India elected chair of 62nd session of UN Commission for Social Development

New York: India has been elected chair of the 62nd session of the UN Commission for Social Development (CSocD).

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj on Thursday accepted the chairpersonship at the UN Headquarters in New York . This is the first time since 1975 that India has become Chair of the Commission for Social Development, according to a release issued by the Indian Permanent Mission to the UN.

The Commission for Social Development is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council. The Commission serves as the primary inter-governmental body to deliberate upon and strengthen international cooperation on social development issues, according to the official release.
The 62nd session's theme is "Fostering Social Development and Social Justice through Social Policies to accelerate Progress on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to achieve the overarching goal of poverty eradication".

The theme emphasises the important connection between social development and social justice as fundamentals to achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

The Commission for Social Development's main responsibility is to review, on a periodic basis, issues related to the follow-up and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly.

Speaking at a recent UN briefing, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that as the chair of the G20, India will continue to engage proactively with the global south refactoring the priorities of the south into the G20 process.

"We greatly appreciate this briefing on your priorities for the resumed segment of the 77th session (of UNGA)... To say that we are perhaps witnessing the most difficult phase since the Second World War is not an exaggeration but a reality. The road ahead is, therefore, difficult and challenging. As you rightly pointed as members of the United Nations we have an onerous responsibility. We need to work collectively in a collaborative manner to find sustainable solutions to the development challenges," she said.

Ruchira Kamboj said India's philosophical ethos sees the world as one large interconnected family.