April 22 is International Mother Earth Day as proclaimed by the United Nations Resolution in 2009. Mother Earth is urging a call to action – a need to shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. Protecting the planet is everyone’s responsibility. Earth Day had it origins back in the 60’s and was first celebrated in 1970. It was Ambassador Pablo Solón Romero of Bolivia who spearheaded the International Mother Earth Day Resolution in the General Assembly together with Harmony with Nature, and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  One of his approaches was to collaborate with the NGO Community. I was part of that advocacy group leading up to the Resolution in 2009.

Amid Mother Earth Day celebrations, the United Nations is abuzz with meetings, forums and conferences, many taking place concurrently. NGO’s are just returning from the Spring Meetings in Washington with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to engage with the Annual Financing for Development Forum from April 22 to 25. Read an overview of the issues from the perspective of the Civil Society Finance for Development Mechanism. Among the issues raised is the need to ensure fiscal space, and scale up international cooperation for decent jobs creation and universal social protection in line with SDGs and ILO standards. (see No 9). This links directly with the GSIJP Office’s position on Universal Social Protection. Other issues include addressing unsustainable and illegitimate debt, including through extensive debt cancellation and agreeing on a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation to comprehensively address tax havens, tax abuse by multinational corporations, and other illicit financial flows.

This Forum is embarking on the path towards the 4^th International Conference for Financing for Development which will be held in 2025. See and FfD Home Page

The GSIJP Office is co-sponsoring a side event on Social Protection on Monday 22.

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues opened on Monday, April 15th and continues for two weeks. Read about the opening At the end of the short overview you will read that coverage of events is affected by the liquidity crisis at the United Nations. This is a daily reality impacting all support services to the United Nations including secretariates. You can view the opening ceremony on UN Web TV

Two other Summit with global implications for People and Planet are (I) Summit of the Future which will take place in NY in September 2024. The document – the Pact for the Future – is currently being negotiated. See the GSIJP Office contribution HERE or directly to the document HERE. the GSIJP Office also collaborated in The Working Group on Girls submission and Kimberly Happich Moloche follows the process. The Civil Society Conference ahead of the Summit will take place in Nairobi on May 9 -10. See

Another Summit, the 2025 Social Summit will take place 30 years after the historic first World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, during which Heads of State and Government defined an ambitious shared vision for social development aimed at social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and between countries. Read more This is a significant summit for the Congregation as we have been committed to implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Platform for Action since obtaining ECOSOC Status 1996 with it’s three pillars – eradicating poverty, full employment and decent work and social integration. Another site with information. In the diagram presented in the link above you will notice that all the process are interconnected. Forums, conferences and summits are no longer solo ventures but rather opportunities to reflect on the global issues using a different lens to respond holistically.

Much of the current effort is towards accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals – the annual High Level Political Forum – which will take place July 8 – 17, 2024 under the theme of “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions” with a specific eye on SDGs 1, 2, 13, 16 and 17.

The following states have expressed interest in carrying out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the 2024 HLPF: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belize, Brazil, Chad, Colombia, Congo (Republic of the), Costa Rica, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of.)  Namibia, Nepal, Oman, Palau, Peru, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zimbabwe

Good Shepherd projects are present in many countries presenting. This is a real opportunity to engage with your government and within your region to advocate for full implementation of the SDGs. The 2024 Political Declaration will seek to further implement the commitments of the Political Declaration in 2023

Sustainability Week at the UN took place from April 15 to 19, 2024 See

Winifred Doherty of the GSIJP Office was a panelist at an event to mark Sustainability Week 2025 hosted by UNANIMA International entitled ‘Holistic Approaches for a Sustainable Future: Centering Individual, Collective and Planetary Well-Being’. Flyer, Concept Note, and the Recording below.