The Permanent mission of Pakistan to the UN in collaboration with the Governments of Finland and Costa Rica, World Bank, UNDESA and Ehsaas hosted a high-level side event on, “An Inflection Point on Social Protection” in New York on July 7. H.E. Ambassador Munir Akram, President of Economic and Social Council chaired the event. The session was keynoted by Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar along with the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Mr. Rodolfo Solano Quiros and Under Secretary General UNDESA Mr. Liu Zhenmin. The event was held to promote the establishment of a platform involving governments and stakeholders, who, recognizing the upheaval and distress of the pandemic are considering possible options to accelerate global social protection knowledge and practice. The Permanent Representatives of Finland and Costa Rica also addressed the event and reiterated the importance of global networking in social protection. “There is need for a Global Government-to-Government Community of Practice on Social Protection. Its global nature means that it would be open to any country around the world, hence opening the doors of learning to everyone, strengthening ongoing exchanges, and connecting countries facing similar quandaries. Governments would be at the center of the initiative and would be given the opportunity to directly tap knowledge and tap expertise in other fellow countries, from frontline responders to higher-level policymakers” said Dr. Sania. She further added, “We are learning so much from the crises, and we have gone so far in responding. Let’s now turn the tide and build on this learning: let’s translate today’s response into a knowledge investment for tomorrow. If history is of any lesson, the best response is preparedness”. Ambassador Akram highlighted the importance of Social Protection, globally. In his keynote remarks, the Under Secretary General of UNDESA also alluded to the challenges and livelihoods lost as a result of the pandemic and the importance of global experience sharing. During the panel discussion, Michal Rutkowski, Lead of Global Social Protection at the World Bank said, “I salute the initiative of Nishtar; there is no better time to develop a network and to create an instant repository of knowledge which facilitates exchange of accurate knowledge”. He said, further adding, “Every adversity is an opportunity.” Sabina Alkire from Oxford University and Alexandar Pick also addressed the event. Dr. Sania Nishtar also keynoted another HPLF session titled on “SDGs in focus, Goal 1,2,8 and 17). The session was part of the high-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development which is the core United Nations platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting of the HLPF 2021 is taking place from 6 July to 15 July 2021 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. In the session, other speakers included ECOSOC Vice President, Collin Vexin Kelapile, Permanent Representative of Botswana; ASG Maria Francesca Spatolisano of DESA; Yongyi Min, Chief, SDG Monitoring Section, UNDESA/Statistics Division; Gerda Verburg, Coordinator at Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement; Guy Rider, DG of ILO; Aloysius Ordu, Head, Africa Growth Initiative Brookings Institution; Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Meryame Kitir, Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation; Silvana Eugenia Vargas Winstanley, Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, Peru; Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD; and Maximo Tereo, FAO Chief Economist.
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