With the pandemic exposing massive disparities in access to health, education and employment across the world, countries must urgently usher in a socially just transition towards sustainable development — first and foremost by enacting policies that close the digital divide, United Nations officials emphasized today, as the Commission for Social Development opened its fifty-ninth session.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) High‑Level Futures Literacy Summit, held today:
To mark Space Week, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs will hold a webinar tomorrow on the KiboCUBE programme, a collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency giving developing countries an opportunity to deploy a satellite from Japan’s module of the International Space Station free of cost.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed’s remarks, as delivered, at the high-level round table on disability and COVID-19, hosted by the Global Action on Disability Network today:
In South Africa, the United Nations has launched a $136 million emergency appeal to help up to 10 million people in vulnerable communities facing COVID-19-related risks in health, water, sanitation, food security and gender-based violence.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to launch a policy brief on older persons, in New York today:
The Commission for Social Development concluded its fifty-eighth session today, forwarding three resolutions — including the first-ever text on homelessness to be approved by a United Nations intergovernmental body – to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.
From income-linked caps on rents and homebuilding incentives to the power of sport to affect change, speakers today put forward a range of potential solutions to the complex and global challenge of homelessness, as the Commission for Social Development concluded the general debate of its fifty-eighth session.
The legacies of conflict, colonialism and a lopsided global financial system took centre stage as drivers of inequality — and in turn, homelessness — as the Commission for Social Development continued its general discussion today.
Tackling homelessness throughout the world means tackling social issues as vast and varied as income inequality, housing shortages, racism and women’s empowerment, the Commission for Social Development heard today, as speakers who have personally experienced homelessness shared their thoughts with Member States and representatives of non-governmental organizations on the third day of its fifty-eighth session.
