On Thursday 14 June we attended the Executive Committee and the General Assembly held by the Global Compact Network – Spain in Madrid, at an event chaired by Lise Kingo, CEO and executive director of the UN Global Compact.
This event was attended by a large representation of partners, clearly displaying the involvement of the Spanish business fabric in the challenges of the 2030 Agenda; the global roadmap that sets out the goals of the international community from 2016 to 2030 to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable and equal development.
In her speech, Lise Kingo acknowledged the “incredible work” that the Spanish Network is carrying out, because “it is a model of inspiration for other local networks and contributes in a decisive manner to achieving the goal that Kofi Annan – Secretary General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006- established for the Global Compact: give a human face to globalization“. She also stressed the role that the Network is playing, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MAEC), in preparing the voluntary national review that our country will submit to the ECOSOC High-Level Political Forum in July in New York.
On this path toward sustainable development, the 17 SDGs are the backbone for this transition. “They have been broken down into 169 specific targets, which make us aware at all times of our level of progress”. In addition, she reminded us of the fields on which we need to focus more specifically: Climate Change (SDG 13) and Inequalities (SDG 10).
The latter SDG is intimately related and linked to NSF’s mission and to the work that our Foundation has performed over 38 years, and that we can and want to continue doing through various local, national, regional, and global actions: help improve youth employability. Without employment, decent work for all, it will be impossible to eradicate inequality.
SDG 10 “Reduce inequality within and among countries”
Target 10.1.- By 2030 progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40% of the population at a rate higher than the national average
Both during the Steering Committee Meeting, and subsequently to the General Assembly, we were able to exchange a few words with Lise Kingo. We told her of our firm commitment, as a private civil society entity, to contribute from the perspective of youth employment and all its stakeholders (businesses and organisations, youth, public administration, universities, society,…) to the “great plan” that humanity has given itself for the coming 13 years, which is the 2030 Agenda and its goal of achieving a more sustainable world without leaving anyone behind.
