This space is to create an inclusive dialogue to foster cooperation between Member States, Civil Society and the United Nations, and to unify behind a common vision in furtherance of the Sustainable Development Goals.  Speakers are invited to address and critique the priority theme for the Commission: Addressing inequalities and challenges to social inclusion through fiscal, wage and social protection policies.

The keynote address will be by Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. In his report, Alston criticised the extent to which the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and even the UN itself have aggressively promoted widespread privatisation of basic services, without regard to the human rights implications or the consequences for the poor.

Speakers include Henry Garrido of Executive Director of PSI affiliate, District Council 37.

The Civil Society Forum has been planned by the NGO Committee for Social Development in joint sponsorship with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) and the UN-DESA Division for Inclusive Social Development.

For more information:

• PSI at the UN Commission for Social Development (New York)
• ILO side event 100 years of social protection with the ILO: the road to universal social protection
• CSO Forum “Social Protection and Transformative Fiscal and Wage Policy"
• PSI's work on the 2030 Agenda and SDGs

• ILO universal social protection campaign
• ILO Centenary initiatives