Elma Saiz participates in the 2nd World Summit for Social Development to promote a global agenda based on inclusion and human rights

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, attends the II World Summit for Social Development

Elma Saiz is taking part in the 2nd World Summit for Social Development, which is being held in Doha (Qatar) on 4, 5 and 6 November. It is a meeting convened by the United Nations that brings together leaders and policy makers from around the world with the aim of advancing the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the 2030 Agenda, in a context marked by global inequalities, demographic challenges and technological and environmental transformations.

Minister Saiz attended the opening of the plenary session, a summit that will foster global partnerships and define future inclusive and innovative policies capable of building a more resilient, sustainable and egalitarian society. "If we act together, with vision and commitment, we can build a more just, inclusive and humane world," she said.

Tomorrow, Saiz will address the plenary session where she will highlight Spain's commitment to strong social multilateralism and the promotion of a global social agenda based on inclusion and human rights. She will also highlight the incorporation of the feminist approach in governmental action as a way to advance human rights and sustainable development.

Close cooperation with Romania

During the day, the minister held a bilateral meeting with Petre-Florin Manole, Romania's Minister of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, where they discussed the status of the work to formalise a Memorandum of Understanding on Social Security that will facilitate the payment of benefits between the two countries.

Spain and Romania are working to strengthen cooperation in the field of Social Security, with Romanian workers being the second largest group of contributors in the Spanish Social Security system.

Minister Saiz also conveyed to her counterpart her department's commitment to the social inclusion of the Roma people, highlighting the positive results of the pilot projects developed through the Inclusion Policies Laboratory and the measures linked to the Minimum Basic Income.

Iberian cooperation to strengthen Social Europe

Saiz also met with Maria do Rosário de Palma Ramalho, Portugal's Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, with whom she discussed the policies of both governments on migration and labour matters.

The two ministers explored new alliances to consolidate the European pillar of social rights and agreed to move forward with the revision of Regulation 883, key to the coordination of Social Security systems in the European Union.

The Spanish minister took advantage of this meeting to thank Portugal for its collaboration in the second edition of the Wafira Project, aimed at training and empowering Moroccan women working in Spain, and to prepare the contents of the next Spanish-Portuguese Summit, scheduled for January.

First bilateral meeting with Finland

The first bilateral meeting between Minister Saiz and Grahn-Lasonen, Minister of Social Security of Finland, took place in Doha. The two discussed the reform of Regulation 883 and the strengthening of Social Europe, sharing experiences on inclusion and minimum income.

Saiz presented to her Finnish counterpart the Spanish inclusion policies, such as the Minimum Basic Income and the Child Support Supplement, as well as the results of the empirical evaluation pilot projects promoted by the Inclusion Policies Laboratory.

Meeting with IOM Director General

Minister Saiz also held a meeting with Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), to whom she conveyed Spain's recognition of the organisation's work and its commitment to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

Saiz reported on the successful implementation of the GECCO programme, which regulates the recruitment of foreign workers in their countries of origin for temporary jobs in essential sectors, ensuring comprehensive, humane, and human rights-based migration management.

The minister stressed that well-managed migration boosts economic development, strengthens social cohesion and favours full integration, principles that guide the Spanish government's international action.

Non official translation