"Eradication" -- see note below

The mission of the GSO is to facilitate dialogue and disseminate information on social issues in order to encourage stakeholders to engage in a broadened search for solutions and policy coherence. This service is based on a participatory process that brings all interested parties together in a neutral space to identify solutions and policies that are coherent. These solutions can then contribute to policy-making at the governmental and intergovernmental levels.

Visit the GSO Observer for commentary on current social issues

In addition, the GSO builds its programming around information gathering and analysis of global social issues. Our team monitors and reports on the Geneva international scene, a major center for international organizations dealing with global social issues, but we also look beyond Geneva to provide in-depth analysis on selected issues in a broadened search for solutions and policy coherence. GSO reports cover a wide range of social issues such as business and human rights, migration, food security and climate change.

The GSO Colloquium Series On Non-Communicable Diseases

On 10 January 2012, the Global Social Observatory launched a Colloquium Series on Non-Communicable Diseases to support the implementation of the United Nations Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of NCDs under the leadership of the World Health Organization. The launch event on 10 January featured a discussion on the specific issues and challenge areas associated with establishing the underlying principles for multi-stakeholder dialogue and engagement, leading to the adoption of a statement on “The Role of Multi-Stakeholder and Multi-Sectoral Collaboration on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases”. Please click here to read the statement.

The 10 January event also introduced the participatory framework for the rest of the Colloquium Series, based on a survey of priority issues identified by the GSO Working Group on NCDs. Please click here to see the results of the GSO Colloquium Series Survey. The First GSO Colloquium Event was held on Friday, 30 March 2012 on “The Linkages among the Risk Factors for NCDs and Opportunities for Multi-Sectoral Action”, to produce a set of central messages for multi-sectoral collaboration in government and community services, education, primary health care and the workplace.  Please click here to read the report.  This will be followed by other Colloquium Events as described in the updated Work Plan for the 2012 Colloquium Series on Non-Communicable Disease. Please click here to see the Work Plan.

About the photo: “Eradication” — sculpture by Mike Munyaradzi (Zimbabwe) 2007, stands in front of the UNAIDS building in Geneva, Switzerland. The plaque on the base reads: Mike Munyaradzi (Zimbabwe),2007 — Opal stone, 340 x 100 cm — Symbolizing the fragile world we live in today, the hollowed sphere signifies the destruction of our globe and the difficult issues of our time including AIDS. The leaf represents the life we are struggling to sustain.– Gift from Tibotec of Johnson & Johnson — UNAIDS permanent collection. Photo by R. Doggett, HRI