This year’s Lisbon Forum – organised by the Council of Europe’s Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity, or North-South Centre – focuses on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals for a better and more sustainable future.
By promoting dialogue between countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, the Forum provides a unique platform to address global challenges associated with the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, gender equality, peace and justice.
In her opening address, Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić welcomed the meaningful work of the North-South Centre in organising the Forum, thanking the Portuguese government for its “extraordinary and on-going support” for the Centre.
She outlined in detail how the Council of Europe helps to achieve these goals, including the fifth goal of gender equality, as the Forum opened on the UN Day to Eliminate Violence against Women.
The Secretary General also explained how Council of Europe common legal standards, monitoring mechanisms and technical assistance and cooperation – such as the Council of Europe Conventions against Trafficking in Human Beings and Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence – provide “direct means of targeting” some of the goals.
The Forum, financed by the EU-funded South Programme, also marks the 30th anniversary of the North-South Centre.
