The first plenary session for GEEF will address the importance of multi-stakeholders working together in an integrated manner to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with no one left behind. With 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) closely intertwined, the United Nations recognizes multi-stakeholder partnerships as "important vehicles for mobilizing and sharing knowledge, expertise, technologies and financial resources to support the achievement of the SDGs in all countries, particularly developing countries." These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the center, are needed at the global, regional, national and local levels.
By addressing the roles and resourcing strategies of education, governments, nonprofit organizations and road safety campaigns, the plenary session on "Partnerships for Sustainable Development" will also set the tone for the following session "Special Conversation with Jack Ma," where the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba will focus on the private sector as one of the key elements of cross-cutting partnerships.

A Plenary Session on Climate Action will be an opportunity to address the pledge to leave no one behind, the heart of the 2030 agenda, and how climate change adaptation and mitigation mechanisms can serve to deliver that pledge. In doing so, we intend to highlight interlinks between the proactive and practical approach to climate change and poverty eradication efforts. The Declaration of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognized the importance of climate change as follows: “We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.”
Furthermore, we aim to create a venue to share best practices in order to reconstruct the narrative on climate change issues, change the framing from risks and uncertainties to opportunities for co-benefits. These co-benefits include improvements in human health, fewer conflicts over resources, reduced dependency on energy imports, and a greater social inclusion.

Healthcare is the foundation for a better life. Access to comprehensive and quality healthcare is essential for promoting health and reducing inequalities, leading to productive and fulfilling lives. Universal Health Coverage aims to ensure everyone the essential access to quality healthcare without having to suffer financial difficulties. However, while universal coverage and removal of barriers to healthcare are integrated into the principles of many countries’national health policies, millions still encounter obstructions that prevent access to due healthcare services. To achieve universal health coverage, the obstacles and their solutions must be addressed.
21st Century has seen an increase in the number of people who were able to obtain critical health services, as well as a decrease of extreme poverty. Yet, the progress is uneven. Wide gaps of access persist in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Other regions have increased availability, but lack of governmental plans mean financial burden for families as their out-ofpocket expenses increase. Ensuring UHC for all citizens at all stages of life, is crucial.
Recently, three of the largest companies in United States gathered to discuss a new system of healthcare for their employees. The initial focus of the joint venture is on technology solutions that will provide employees and their families with high quality healthcare at a reasonable cost. Utilizing new and innovative technology may enable a global consensus for a more efficient and transparent healthcare delivery system. Setting a global standard, one which encompasses all countries and all people, for affordable and fair healthcare system may be possible.

Water is critically important for sustainable development. For developing countries, water is important in terms of national economy growth, national security, and public health. In developed countries, the potential impact of climate change in urban water management has been concerned as the highest priority issue in public sector. Although water policy, technology and industry have provided technical solutions to so many public water problems, there are still remaining and emerging water problems even in developed countries. This led us to speculate that the current water paradigm may not work. This session will discuss on what would be new water paradigm(s) for our future world, and what water technology and industry can do for sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes“eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions”as“the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” Having lifted itself out of absolute poverty as well as political suppression to achieve economic affluence and democracy within a few decades after the take-off in the 1960s, Korea is widely considered to be a model of development success. Given its rich experience of successfully addressing many development challenges as well as industrial, technological, administrative and other capabilities it has built up through the development process thus far, the 2030 Agenda provides Korea with an opportunity to make a uniquely valuable contribution to sustainable development through international development cooperation for poverty alleviation and economic development in low-income developing countries struggling with various problems of poverty and obstacles to economic take-off. In its Voluntary National Review of the implementation of the SDGs submitted to the UN High-level Political Forum held in July 2016, Korean government reported that the Third Basic Plan for Sustainable Development (2016-2035) (BPSD) adopted in January 2016 made efforts to translate the SDGs into national policies and plans. BPSD, however, focuses on the domestic challenges. The VNR also reported that, in order to incorporate the SDGs into national framework for international development cooperation, Korea established a number of policy frameworks and plans on development cooperation. They may be grouped into the following four‘pillars’: ① the 2nd Mid-Term ODA Policy (2016-2020), ② Presidential Initiatives for Development Cooperation, ③ the Strategy for Implementing Humanitarian Assisㅁtance, and ④ the Multilateral Cooperation Strategy. The Moon Jae-in government which was newly launched in May 2017 with a massive popular support, in the wake of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hey, is currently reconsidering BPSD as well as those policy frameworks and plans on international development cooperation for revision, improvement, and elaboration. This current hiatus in the policy process for implementation of the SDGs in Korea makes it timely for this Session to re-examine the four pillars of Korea s policies on development cooperation for their adequacy in carving out Korea s intended contribution to such cooperation for global sustainable development, considering the country s own experiences and capabilities as well as the call of the global agenda.

Youth , commonly understood as those persons between the ages of leaving compulsory education and finding their first job, are key agents to search and create solutions in the present and future world.With Ban Ki Moon, the former UN Secretary-General, having called for the need to recognize and mobilize young people as agents of change.

To engage and empower the younger generation as enablers of sustainable development, education and promotion of the United Nations’Declaration of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is fundamental.

This parallel session on youth aims to highlight the importance of youth s role as changemakers who facilitate our society s transition to sustainability. Thus, presentations and discussions will concentrate on understanding the interconnectedness of the SDGs and the need to involve young people in creating cross-sectorial solutions to social problems.

Through the efforts of the UN and UNESCO, much progress has been made in raising the general level of education throughout the world, which in turn has led to a significant reduction in inequality. Yet so many regions and so many 'minority' groups have been left behind, owing to entrenched, interrelated barriers--regional (esp. Africa, Oceania, West Asia), gender, and income. Recent advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), however, are offering unprecedented possibilities for deploying education on a global scale, for breaking down the barriers to universal education, and thus for making SDG 4 on Quality Education more achievable.
Global economic development is increasing the demand for higher education and vocational training, strong drivers behind sustainable development. ICT is serving as an answer to these demands and, ultimately, facilitating the SDG targets to “ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university; and substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.” (SDGs 4.3 and 4.4)
This session will explore the role of ICT in regard to Quality Education, more specifically to higher education and TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training). We will begin by identifying current challenges and will go on to deliberate on ways to overcome these challenges. We will then move toward more specific approaches and solutions that will enhance the role of ICT in education, and how to integrate or at least coordinate such efforts to achieve SDG 4.

The relationship between business and sustainability has formed the shape of the Möbius strip with the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution focused on innovation and consumer activism keen on corporate responsibility: one must compliment the other to be able to form a healthy ecosystem. As a result, the global community has been collectively working toward ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns as agreed upon a UN SDG #12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
On the other hand, in reality, this can be easier said than done. Many stakeholders whose participation is required to achieve the UN SDG, including business, consumers, policy makers, media and civil societies, continue to debate and struggle.
In this session, panelists from the scenes of non-profit, corporate, academia and media take an objective and practical look at the current situation and next steps in ensuring sustainable and responsible business and consumption. The discussion will involve how to understand the core values of the UN SDG, reference them in practice, engage with all responsible stakeholders in a systematic manner, and effectively communicate the approach to a broader, sustainable resolution to multiple parties. The speakers will also study the lessons learned from the Humidifier Sanitizer issue in Korea, which has killed or injured hundreds of victims and their families. The presentations and debate will aim to seek a forward-looking, broader and sustainable solution for the “multi-party, multi-causal tragedy”, as concluded by the UN Special Rapporteur human rights and hazardous substances and wastes.

Social economy (SE) or social solidarity economy (SSE) and community development, which are inherently linked, both shine the spotlight on the idea of empowering local communities to help meet their own needs where the market and state have limited impact. Therefore, the search for social cohesion and partnerships between social enterprises, cooperatives, nonprofits, socially-minded business enterprises, and local governments must be embedded within all development efforts that aim to be inclusive, sustainable, and environmentally conscious and be sensitive to local conditions. It must put people first in addressing the uneven nature of global economic development within countries, across regions and the world today, with a special reference to the newly emerging role of the social economy. Centering communities with an emerging role of SE/SSE and positioning development approaches within local contexts is the key in realizing the lofty ambitions of the SDGs. This approach has reinvigorated the development community in informing fresh projects and agendas that seek to localize the global goals of the international community. Focus is now beginning to shift to citizenship participation, contextualizing specific development challenges that values a participatory approach to projects that aim to entrench within it strengthened communities. It is within this backdrop that this panel of experts assembled by the Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID) and the BK21 PLUS Research Team on International Development and Social Economy at Yonsei University will discuss the SDGs and its potential to be realized through the lens of social economy and community development.

This session is organised by KAIDEC (Korea Association of International Development Cooperation). It revisits Korea s experiences for development and examines her experiences as a donor. This session is based on two books: “The Economic Development of South Korea: From Poor to a Modern Industrial State” (Seung-hun Chun, 2018, Routledge) and “Promoting Development: The Political Economy of East Asian Foreign Aid” (Barbara Stallings and Eun Mee Kim, 2017, Palgrave). In the former, Chun asks how a country with a dearth of natural resources and under geopolitical threats to its very survival transformed itself to a modern industrial state. In answering the question, he presents dynamic processes in which political leaders, entrepreneurs, workers and farmers worked together. In the latter, while distinguishing between East Asian donors ( Japan, China and Korea) and their western counterparts, Stallings and Kim present characteristics of Korea s aid, by comparing the three Asian countries’ aid activities in Vietnam. The session will offer new insights – based on solid research – on Korea s development experiences and those of helping development.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are historic achievements. Together, they set universal transformative objectives for embarking all countries on a sustainable and low-carbon pathway. SDG 13 focuses on climate change, with reference to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Especially target 13.1 focuses on resilience and adaptive capacity. There is growing acknowledgement of the deep interdependency between SDGs and the Paris Agreement. Sustainable development cannot be achieved if climate change reaches catastrophic levels, and effective adaptation cannot make progress unless national policies and governance structures are improved in a more sustainable way.
To implement SDGs and Paris Agreement in a more integrated way, we need to focus on the integrated features of climate change adaptation which can contribute to the achievement of SDGs by building more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable society.

In 2016, UNOSD hosted the Expert Group Meeting on Water-Food-Ecosystem Resilience for SDGs in the Mid-Latitude Region. Mid-latitude region where more than half the world’s population resides has common challenges and opportunities to deal with exacerbating climate change and its consequences such as water shortage, melting ice, and increasing vulnerability to disasters. Mid-Latitude Network was formed to promote further research on cross-sectoral integration as well as to explore practical options for regional and international cooperation.

Under the umbrella of UNICEF’s campaign #Endviolence, and #endviolenceonline, the UNICEF session aims to address the various issues surrounding children in the digital age, as growing up online has its tremendous possibilities and its perils. With the boundary between online and offline fading, the session explores what children face today – the opportunities and possibilities as well as challenges and dangers coexisting virtually and physically as their present ‘real’ world.

Building on the momentum created by the 2017 State of the World’s Children report, ‘Children in a Digital World’, and on the occasion of Safer Internet Day marked globally on 6 February, the UNICEF session presents 5 panelists comprising experts in academia, content, law, and even a typical youth of today, born and raised in the digital era. They will discuss their experiences and ideas on digital safety and protecting our children and conclude with a better wayforward.