National Statement at National Statement at the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development

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Thank you Mr/Madam Chair,

Your excellencies, esteemed colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.

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.

Sweden fully aligns with the European Union’s commitment to advance the 2030 Agenda. We believe that reaching the sustainable development goals will require the promotion of human rights, human development, social cohesion and equality, along with specific measures to protect those in particularly vulnerable situations.

We also believe that we, as a global community, need to step up our efforts to reach the SDG targets. Today, multiple crises, such as the climate crisis, democratic backsliding and repeated human rights abuses, are affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. Adding to an already challenging situation, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine causes enormous suffering. According to UNICEF, almost eight million individual refugees from Ukraine have already been recorded across Europe, with millions more internally displaced in Ukraine.

In comparison to the hardship that those affected by humanitarian crisis, war and armed conflict are enduring, other concerns tend to pale. But soaring food and energy prices, alongside other multiple impacts of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, are affecting people all over the world. Those with smaller financial margins, such as single parents, persons with disabilities, older persons and other disadvantaged groups, may find themselves in particularly vulnerable situations.

Mr/Madam Chair,

As the minister responsible for the social services in the Swedish Government, one of my most important tasks is to strengthen our capacity to provide those in vulnerable situations with the social and financial support they are entitled to. Social services constitute the ultimate safety net in Sweden. The tasks of social services include – but are not limited to – providing temporary financial support to those with no other financial means, as well as services aimed at preventing and responding to social marginalization and risks and violations of violence and abuse. 

In times of crisis, the importance of social services grows. The huge influx of refugees into Europe, many of them young girls and boys, has made protecting the most vulnerable even more challenging. Therefore, recent measures to strengthen child and social protection systems in Sweden include building the capacity of social services to prevent girls and boys from being exploited, for example by being used in prostitution and trafficking.

Mr/Madam Chair,

When my Government took office some months ago, the prime minister stated that giving all children an honest chance of succeeding in life is one our most important tasks. If we are to reach the SDG targets, we will have to invest in our children.

While children appear to have been largely spared from the direct mortality impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have suffered other consequences. The closure of schools hampered many children’s right to education. According to UNESCO, the pandemic affected more than 1.5 billion children and youth around the world. Again, the most vulnerable were hit the hardest. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the toughest decisions governments faced was whether or not to close schools. In comparison to many other countries, Sweden chose a different approach by keeping preschools and compulsory schools open throughout the pandemic.

The child’s right to education weighed heavily in favour of this decision. So did the child’s right to protection from social isolation, abuse and violence. Evidence suggests that parents’ loss of income combined with social isolation may result in high levels of stress and anxiety, which in turn may increase the risks that girls and boys are exposed to physical and psychological abuse at home. The severity of the situation may also be aggravated by children’s lack of access to schoolfriends, teachers, social workers and the safe space and services that schools provide. 

Keeping schools open may not have been the right decision for every country. But with this in mind, an independent commission later confirmed that this was, in fact, the right decision for Sweden.

The COVID-19-pandemic has taught us that when responding to the global crises the world now faces, our specific attention must be focused on the situation of the most vulnerable in our societies. In times of crises, protecting the rights of every human being becomes more important than ever.

Evidence suggests that there is a correlation between children growing up in circumstances of poverty and deprivation, and increased risks in terms of physical and mental health, educational achievement and participation in society. We need a dedicated effort to break the negative cycles of social marginalisation that many children and families are facing to make sure that no one is left behind when we are shaping the future for the generation of tomorrow.

Thank you for your kind interest and attention.