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UN Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) Policy Briefs and Papers
These briefs and papers from the Secretary-General of the United Nations feature advisories, guidelines, resources and materials about the vast array of issues of international concern that are on the Organization's agenda. In these, the Secretary-General seeks to advance the interests of the world's peoples, in particular the poor and vulnerable among them, and the principles and ideals on which the Organization was founded.
ISSN (online):
27082245
1 - 20 of 36 results
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UN 2.0 Forward-thinking Culture and Cutting-edge Skills for Better United Nations System Impact
Publication Date: September 2023More LessThe present policy brief charts the journey ahead. It describes the cultural levers that form the foundation of our organizational transformation, along with the “quintet of change” that builds on it. While introduced separately, all UN 2.0 areas are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. In each chapter, we illustrate the potential for impact, explain why we shift approaches, highlight where we are now, outline our goals and describe how we are changing. With this policy brief, we provide a broad framework for change and offer direction for more detailed strategies, plans and initiatives. Each United Nations entity will pursue its own journey towards the UN 2.0 vision, progressing along its own path. Every element of the “quintet of change” will have a unique footprint in every entity – tailored to mandate and context.
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Transforming Education
Publication Date: August 2023More LessBuilding on the Transforming Education Summit and the report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, the present policy brief examines the current crisis in education in more detail and puts forward a vision and a set of guiding actions for countries and the international community to transform education. The Summit of the Future, to be held in 2024, is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The right to education and lifelong learning is at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development because education, knowledge and learning are central to the dignity, growth and development of the individual. For centuries, education has been the great equalizer, a driving force of nation-building, and the engine of social, cultural, economic and technological progress. Today, however, beset by twin crises of equity and relevance, education as we know it is no longer fit for purpose.
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A New Agenda for Peace
Publication Date: July 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future, in 2024, is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The UN Secretary-General has been invited to provide inputs to the preparations for the Summit in the form of action-oriented recommendations, building on the proposals contained in his report entitled “Our Common Agenda”, which was itself a response to the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. The present policy brief is one such input. Peace remains an elusive promise for many around the world. Conflicts continue to wreak destruction, while their causes have become more complex and difficult to resolve. This may make the pursuit of peace appear a hopeless undertaking. However, in reality, it is the political decisions and actions of human beings that can either sustain or crush hopes for peace. War is always a choice: to resort to arms instead of dialogue, coercion instead of negotiation, imposition instead of persuasion. Therein lies our greatest prospect, for if war is a choice, peace can be too. It is time for a recommitment to peace. In the present document, the Secretary-General offers his vision of how we can make that choice.
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Information Integrity on Digital Platforms
Publication Date: June 2023More LessThe present policy brief is focused on how threats to information integrity are having an impact on progress on global, national and local issues. It outlines potential principles for a code of conduct that will help to guide Member States, the digital platforms and other stakeholders in their efforts to make the digital space more inclusive and safer for all, while vigorously defending the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to access information. The Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms is being developed in the context of preparations for the Summit of the Future. This is the eighth of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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For All Humanity – The Future of Outer Space Governance
Publication Date: May 2023More LessThe present policy brief contains an examination of the extraordinary changes under way in outer space and an assessment of the sustainability, safety and security impacts of these changes on present and future governance. The brief also contains an outline of major trends that are impacting space sustainability and the positive impact that these trends could have on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Also contained in the brief is an outline of major trends affecting the security of outer space activities and the risks to humanity that could materialize if these challenges are not solved. Lastly, it provides a practical set of governance recommendations for maximizing the opportunities of outer space while minimizing short-term and long-term risks. This is the seventh of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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Reforms to the International Financial Architecture
Publication Date: May 2023More LessThe present policy brief elaborates on the ideas first proposed in Our Common Agenda, taking into account subsequent guidance from Member States and over one year of intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder consultations, and rooted in the purposes and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments. The international financial architecture should be structured to proactively support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the realization of human rights. The only way to facilitate such a structure is through ambitious reform, starting with more inclusive, representative and, ultimately, more effective global economic governance. The brief sets out action-oriented recommendations for reforming the international financial and tax architecture in six areas - Global economic governance; Debt relief and the cost of sovereign borrowing; International public finance; The global financial safety net; Policy and regulatory frameworks; Global tax architecture for equitable and inclusive sustainable development. This is the sixth of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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A Global Digital Compact — an Open, Free and Secure Digital Future for All
Publication Date: May 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future in 2024 is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The present brief proposes the development of a Global Digital Compact that would set out principles, objectives and actions for advancing an open, free, secure and human-centred digital future, one that is anchored in universal human rights and that enables the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. It outlines areas in which the need for multi-stakeholder digital cooperation is urgent and sets out how a Global Digital Compact can help to realize the commitment in the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations to “shaping a shared vision on digital cooperation” by providing an inclusive global framework. Such a framework is essential for the multi-stakeholder action required to overcome digital, data and innovation divides and to achieve the governance required for a sustainable digital future. This is the fifth of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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Valuing What Counts: Framework to Progress Beyond Gross Domestic Product
Publication Date: May 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future in 2024 is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Our Common Agenda, it is recognized that a harmful anachronism exists at the heart of global policymaking, which is that our economic models and measurements overlook many aspects that sustain life and contribute to human well-being, while perversely placing disproportionate value on activities that deplete the planet. The intention of the proposals presented in the present policy brief is not to replace gross domestic product but to outline a path to develop complementary metrics in which what matters to people, the planet and the future is more fully recognized. This is the fourth of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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Meaningful Youth Engagement in Policymaking and Decision-making Processes
Publication Date: April 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future in 2024 is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The world today has the knowledge and resources required to deliver on the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. But transformative changes will simply not be possible at the scale required without the buy-in and contributions of a wide range of actors. This is especially true of the 1.2 billion young people alive today. Building on Our Common Agenda and intergovernmental and extensive multi-stakeholder consultations, including with youth, three key recommendations are put forward in the present brief. It is recommended that Member States expand and strengthen youth participation in decision-making at all levels; make meaningful youth engagement a requirement in all United Nations decision-making processes; and, support the establishment of a standing United Nations Youth Townhall and an integrated programme from the United Nations system to facilitate greater diversity, representativeness, and preparedness in youth participation. This is the third of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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Strengthening the International Response to Complex Global Shocks – An Emergency Platform
Publication Date: March 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future in 2024 is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The present policy brief aims to elaborate on the proposal on the Emergency Platform to respond to complex global shocks, incorporating feedback received from Member States and other relevant partners. The Emergency Platform would not be a standing body or entity but a set of protocols that could be activated when needed. The brief outlines some of the characteristics of global shocks in the twenty-first century and some of the risks we could face in the future. It highlights how such shocks have the potential to undermine progress to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda, as well as human rights and gender equality. It reflects on lessons from the response to recent complex global shocks and sets out proposals to strengthen the international response to a complex, global shock through the convening of an Emergency Platform. Finally, it offers recommendations on how these proposals could be taken forward in the Pact for the Future. This is the second of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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To Think and Act for Future Generations
Publication Date: March 2023More LessThe challenges that we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation. The Summit of the Future in 2024 is an opportunity to agree on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow, strengthening global governance for both present and future generations. The present policy brief contains suggestions for practical steps to fulfil our long-standing commitment to meet the demands of the present in a way that safeguards the interests of future generations and preserves their ability to effectively enjoy all human rights. These include: an envoy to serve as a voice for future generations at the global level; better use of foresight, science and data; a declaration to define and make concrete our duties to future generations; and a dedicated intergovernmental forum to advance implementation of the declaration and share best practices. These suggestions build on Our Common Agenda and subsequent intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder consultations, reflected in the “Elements paper for the declaration for future generations”, prepared by the Permanent Missions of Fiji and the Netherlands to the United Nations. The brief responds to the questions raised by Member States during the consultations, including how to define future generations, how to balance our commitment to them with our duties to present generations, how the proposals advance our existing goals for sustainable development, gender, and human rights, and what outcomes are recommended for the Summit of the Future on this issue. This is the first of the Summit of the Future Policy Briefs.
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Investing in Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Eradication and a Sustainable Recovery
Publication Date: October 2021More LessThe COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious global public health and socioeconomic crisis the world has faced in the past century, exacerbating pre-existing and systemic inequalities and threatening the long-term livelihoods and well-being of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people. Recovery trends between advanced and developing economies are deeply uneven, spurred by vast differences in access to vaccines, the fiscal capacity and ability of governments to respond, supply chain failures, a growing digital divide, the impacts of the growing complexity of conflict and displacement, and the threat of a looming debt crisis. This two-track recovery is now creating a great divergence, which, if not corrected, will undermine trust and solidarity and fuel conflict and forced migration, and make the world more vulnerable to future crises, including climate change.
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Transforming Extractive Industries for Sustainable Development
Publication Date: June 2021More LessExtractive industries have immense potential to drive growth, support sustainable development, and reduce poverty in developing countries. Yet, the actual contribution of extractive industries to sustainable development in countries rich in raw materials has often been mired by financial, economic, governance, social and environmental concerns. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has caused an extraordinary socioeconomic worldwide crisis, resulting a contraction of world GDP, and the first increase in extreme poverty since 1998. The purpose of this policy brief is to capitalize on the opportunity provided by COVID-19 to build back better by identifying concrete recommendations for transforming the extractives sector into an engine for sustainable development, which can support a just transition to a netzero, circular, and inclusive global economy.
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Liquidity and Debt Solutions to Invest in the SDGs: The Time to Act is Now
Publication Date: May 2021More LessCOVID-19 has caused an extraordinary socio-economic crisis throughout the world. More than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, the world is still in firefighting mode. Long-term economic scarring effects and an uneven recovery, potentially leading to a sharply diverging world, are also increasingly coming into focus. The severe fiscal impacts of the crisis are triggering debt distress in a growing number of countries, severely limiting the ability of many countries to invest in recovery, climate action, and the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The purpose of this policy brief is to take stock of the global policy response since April 2020, assess remaining gaps and challenges for their implementation, and propose updates to the original recommendations in light of developments over the last year.
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COVID-19 and Universal Health Coverage
Publication Date: October 2020More LessIn the space of nine months, COVID-19 (coronavirus) has spread to more than 190 countries, with over 30 million cases reported. Over one million lives have been lost. The pandemic has laid bare long-ignored risks, including inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection and structural inequalities. It has also brought home the importance of basic public health, and strong health systems and emergency preparedness, as well as the resilience of a population in the face of a new virus or pandemic, lending ever greater urgency to the quest for universal health coverage (UHC). Health is a fundamental human right, and universal health coverage is a critical tool for achieving health for all. Universal health coverage is defined as a situation where all individuals and communities receive the health services they need without undue financial hardship. However, at least half of the world’s population still do not have full coverage of essential health services, and over 800 million people spend at least 10 per cent of their household budgets to pay for health. It will be important to remove as much as possible financial barriers to accessing health services. This is challenging during an economic recession, but COVID-19 has shown that effective epidemic control benefits the economy. It has also exposed the down sides of financing health coverage primarily through wage-based contributions. In the context of a global economic crisis where unemployment increases, and where entitlement to services is linked to such contributions, access to health services is reduced at the time people need it the most.
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COVID-19 in an Urban World
Publication Date: September 2020More LessThe remarkable growth of cities in recent decades has intensified a number of humanity’s most pressing challenges. It has also presented many of our greatest opportunities to protect people, prosperity and planet. COVID-19 (coronavirus) has laid bare – and indeed heightened – both these challenges and these opportunities. With an estimated 90 percent of all reported COVID-19 cases, urban areas have become the epicentre of the pandemic. In the near term, for many cities, the COVID-19 health crisis has expanded to a crisis of urban access, urban equity, urban finance, safety, joblessness, public services, infrastructure and transport, all of which are dis-proportionally affecting the most vulnerable in society.
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The Impact of COVID-19 on South-East Asia
Publication Date: September 2020More LessThe health, economic and political impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has been significant across South-East Asia, but the virus has not spread as rapidly here as in other parts of the world. There is much to learn from the response to date of countries in the subregion as governments have acted swiftly and despite limited fiscal space to contain the pandemic and avoid its worst effects. This policy brief examines how the eleven countries of South-East Asia are coping with the immediate impacts of COVID-19, focusing on the subregion’s socio-economic response and providing four sets of recommendations for a recovery that leads to a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future.
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COVID-19 and Transforming Tourism
Publication Date: August 2020More LessTourism provides livelihoods for millions of people and allows billions more to appreciate their own and different cultures, as well as the natural world. For some countries, it can represent over 20 per cent of their GDP and, overall, it is the third largest export sector of the global economy. Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, impacting economies, livelihoods, public services and opportunities on all continents. While sustaining the livelihoods dependent on the sector must be a priority, rebuilding tourism is also an opportunity for transformation with a focus on leveraging its impact on destinations visited and building more resilient communities and businesses through innovation, digitalization, sustainability, and partnerships.
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Education During COVID-19 and Beyond
Author: United NationsPublication Date: August 2020More LessThe COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. Closures of schools and other learning spaces have impacted 94 per cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle income countries. Learning losses also threaten to extend beyond this generation and erase decades of progress, not least in support of girls and young women’s educational access and retention. Some 23.8 million additional children and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) may drop out or not have access to school next year due to the pandemic’s economic impact alone.
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كوفيد-19 والمنطقة العربية
Publication Date: July 2020More LessThe COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has exposed serious fault lines and vulnerabilities in societies, institutions and economies all around the world. The Arab region, home to 436 million people, initially kept transmission and mortality rates lower than the global average but more recent trends are cause for concern, especially in light of fragmented health care and insufficient primary care in many countries. The pandemic has also magnified many decades-long challenges. These include violence and conflict; inequalities; unemployment; poverty; inadequate social safety nets; human rights concerns; insufficiently responsive institutions and governance systems; and an economic model that has not yet met the aspirations of all. The response to the COVID-19 crisis can also be used to address some of the long-standing structural weaknesses in the region, notably to build back better in line with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development through stronger support to local authorities, while strengthening democracy, safeguarding human rights, and achieving and sustaining peace.
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