The highest authorities of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) called today, during an extraordinary meeting at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America in Santiago, Chile, to intensify international cooperation and joint work in times of great global uncertainty in the Caribbean ( ECLAC).
This is the second time in 73 years that this important UN body has held a session in Chile: the first was held in 1951 during the Chilean presidency of ECOSOC, and thanks to the efforts of Chilean Ambassador Hernán Santa Cruz, the twelfth session of ECOSOC took place the organization in Santiago. On this occasion, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, a major organization met outside its official headquarters (New York) in a developing country.
Today, in 2024, and under the motto “The Future of Work: Towards a Productive, Inclusive and Sustainable Global Society”, ECOSOC and its Presidency – once again exercised by the Government of Chile – have decided to hold this Council meeting from New York New York to ensure that the global political dialogue reflects regional and national realities and that the reflections and guidance can be incorporated into the work of policymakers at all levels.
The meeting was opened by Ambassador Paula Narváez, President of ECOSOC and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations. The senior international official noted that uncertainty is the passion of our times and that an admittedly complex international panorama is emerging. “At the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we are leaving more than half of the world behind. We urgently need action. Work even harder, in an effort that we know can only succeed together,” he stressed.
“We need to increase investment to create more decent jobs. Greater cooperation, additional international funding and technical assistance that can complement national resources to improve decent work and access to social protection. A coordinated effort is needed to counter informality and create policies that demand fair wages, secure contracts and good working conditions,” explained Narváez.
Meanwhile, Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren noted that persistent inequalities, economic insecurity, increasing impacts of climate change, increasing conflicts and a growing digital divide are obstacles that threaten our goal of achieving prosperity for all. “The political declaration of the SDG Summit in September 2023 laid out a roadmap but also called for a critical look at promoting deep and urgent transformations towards more sustainable and inclusive development policies. Decent work proves to be the key to this goal. It is not only a means of reducing poverty and inequalities, but also a promoter of inclusion,” he affirmed.
In a video message to the meeting, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said: “The world of work is evolving, and so is our approach to empowering workers to cope with the new era of markets.” “Decent work is not just one right, but a necessity for the dignity and prosperity of workers. Let us act today with inclusive policies and social protection, capacity development and innovation for workers around the world,” he said.
In his welcoming remarks, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, pointed out that ECOSOC remains one of the most important UN forums to address economic and social issues from a comprehensive and multilateral perspective, promote rapprochement and to enable a fairer and sustainable world.
“The unprecedented changes the labor market is experiencing are being driven by a number of factors, such as technological innovations, demographic changes and increased demand for care, as well as greater human mobility and migration, among others,” he said. “It is essential to better understand the factors driving these changes, as well as the corresponding risks and opportunities, in order to develop appropriate responses to create decent jobs and address the social and economic impacts,” he said.
Afterwards, prominent economists Mariana Mazzucato and Jeffrey Sachs gave two masterful contributions on the central theme of the meeting.
Mariana Mazzucato, founding director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) at University College London (UCL), stressed the need to take all issues of sustainable development seriously. “What will really change the world is putting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the center rather than on the sidelines of economic focus,” he explained.
For his part, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University (USA), pointed out that we live in a time of technological progress and the ability to advance technologically determines the global progress of our economies. . “This depends on the skills of the workforce, which in turn depends largely on the quality of training at all levels,” he emphasized.
The ECOSOC Special Meeting on the “Future of Work” will take place this Tuesday, January 23, with two roundtable discussions entitled “Decent Work for All: Opportunities and Challenges of Changing Labor Markets” and “Harnessing the Impact of New Technologies to Support Inclusive Work “continued markets.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, Wednesday 24 January, there will be a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of ECLAC, a third round table entitled “Shaping a future of decent work and social protection for all” and a special event on the ECLAC will mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will include a celebration of the legacy of Ambassador Hernán Santa Cruz, one of the Declaration's first drafters.