GFDD and FUNGLODE Contribute to the High Level Segment of UN ECOSOC with Delivery of Oral and Written Statement to International Organizations

On July 1-4, 2013 Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and its sister organization Fundación Global Democracia y Desarollo (FUNGLODE) contributed to the Annual Ministerial Review in the framework of the 2013 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High Level Segment with an oral statement on its stance on the role of science and technology in overcoming twenty-first century challenges, such as extreme poverty, inequality and environmental
degradation.

GFDD and FUNGLODE, were one amongst only three NGOs with consultative status to be called by to speak ECOSOC on the evening of July 3 with an oral intervention concerning: “The Dominican Republic: Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Potential of Culture to Promote Sustainable Development and to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals.”

The Foundations presented their work on supporting initiatives that link
public and private sectors to civil society and asserted that, binding different sectors that governed people’s lives would strengthen stakeholders’ actions and allow the expected results to be achieved in less time and with a greater success. “Acknowledging the importance of public-private-non-profit partnerships to achieve common goals, we take a strong stance in promoting strategies and realizing projects that seek to expand cooperation between the three
sectors,” remarked the Foundations.

To illustrate, GFDD and FUNGLODE’s set an example of the projects that had been implemented successfully for more than ten years titled “The Partners in Learning Program,” initiated between the Ministry of Education, Microsoft Dominican and GFDD. As a result, the program trained 30,000 teachers in the use of informational technologies at various levels of the educational process, both for public
and private educational institutions.

About the 2013 HLS of ECOSOC
The Economic and Social Council, which serves as the central United Nations forum for discussing international economic and social issues, held its 2013 High Level Segment at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on July 1-4.

The High-level Segment was opened by the President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Néstor Osorio, with the participation of
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Vuk Jeremić, President of the General Assembly, and Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation. In his welcome remarks, Mr. Osorio solemnly pronounced that education, science, technology and innovation were identified as important elements of viable long-term solutions to sustainable development challenges, and added that ECOSOC would play a key role in promoting sustainable development through a balanced integration of the economic, social and
environmental dimensions.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, addressing the distinguished audience, emphasized that science, technology and culture were necessary elements for any post-2015 development agenda, and the need for innovation was clear.

The President of the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, spoke about the role of ECOSOC in completing the Millennium Development Goals process as “a final occasion for world leaders to
decide on actions to be taken and to provide guidance to the Secretariat and other stakeholders on the priorities” and called for the reform of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, so that they could lead the United Nations in setting the world on a more equitable, prosperous and environmentally sound path.

Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation, welcomed the Economic and Social Council to Geneva and said that the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals demonstrated the success of a joint international program, and noted that “the world community should be inspired by this experience to set up a global partnership for sustainable development for the post-2015 period.”

During the High Level Segment keynote addresses were also given by the Directors-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, and the United Nations Economic, Social and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova. Both speakers highlighted the significant impact of science, technology, innovation and culture on each of the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – and encouraged states to create and foster an enabling environment for science, technology, and innovation in order to improve people’s lives.

The Economic and Social Council, which will play a major role in the preparations,
implementation and follow up of a post-2015 development agenda,  holds regular meetings throughout the year with prominent academics, business sector representatives and 3,200+ registered NGOs.  However, the month long substantive session in July, is ECOSOC’s biggest gathering. Held in alternate years in New York and Geneva, the session is divided into 5 segments ― High-level Segment; Coordination; Operational Activities; Humanitarian Affairs; and General
―  which cover both global issues and technical, administrative questions.

STATEMENT BY GLOBAL FOUNDATION FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDACIÓN GLOBAL DEMOCRACIA Y DESARROLLO

Links:
http://www.globalfoundationdd.org/fulltext.asp?t=a&id=8579
http://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N13/300/24/pdf/N1330024.pdf
http://www.unog.ch/
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/