President Leila Patel appointed Prof. Ram Ramanathan, Vice President, Planning and Evaluation to lead a delegation of 8 ICSD members (three ICSD board members : Vice President, Ram Ramanathan; Vice President, Fr. Saju; Director of Membership Dr. Vikash Kumar; Prof. Pawar, Former ICSD President; Dr. Hanae Kanno; Ms. Pravina Ramanathan, Ms. Li Zou; and Dr. Kavita Kapur) to the 64^th UN Commission for Social Development and the 64^th NGO Committee for Social Development, at the UN headquarters in New York.

I am pleased to share that the ICSD participation at the 64th Commission for Social Development was terrific. Members of the delegation had a working dinner the day before the opening of 64^th UN Commission for Social Development, on February 1, 2026.  Participating in the 64^th Commission for Social Development and The 64th NGO Committee for Social Development has been extremely valuable for all of us to learn more about UN’s role in promoting Social Development and engaging Non-Governmental Organization in promoting and actualizing sustainable social development.  These deliberations spanned from February 2^nd to February 10, 2026.

ICSD’s maiden side event occurred on February 2, 2026, and was well received to a packed room. I am happy to report all ICSD’s eight delegates were present.  In my role as VP for Planning and Evaluation, I coordinated with the largest democracy, India’s Permanent Mission, and their engagement with ICSD’s side event.  Subsequent to several discussions, with His Excellency Harish Parvathaneni, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of India to the UN; Her Excellency Yojana Patel, (Deputy Ambassador, Permanent Mission of India to the UN) and several senior staff, secured Her Excellency Yojana Patel to deliver the inaugural address at ICSD’s maiden side event at the UN Headquarters in New York.  There were tremendous excitement, enthusiasm, and inspiration amongst the delegates and participants alike with Her Excellency Yojana Patel’s remarks on India’s accomplishments. She referred to lifting 171 million people in India out of poverty in the last 6 years. Her remarks on Women lead development and application of technology in rural sectors and highlighting the fact that several of these initiatives are women lead was impactful. Her excellency’s comments on India’s partnering and allocating over 500 million dollars for social development projects in the Global South, sharing of technology, expertise and developmental experiences were well received by the participants.   After Her Excellency’s address, I was invited to share my remarks.  My remarks referenced important domains to be pursued for effective implementation of the Doha Declaration.  Some of these included: Decolonizing of Knowledge, challenging disproportional western standards that determine validity of knowledge, engage in reciprocal learning that places cultural humility in the center of it all, and that peace and social development are directly proportional.

ICSD’s representation at the 64^th UN Commission for Social Development and the 64^th NGO Committee for Social Development, at the UN headquarters in New York, was realized, because now, ICSD has ECOSOC status. In all this, steady leadership of the past ICSD President, Manohar Pawar culminated in ICSD being conferred with ECOSOC status.  I am pleased, ICSD has a platform and have the possibility of crafting a framework from ICSD’s work of over half a century, promoting the focus on common human condition and the advancement of humanity globally.  I appreciate and cherish the opportunity to lead the delegation and drew inspiration and positive energies from my fellow delegates.  Collectively ICSD can continue to advance humanity globally.