Observed every year on 1 June, the Global Day of Parents provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents throughout the world for their "selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship." Families bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Family-friendly workplace policies and practices help to promote children’s safety and wellbeing. Vaccines help to keep families and communities safe. They are the best hope we have of ending the COVID-19 pandemic and getting back to doing the things we enjoy with the people we love.

Recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to reset socioeconomic policies in order to restart economic growth. This means sustainably improving the living standards and well-being of all people as an integral part of efforts to promote the socially just transition to sustainable development envisioned in the 2030 Agenda. Digital technologies can facilitate that transition and create a more inclusive, equitable, resilient and sustainable society for all. Focused on this topic, the 59th session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD59) starts today in New York.

Despite ample examples, quantitative evidence on the link between epidemics and social unrest is scant. Recent IMF staff research fills this gap by offering global evidence of this link in recent decades. History is replete with examples of disease outbreaks casting long shadows of social repercussions: shaping politics, subverting the social order, and some ultimately causing social unrest. Why? One possible reason is that an epidemic can reveal or aggravate pre-existing fault lines in society.

The UNDP 2020 Human Development Report (HDR) doubles down on the belief that people’s agency and empowerment can bring about the action we need if we are to live in balance with the planet in a fairer world. It shows that we are at an unprecedented moment in history, in which human activity has become a dominant force shaping the planet. These impacts interact with existing inequalities, threatening significant development reversals. Nothing short of a great transformation is needed to change the path we are on. The Report explores how to jumpstart that transformation.

Amid a global health crisis and widely varying government responses, a group of 16 former heads of states, ministers, eminent economists, and social scientists – offers a set of new solutions for governments to build back better, greener and fairer after COVID-19.

In Barrio Curita, in the General San Martín municipality of Buenos Aires, an unlikely group of men and women helped connect 450 homes to water services – a lack of access to water is an all too common issue in low-income neighbourhoods.

The coronavirus crisis is pushing critical economic, social and environmental development targets beyond reach, warned UNCTAD through its 2020 SDG Pulse.

The lack of decent work opportunities exacerbates inequalities among societies. Not only are growing inequalities preventing people from achieving their full potential, they are also putting a burden on economies. The only way we are going to achieve social justice, tackle inequality, reduce poverty and address climate change, is if we put people and planet first, says the International Labour Organization (ILO).  On Social Justice Day 2020, under the theme “Closing the Inequalities Gap to Achieve Social Justice,” the ILO is asking you to tell policy makers around the world, why is important to you, using the hashtag #MyFutureOurPlanet.

Inequality has risen to historical levels, according to the 2020 World Social Report. High inequality can impact economic prosperity and social development for millions of people if effective policies are not put in place. The report, “Inequality in a rapidly changing world,” to be launched at noon EST on 21 January, states that major global trends, including technological change, the climate crisis, urbanization and international migration, can be harnessed to reduce inequality, or can be left to further divide us. The briefing will be webcast live.

The world economy has barely had the time to recover from a string of shocks that began with the 2007 financial crisis, and we can already see another global slowdown looming large.

Human Solidarity is one of the fundamental values of international relations in the 21st Century, wherein those, who either suffer or benefit least, deserve help from those who benefit most. Consequently, in the context of globalization and the challenge of growing inequality, strengthening international solidarity is indispensable. Therefore, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 20 of December as International Human Solidarity Day to promote this concept as a crucial element in the fight against poverty. 

In Belarus, Aliaksandr (Sasha) Audzevich serves as a UN Volunteer Inclusion and Disabilities Officer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He is part of the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Persons with Disabilities, which enables youth with disabilities to acquire experience and contribute to the United Nations as UN Volunteers. Sasha shares his story on the occasion of International Volunteer Day 2019.

The Human Development Report 2019 will be launched in Bogota, Colombia on 9 December. Titled ‘Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century,’ the report shows that a new generation of severe inequalities in human development is emerging, even as the gap is narrowing on many of the unresolved inequalities of the 20th century. These emerging dynamics — under the shadow of the climate crisis and technological change — demand new approaches in policies at national and global levels.

New analysis puts the global volunteer workforce at 109 million full-time equivalent workers. Volunteering provides opportunities for people, particularly those often excluded, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). International Volunteer Day, celebrated on 5 December every year, is a unique chance for volunteers to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to promote their work. This year the international day highlights volunteers contributing to inclusion, and SDG 10, reducing inequality within and among countries.

Between 2017 and 2030, the number of persons aged 60 years or over is projected to grow by 46% (from 962 million to 1.4 billion) globally outnumbering youth, as well as children under the age of 10. Population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. Aiming to enshrine the rights of older persons and to mobilize advocates to protect those rights, the UN designated 1 October as "International Day of Older Persons." Aligned with SDG 10, this year's theme: "The Journey to Age Equality," focuses on pathways of coping with existing (and preventing future) old age inequalities.