EU Statement – Joint UNGA Second Committee-ECOSOC Meeting: Fostering sustainable and resilient societies in uncertain times

Excellencies,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Thank you very much for the insightful contributions and discussion so far.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

Social justice and protection, equality and the eradication of poverty are our fundamentalaims enshrined in the Treaty on European Union. They are also reflected in the Global Gateway investment portfolio, which is open to actions in social sectors such as education, training, health and social protection.

(1) Universal social protection.

Despite the unprecedented worldwide expansion of mainly short-term social protection interventions during the pandemic, still almost a half of the world's population remains entirely unprotected. The EU is committed to advance social justice under the European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan, both internally and externally. We continue to support partner countries in ensuring comprehensive, sustainable, gender-responsive and shock responsive social protection systems.

Support through EU cooperation has constantly increased over the last years. Together with EU Member States as Team Europe, we support more countries and contribute to existing global initiatives such as the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection (USP2030) and the Social Protection Interagency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B).

We also foster quality and future-proof job creation, including through promoting the social and green economy, providing support for skills and training, enhancing young persons' labour market prospects, strengthening the participation of women and fostering the participation of persons with disabilities and under-represented discriminated groups in the open labour market.

(2) Engagement in World Social Summit.

We look forward to the upcoming World Social Summit in 2025 as it presents an unparalleled chance for renewing the social contract, anchored in human rights and the International Labour Organisation's Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

We are committed to actively participate in this Summit, together with all delegations, UN system, and a broad representation of civil society and social partners, including workers' and employers' organizations, youth representatives, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and many other relevant stakeholders.

(3) Global Gateway and human rights based approach.

Also, we are working to better mainstream gender equality and the rights of persons with disabilities across our external cooperation programmes.

Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is our priority across all areas of action: The EU's Global Gateway strategy aims for 85% of all new programmes to have gender equality as either a principal or significant objective.

In 2023, 41% of new actions in the area of international partnerships were disability inclusive to varying extents [as measured by the OECD's Disability Policy Marker].

Finally, we are proud of our partnerships with development finance institutions and the work achieved on promoting gender equality and human rights targets in financing operations under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+).

We remain committed to working with our wide range of development finance partners, financial and non-financial, to ensure that support and investments are available to advance gender equality in an intersectional approach promoting social protection and sustainable development worldwide.

I thank you.

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