place the policies needed to reap the economic andenvironmental benefits of a resource-efficient, low-carbon growth and avoid at the sametime the risks and shocks of carbon-intensive infrastructures.
PAGE is a direct response to the outcome document of the UN Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which was held in June in Brazil. The outcome
document, entitled “The Future We Want,” calls on UN agencies to support countries thatwant to accelerate their transition to an inclusive green economy in order to reducepoverty and achieve sustainable development.
During the first two years of the Partnership, PAGE will focus on seven pilot
countries, which are yet to be named, and will scale up its support to a total of 30
countries by 2020.
 Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board meeting in New YorkThe third meeting of the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board took
place on 11 February 2013 at UN Headquarters in New York. Chaired jointly by the ILO
and the World Bank, the meeting was attended by 48 representatives of 31 internationalorganizations and bilateral institutions, as well as international NGOs. ICSW has been anactive participant since the inception of this entity and took part in the New York meetingas well.
The meeting concentrated on three major topics: (a) social protection in the contextof the deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda, (b) inter-agency joint work at
the country level, and (c) international cooperation in the field of social protection
statistics. The meeting resulted in adoption of specific work plans charting the road in theabove areas.
The ILO presented a proposed road map for positioning social protection within thepost-2015 framework and identified possible entry points for social protection in thebroader post-2015 agenda. There is positive momentum in advancing the social protectionagenda that needs to be strengthened. A clear mandate for advancing the social protection
agenda exists already from the Rio+20 outcomes, Recommendation 202 of the ILC on
national floors of social protection, the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review 2012, andothers recent decisions.
It was agreed that the Board could provide technical inputs to inform the policy
discussion in the various tracks and processes related to the post-2015 and sustainable
development frameworks and support member states in defining possible development
goals and targets. The Board agreed that it is therefore important to work together topromote the role of social protection as a platform to achieve, in a consistent and coherent
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way, objectives related to poverty eradication, the creation of decent jobs, the reductionof inequalities, food security and health, and to create more inclusive and sustainable
development pathways. In this sense, social protection could be considered as a key
objective of development geared at overcoming rampant insecurity, as well as the meansof empowerment of people. While institutional definitions may differ, there exists a strongconsensus for the promotion of an inclusive definition of social protection at the global
level and for the need to avoid certain limiting interpretations.
Members of the Board agreed that indicators related to coverage are important fortransparency and accountability, but they have to be simple in order to ensure reliability
and be based on data available at the national level.
It was agreed that ILO and the World Bank would continue their joint effort incompiling the existing body of knowledge on social protection schemes, connecting it tothe emerging post-2015 agenda. This document, largely of a technical nature, will bring to
the forefront existing country evidence regarding the role social protection can play inpoverty eradication, reducing inequality, creating decent jobs and promoting sustainable
development, and will propose broad categories of potential coverage indicators ortargets. The draft note will then be circulated among Board members for comments. The
document will serve as an input to the on-going global thematic consultations and will beshared with the High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Cooperation on social protection statistics has been proceeding smoothly and waswelcomed by the members of the Board. The World Bank and ILO presented a Joint
Proposal on International Social Protection Data Harmonization, outlining the potential forcooperation in the areas of data collection and sharing. The initiative was a direct result oftheoutcomesofaworkshoporganizedbytheOverseas
Development
Institute/Department for International Development and the World Bank on social
protection financing (London, 6 November 2012), in which international organizations
agreed on the preparation of terms of reference for cooperation in the areas of thestandardization of the terminology and classifications used and the harmonization of datacollection efforts and the various databases, with a view to supporting countries in theirefforts to enhance their capacity in producing reliable social protection data and establish
national social protection statistical systems. The primary objective of this initiative is topromote data quality, increase institutional efficiency, avoid unnecessary duplication anddevelop a consistent statistical picture of social protection provision, which will also
provide better guidance on data collection at the national level.
The members of the Board agreed that the data harmonization efforts should begin
as soon as possible—even before an agreement on the specifics of social protection
indicators is reached. There are still some gaps in data collection, especially regarding dataon expenditure, but efforts should be made to engage countries and to develop capacity at
the national level.

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Members suggested that, as part of the reporting requirement associated with theRecommendation on National Social Protection Floors, the ILO could develop a reporting
tool to assist countries in complying with their obligations. Indicators could be linked tothose required data.
It was also agreed that the Board members would report on ongoing data collection
efforts, providing information and contacts to the inter-agency group. The Inter-American
Development Bank’s Observatory for Social Protection was cited as an example, as they
are launching a longitudinal social protection survey in 8 countries. The World Bank andILO will provide feedback to the Bank so as to harmonize data collection efforts.
The ILO presented its inventory matrix of country-led social protection cooperation
activities. While it cannot be seen as an exhaustive database, the matrix is still a usefuland transparent tool for information purposes and is open to further improvements.
In the context of future efforts, the World Bank presented the SPARCS framework concept
note aimed at benchmarking and assessing social protection and labour systems— aframework welcomed by the Board as a nationally-owned platform that includes different
tools of participating agencies.
 Useful resources and links
Protection in Practice: Food Assistance with safety and Dignity, WFP, 2013
Nicholas Crawford and Gina Pattugalan (eds.)
This book published by the World Food Programme highlights the impact of providing foodand nutritional assistance to people in need, questioning whether humanitarian agencies
are doing enough to protect civilians in politically unstable and insecure areas. According
to its editors, the book raises questions about pragmatic and moral issues that haveaffected WFP’s work on the ground, and offers possible solutions that may be of interest toother humanitarian groups as well.
For more details please go to:
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/wfp254460.pdf
In Aid for India. Defining a positive role for the UK, by Will Straw and Alex Glennie
Given the outstanding development challenges facing India, the UK government’sdecision, announced in November 2012, to end aid in 2015 looks both premature andpolitically motivated. Instead of ending aid at an arbitrary point in time, the government
should set out an 'exit strategy' for aid that specifies the development goals, relating topoverty and other objectives in recipient countries, to be met before aid is withdrawn.
Business investment and personal remittances between the UK and India vastly
outweigh the value of British government aid. These non-aid flows are crucial to people inPage 5 of 6both countries, and could provide greater benefits. The report recommends newapproaches that the British government, British businesses, British investors and nonresident Indians based in Britain should adopt in order to enhance the impact of all thoseflows.
For more details, go to:
http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/10231/in-aid-of-india-defining-a-positive-role-for-theuk?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRovuaXBZKXonjHpfsX77u4vUaO%2BlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGj
I4ESMJiI%2FqLAzICFpZo2FFcH%2FaQZA%3D%3D

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