13 January 2017: In preparation for the 2017 session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD 55), the UN Secretary-General has issued a number of documents, including a report on the priority theme for the 2017-2018 review and policy cycle of the Commission, ‘Strategies for eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all.’

The Commission addresses follow-up and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, as well as the Programme of Action of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. It is also tasked with supporting the thematic reviews of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). CSocD 55, which convenes from 1-10 February 2017, is expected to include high-level panels to discuss the priority theme, as well as ‘Promoting integrated policies for poverty eradication: youth development in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,’ and ‘Leaving no one behind: poverty and disability.’ The Commission is expected to adopt action-oriented policy recommendations on the priority theme at its 56th session, in 2018.

The Secretary-General’s report on ‘Strategies for eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all’ (E/CN.5/2017/3) notes that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, requires greater efforts at the national and international levels. It calls for: implementing a broad set of mutually reinforcing social and economic policies and strategies, and leveraging the synergies between them; addressing the structural causes of poverty, including high and rising inequalities, insufficient redistributional policies, taxation, trade and social exclusion; investing in education, health care, safe drinking water and sanitation; and realizing universal social protection, and extending the coverage of social transfer measures to provide minimum guarantees to the most vulnerable. It also calls for: paying greater attention to strengthening access to land and the land rights of women and indigenous groups; promoting structural economic transformation to provide productive economic opportunities and raise standards of living and incomes; increasing public spending on agriculture and rural infrastructure, improving access to credit and markets and promoting rural economic transformation through development of the rural non-farm economy; and continuing to work with development partners to create an enabling environment for inclusive, multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The report on ‘Policies and programmes involving youth’ (E/CN.5/2017/5) shows that since the 1995 adoption of the World Programme of Action for Youth, an increasing number of youth policies have been developed and revised. However, implementation of national youth policies is limited. The report outlines the need for UN Member States to: endorse coherent cross-sectoral efforts in line with the World Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; ensure availability of adequate resources for the participation and inclusion of young people; increase qualitative and quantitative research and data collection on the effectiveness of youth policies; establish participatory processes and other measures to ensure that the needs and voice of marginalized groups are included in policymaking; and ensure gender equality for girls and young women, including enacting corresponding legislative and policy reform as appropriate.

A complementary note by the UN Secretariat on ‘Emerging issues: promoting integrated policies for poverty eradication: youth development in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (E/CN.5/2017/7) indicates that inadequate human capital investment and high unemployment rates among youth are among the greatest challenges facing many countries today. It highlights the importance of focusing on gender equality, youth participation and the inclusion of marginalized groups. It also suggests that CSocD 55 address: the current state of youth development and youth policies at the global regional and national levels; concrete recommendations to promote sustainable youth development and successful youth policies; the role of alliances and partnerships; and the contribution of youth development to progress on the social dimensions of sustainable development.

In ‘Mainstreaming disability in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (E/CN.5/2017/4), the UN Secretary-General states that worldwide, persons with disabilities still face marginalization and significant barriers to their inclusion and participation in society and in development. The document calls on UN Member States, governments and other stakeholders to: consistently collect and report on data concerning the situation of persons with disabilities in all follow-up and review processes related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and internationally agreed development goals; define accessibility as an essential public good that is fundamental in all development policies and programmes and as a sustainable development means and goal; and recognize persons with disabilities as both beneficiaries and agents of change in all areas of development cooperation, including in disaster risk reduction, emergencies and humanitarian responses and urban development.

The CSocD is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is supported and serviced by the Division for Social Policy and Development (DPSD) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). CSocD 55 will be preceded by a Civil Society Forum on 30-31 January 2017. [Meeting Website] [Meeting Documents] [Draft Programme] [Provisional Annotated Agenda and Proposed Organization of Work] [Civil Society Forum Webpage]