The Declaration is available here in English, Spanish and French together with a copy of the program of January 30th and 31st. cs-declaration-ecs-declaration-scs-declaration-fr2017-cs-forum-program
Have you read the Civil Society Declaration to the Commission? civil-society-declaration-csocd-55th-session The civil society declaration addresses the theme of the commission and responds in four parts: (1) Introduction (2) A strategy to eradicate poverty (3) …and achieve sustainable development …for all (4) A call to action.
The Good Shepherd Microfinace No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) in Australia is one strategy that has been effective in implementing Social Protection policies in Australia. Good Shepherd Statement to the Commission in English, French and Spanish
Case Study: Universal social protection policies that benefit all of society must reach women and girls who are in the most vulnerable situations, for whom barriers tend to remain even when services and national human development averages improve. These programs must empower girls and women, strengthen their citizenship, and equip them with the knowledge, spaces and networks with which to claim their entitlements. The Good Shepherd Microfinance No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) in Australia provides individuals and families on low incomes with access to safe, fair and affordable loans for essential goods and services. Participants recognize that repaying their loan means that those funds become available to someone else in the community — consequently, the repayment rate is consistently 95-97%. Follow-up analysis shows that four out of five NILS participants are moving away from crisis and hardship towards stability and resilience — achieving economic mobility. In Australia, more and more women are turning to high cost, predatory payday loans, suggesting that a growing number of women are being excluded from the financial mainstream. NILS focuses on improving opportunities for women and girls, with women representing 67% of NILS participants. Microfinance programs promote gender equality through financial inclusion, and are essential for ensuring women living on low incomes and their families are able to enjoy improved quality of life. The NILS commitment to education and financial literacy is also empowering for women. The loan process begins a conversation about money and household finances with each microfinance applicant. These conversations lead to increased financial literacy and confidence dealing with money. This improves women ’s selfesteem, and participation in decision-making processes.
Étude de cas: Les politiques de protection sociale universelle profitant à l’ensemble de la société doivent prendre en compte les femmes et les filles les plus vulnérables, celles pour qui les barrières ne tombent pas, y compris quand le niveau mo yen des services et du développement humain dans leur pays progresse. Les différents programmes doivent autonomiser les filles et les femmes, renforcer leur citoyenneté et leur fournir les connaissances, les espaces et les réseaux nécessaires pour revendiquer leurs droits. En Australie, le programme « No Interest Loan Scheme » de Good Shepherd Microfinance donne aux individus et aux familles à faible revenu un accès à des prêts sûrs, équitables et abordables leur permettant de bénéficier de biens et servic es essentiels. Les participants étant conscients que le remboursement de leur prêt permet de réaffecter les fonds à d’autres membres de la communauté, le taux de remboursement s’établit entre 95 et 97 %. L’analyse de ses effets montre que quatre participants sur cinq au programme « No Interest Loan Scheme » parviennent à opérer la transition d’une situation de crise et de pauvreté à une situation de stabilité et de résilience, jusqu’à parvenir à la mobilité économique. Dans ce pays, de plus en plus de femmes se tournent vers des prêts sur salaire aux conditions abusives et au coût élevé, ce qui donne à penser que le nombre de femmes exclues du système financier traditionnel progresse. Le « No Interest Loan Scheme » met l’accent sur l’amélioration des perspectives pour les femmes et les filles, les femmes représentant 67 % des participants au programme. Les programmes de microfinancement favorisent l’égalité des sexes par l’inclusion financière et sont déterminants pour permettre aux femmes vivant avec un faible revenu et à leur famille de jouir d’une meilleure qualité de vie. L’engagement du programme « No Interest Loan Scheme » en faveur de l’éducation et de la culture financière contribue également à l’émancipation des femmes. Le processus de prêt commence par une conversation sur l’argent et les finances du ménage avec chaque demandeur d’un microfinancement. Cet échange renforce les connaissances de base en matière de gestion financière et la confiance quant à l’utilisation de l’argent, ce qui a pour effet d’améliorer l’estime de soi chez les femmes ainsi que leur participation à la prise de décision.
Estudio de caso: Las políticas de protección social universal que benefician a toda la sociedad deben llegar a las mujeres y las niñas que se encuentren en situaciones más vulnerables, para quienes las barreras tienden a permanecer, incluso cuando mejoran los promedios en materia de servicios y desarrollo humano a escala nacional. Estos programas deben empoderar a las niñas y las mujeres, reforzar su condición de ciudadanas, y dotarlas de los conocimientos, espacios y redes que les permitan reclamar sus derechos. El programa de préstamos sin interés con fines de microfinanciación de nuestra organización en Australia proporciona acceso a préstamos seguros, justos y asequibles para la adquisición de bienes y servicios esenciales a las personas y familias de bajos ingresos. Los participantes reconocen que el reembolso de su préstamo supone que esos fondos estarán disponibles para otra persona en la comunidad, por lo que la tasa de reembolso oscila sistemáticamente entre el 95% y el 97%. Un análisis del seguimiento indica que cuatro de cada cinco participantes en el programa de préstamos sin interés con fines de microfinanciación están saliendo de la crisis y las dificultades y se encaminan a la estabilidad y la resiliencia, logrando la movilidad económica. En Australia, un número cada vez mayor de mujeres están recurriendo a préstamos depredadores de alto costo a corto plazo, lo que indica que un número cada vez mayor de mujeres están siendo excluidas de las corrientes principales de financiación. El programa de préstamos sin interés con fines de microfinanciación se centra en mejorar las oportunidades de las niñas y las mujeres, y estas últimas constituyen el 67% de los participantes en el programa. Los programas de microfinanciación promueven la igualdad de género mediante la inclusión financiera, y son esenciales para garantizar que las mujeres que tienen bajos ingresos y sus familias puedan disfrutar de una mejor calidad de vida. El compromiso del programa con la alfabetización y la educación en materia de finanzas también está empoderando a las mujeres. El proceso de préstamo se inicia con una conversación sobre el dinero y las finanzas de la familia con cada solicitante de microfinanciación. Esas conversaciones dan lugar a un aumento de los conocimientos financieros y de la confianza para abordar cuestiones monetarias. Eso permite mejorar la autoestima de las mujeres y su participación en los procesos de adopción de decisiones.
Read more at Good Shepherd Micro Finance
See the website – English only
See our statement to the Commission in – English, French and Spanish
The posters are in three languages: First giving you the dates, theme and link to the Good Shepherd Statement; the second set- describes the Commission and the third set answer the question what is Social Protection?
The first commission I attended was in February 2008 – the 46th Commission on the theme of “Promoting Full Employment And Decent Work For All.” 47th and 48th Social Integration, 49th and 50th Poverty Eradication, 51st and 52nd “Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all,” 53rd and 54th “Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world.”
A Side Event during the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development – 19th April 2016 from 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm in Conference Room E –SPF side event – 19 April 2016
A new resource, a hand book for implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights has been published. Since I came to the GSIJP Office in 2008 you in the networks have been engaged in collecting information for the then Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights – Magdalena Sepuleveda (2008 – 2014) The Handbook has been published by ATD 4th World and Franciscan International and is available in French, English and Spanish
The book is in four parts: Part 1 – The basics; Part 2 – Key principles for engaging with people living in poverty; Part 3 – Empowering people in extreme poverty to claim their rights; Part 4 – Monitoring and ensuring accountability.
This handbook will be very helpful to you in your various ministries with people living in poverty. It is a human rights perspective and suggests actions that can be taken with local government and other sectors of society to ensure that rights are respected and protected. The focus is on the barriers that prevent people living in poverty from enjoying many fundamental rights such as the right to food and nutrition, housing, work, heath and education. These are the subject matter of the new Sustainable Development Goals that came into force throughout the world on January 1, 2016
There you’ll also find links to the introductory video with subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and German HERE
Pilot implementations/trainings are being explored in 6 countries, tentatively: Benin, Kenya, India, Philippines, Argentina, Bolivia. If you want to be part of these implementations/training let me know.
30th Congregational Chapter Direction Statement “In response to the most pressing needs of today such as poverty … we commit ourselves, on unit, regional and congregational levels, to: Develop clear strategic plans integrating spirituality and justice and peace with the best ministry practices. This includes holding ourselves accountable to monitor and evaluate the results. See Part 4 Monitoring and ensuring accountability. This Handbook is an excellent resource, making human rights work for people living in extreme poverty, bringing about structural and systemic change.
Here is an article published in the Global Sister Report Click here on Religious engagement at the United Nations. “The reps have the ability to focus on the core of the matter, capture it in a phrase and work diligently to get those phrases included in U.N. documents: water as a human right; prior free and informed consent; social protection floor.” Good Shepherd Units around the world worked with me in advocating for Water Rights – we had 13 signatures from 12 countries: Angola, Portugal, France, Ireland, Malta, Myanmar, Singapore/Malaysia, United Kingdom, South Africa and Philippines with one regional signature from REAL and an international signature from the Congregation. And of course we are active participants in promoting social protection floors. Recently, there was an account of the implementation of the Social Protection Floor in Cambodia.