GCSPF E-Newsletter #18 - December 2018

The IMF has released the December 2018 edition of its quarterly Finance & Development, which is dedicated to the theme “Rethinking the Social Contract”. The issue contains, among others, the contribution "Hardly anyone is too poor to share" by Michael Cichon, member of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

The main focus of Cichon’s article is the highly attainable financing of social protection floors in all countries, for which he cites a detailed study carried out by the GCSPF. Read more

Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) and Sawit Watch conducted a joint-research project to investigate working conditions on palm oil plantations owned by Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), the palm oil division of Sinar Mas.
The global demand for palm oil is increasing, and palm oil plantations are also increasing in many places, in particular in Indonesia, the largest palm oil producer in the world. In 2015 Indonesia exported a total of 28,276,871 tons of both crude palm oil (CPO) and kernel palm oil (KPO), with a value of more than US$15,413 million. The demand for palm oil keeps rising, and there is little attention to the working conditions of palm oil plantation workers. Based on recent investigations, many similarities in working conditions can be found in almost all palm oil plantations. There are frequent practices in terms of irregular employment that have no job security, heavy workloads, unachievable daily targets, discrimination against workers, child labour, inadequate social security and other human rights violations. It can be said that the abusive working conditions is one of the key features of the palm oil supply chain. Read more

PSI went to Marrakesh with a 45-member strong trade union delegation. In addition to participating in the Adoption Conference, PSI organised a Strategy workshop and participated in the civil society days of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, the Peoples Global Action and in the Global Unions Forum on Migration.
On the eve of the Adoption Conference, PSI also organized a side event to promote a Stakeholders' Dialogue on Health Worker Migration and the Global Skills Partnerships. Read more

The Report Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018 "Exploring new policy pathways. How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda" by the Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is now available in Spanish.

Lea aquí el informe Spotlight Enfoques sobre Desarrollo Sostenible 2018.

El artículo ODS 1. Financiar los sistemas de protección social para todos escrito por la GCSPF se encuentra disponible aquí

In September 2016 ILO and World bank launched the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection aiming at unleashing an unprecedented effort to roll out universal social protection in countries all around the world.
A USP 2030 high level conference will take place in February 2019. The aim is to inspire governments from a broad range of countries to join in and to politically commit to take action for universal social protection in their countries. To that end, a ‘Call to Action’ will be launched during the Conference.
Dates:
- 5th February: USP2030 High-Level Conference organized by the EU and USP2030 partnership
- 6th-8th February: Universal Child Grants international conference jointly organized by UNICEF, ILO and ODI
In case you are interested to participate, please pre-register online. Participation is free, but organizers do not provide funding for travel expenses.
In case you are planning to participate in any of these events, please send a message to Ana (anaclau@item.org.uy) before 31.12.2018, as we are planning to coordinate a meeting and joint lobby activities. Read more

Dr. Tara Patricia Cookson earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She is author of Unjust Conditions: Women’s Work and the Hidden Cost of Cash Transfer Programs, an ethnographic account of women’s experiences of participating in the world’s most widely implemented anti-poverty programs.
In 2014 she received the Bill Gates Sr Prize for founding a leadership program called Learning for Purpose. Tara is a SSHRC Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia, a Seattle Women’s Commissioner, and has served as a proud board member of the Kelowna Women’s Resource Centre, not far from her grandmother’s birthplace, Ladysmith. Tara is Co-Founder and Director of Ladysmith.
Her email is tara@ladysmithventures.com. For more information please visit here

SEASONS GREETINGS. Whising our members health and prosperity in the coming year.