UNRISD Team to present at 47th session of Commission for Social Development, 4 - 13 February at UN Headquarters in New York

Social integration taking into account the relationship with poverty eradication and full employment and decent work for all is the priority theme that will be addressed over the next two weeks from 4 - 13 February 2009, during the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development in New York.

Much of UNRISD research, both before and since the World Summit for Social Development, has addressed aspects of social integration. In recent years attention has focused on the role of social policy in promoting both economic and social development, as well as more cohesive societies. Policies and strategies to achieve a kind of integration that favours the creation of a more just and equitable society should include measures that address multiple concerns related to redistribution, production, reproduction and protection within a coherent framework that is also conducive to growth and sustainable development. The policy implications of UNRISD research emphasize two crucial aspects alluded to in the report of the Secretary-General to the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development entitled ‘Promoting Social Integration’, namely the need for cross-sectoral and transformative social policies.

An UNRISD staff member will be present to disseminate publications and provide information during the opening days of the Commission, and UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will be in New York on 11 February to brief the Commission for Social Development on UNRISD work in 2007-2008. On the same day, the Commission will nominate new members of the UNRISD Board for consideration by ECOSOC.