EU Statement at the Commission for Social Development

– CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY – 

Chair,

Before I begin I wanted to offer my sincere condolences for the tragic loss of lives after the earthquake that struck Syria, Türkyie and neighboring countries in the night. Sweden and the EU stand with you at this critical hour and have actived the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help with the emergency assistance. Our thoughts go to the victims and their loved ones.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the potential candidate country Georgia, align themselves with this statement. 

First, I would like to thank the Bureau and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs for the preparatory work carried out in advance of this session. 

The European Union and its Member States stand firmly behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which continues to guide our actions, both internally and externally to ensure a sustainable recovery that is equitable, inclusive, socially just, resilient and green. The European Union is involved in a voluntary review on the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and will present its first review at the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July, alongside a number of EU Member States. It shows our determination to make the 2030 Agenda move forward – with all our partners – with a view to achieving an ambitious outcome at the SDG Summit later this year. Reaching the SDG targets is essential to our world for a prosperous post-pandemic future for all that also includes combatting climate change and addressing the ongoing inflation crisis. Human rights, social and economic inclusion are key elements of the social dimension of sustainable development. And we are committed to strengthening them by promoting human rights, human development, social cohesion and equality in all its forms, including gender equality and the empowerment of women as well as social dialogue, occupational health and safety, quality jobs and job opportunities, and decent work.  

A strong social contract is essential for people to live a decent and independent life, and enabling all to participate in society. The EU supports the UN Secretary-General’s proposal in his report on “Our Common Agenda” for a renewed social contract that encompasses a strong social and economic dimension, including social protection, decent work and quality education. Rebuilding the social contract through a comprehensive approach based on human rights is key to overcome mistrust between States, citizens and other stakeholders and build social cohesion and solidarity as well as an enabling environment for civil society. Social protection and community and family-based care are crucial to strengthening the rights and dignity of children, and older persons, persons with disabilities and persons in vulnerable situations. We look forward to the World Social Summit in 2025 that presents a unique opportunity and responsibility towards the millions of citizens around the world whose social needs are not being fully met.  

Turning to the priority theme, the UN 2030 Agenda, the 2008 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation and the 2019 ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work have defined decent work for all as a key objective. Violations of fundamental rights at work, poor working conditions, in particular in the informal economy, insufficient occupational safety and health, lack of fair wages, irregular or excessive working time, discriminations against persons in vulnerable situations, as well as sexual and gender-based violence and harassment disproportionately affecting women and girls, including in supply and value chains, have to be tackled by a global approach. We must not lose sight of the fact that the right to work is a human right, enshrined in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 

We need to foster quality and future-proof job creation, including through promoting the social and green economy, enhancing young persons’ labour market prospects and strengthening the labour market participation of women, under-represented groups, and those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. Social dialogue plays a key role in addressing and mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and can only be effective if freedom of association and collective bargaining are protected. As a part of our commitment to social dialogue, in the Porto Social Summit of 2021, the first-ever agreement at European level was signed between institutions, workers and employers with concrete targets on employment, training and poverty indicators. 

The achievement of the goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires enhanced efforts and concrete measures to promote decent work, in particular in the context of the green and digital transitions, which is also an essential element for sustainable production and consumption, ending poverty and hunger, strengthening social protection, reducing inequalities, which are also listed amongst the key 20 principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights. 

We promote decent work in different policy areas, including equality and non-discrimination, trade, development cooperation, labour and human rights dialogues and policies, sectoral policies, neighbourhood policies and measures related to corporate responsibility, public procurement, corporate reporting, sustainable finance, due diligence across key supply chains, including conflict minerals chain, the climate and environment and consumer policies. We are also committed to actively promote and support national and global efforts to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. In this regard, we call for universal ratification and effective implementation of all fundamental ILO Conventions. 

Employment outcomes of young persons are substantially weaker than those of adults in almost all EU countries. They are exposed to structural barriers in the labour market and often employed in non-standard forms of employment, often lacking access to adequate social protection, training and skills development as well as human rights at work and beyond.  The EU and its Member States are promoting opportunities for education and training, including apprenticeships, and for employment, and preparing young persons for the digital and green transitions, for example through the new EU Child Guarantee and the reinforced Youth Guarantee. With 2022 designated as European Year of Youth, the EU examined measures to give young people a stronger voice in policymaking, and placed particular attention on reaching disadvantaged young persons. With our new EU Action Plan on Youth in External Action, we are empowering young persons in our partner countries at political, social and economic level and to engage in decision-making and policy-making in a meaningful and inclusive way. The 2023 European Year of Skills further highlights the crucial role of education and skills development  and empowers persons to successfully navigate labour market changes in the green and digital transitions, while the Pact for Skills, launched in November 2020, brings together companies, workers, local authorities, social partners, training providers and employment services to identify what skills will be needed in different sectors. 

Work-life balance is a daily challenge for many, particularly women. Promoting equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunities for all, including participation in the labour market and equal pay for work of equal value, is one of the EU’s founding principles.  The EU and its Member States promote women and girls’ full enjoyment of all human rights, gender equality, work-life balance, and the empowerment of women and girls as a priority across all areas of action. The EU works to strengthen protections against discrimination at the workplace, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Additional efforts are needed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic which has had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, including suffering increased gender-based violence, intimate partner and domestic violence, child-, early-, and forced marriage, interrupted access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, rise in mental health conditions and increased difficulties in reconciling work and family life.  Women are overrepresented among front-line workers, in particular in the health and social sectors. The COVID-19 crisis has also brought new pressures for LGBTI people, many of whom were locked into hostile environments where they might be at risk of hatred and domestic violence while unable to receive adequate support against LGBTI-phobia. 

Over one billion persons in the world live with some type of disability.  Many of them experience discrimination, which challenges internationally agreed commitments to respecting, protecting and fulfilling, on an equal footing, the rights of persons with disabilities, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Many persons with disability live in poverty and have less or no access to basic services, including education and health. Institutionalisation and lack of social inclusion remain human rights issues of concern for persons with disabilities, especially children with disabilities and women with disabilities. 

Persons with disabilities have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential that services and the digital and green transitions are disability inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities. Digitalisation offers persons with disabilities major opportunities for equal participation in our societies. The EU and its Member States, as parties to the UN Convention, are committed to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities across all policies as shown by the adoption of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 with its flagship on Disability Employment Package. 

Achieving full and productive employment and decent work for persons with disabilities has become even more urgent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, only 28% of persons with disabilities have access to disability benefits, with only 1% in low-income countries.  Limited accessibility of digital technologies has exacerbated the isolation and limited participation of persons with disabilities in communication, and on line activities such as education and work.  Participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations is a precondition for inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19. 

It is of utmost importance to preserve the human rights and dignity of older persons who face significantly higher risks of mortality including increasing extreme weather conditions, of aggravating pre-existing mental health conditions and of developing severe disease from COVID-19. The pandemic has highlighted in stark contrast the impact on older persons’ social and occupational inclusion, employment opportunities and right to health, as well as their participation in the digital transformation. Against this background, the continued efforts to implement the Madrid Plan of Action and the related work of the UNECE Standing Working Group on Ageing is more important than ever.  We hope to further discuss at the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing in order to advance our work regarding the human rights of older persons, not least by examining potential gaps in the existing international framework and considering the development of an international legally binding instrument.

Chair

We look forward to rich discussions at this 61st session of the Commission on Social Development, also in order to provide meaningful input to the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July. Tackling the current challenges facing the world requires more solidarity and cooperation to meet the commitments of the Sustainable Development Goals including in particular creating full and productive employment and decent work for all. The EU and its Member States are committed to do their share.

Thank you.