Opening Remarks during the Technical Briefing for the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions

Colleagues from the National Government Agencies; UNCT Heads of Agencies; your excellencies from the embassies and other development partners; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

It is a great pleasure to meet with all of you today and I am grateful to have this chance to speak with you about the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions (GA).

The GA was launched in September 2021 by the Secretary-General. It represents the UN system’s collective response to addressing the threats to development progress.

Under the GA, the UN System will provide technical support at the global, regional, and national levels, through the so-called Technical Support Facility (TSF) guided by the following pillars:

• Integrated employment and social protection policies;
• Integrated national financing strategies; and
• Enhanced multinational cooperation.

The real heart of the TSF will be at the country level, where UN agencies and other partners will work with governments to boost progress on jobs and social protection.

Working through existing national policies and programmes, the TSF will help countries identify sectoral or thematic challenges that can be possible entry points for the GA.

Speaking of existing national policies, the new Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028, the proposed Labour and Employment Plan  (LEP) and the new Social Protection Floor (SFP) are all important frameworks that will become our stepping stones towards  achieving Pathfinder country status for the Philippines under the GA.

Achieving the Pathfinder status will require a high level of commitment from our government partners, which is why we have organized this briefing, so that everyone can gain a common understanding of the GA, and how we can leverage this opportunity to achieve our shared commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I now enjoin everyone to participate actively in the discussions after the presentation of our colleagues. I look forward to hearing your reactions and ideas on how we can further collaborate in this endeavor.

Thank you very much!