BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6addebc1f3ce2 DTSTART:20230627T200000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20230626T230000Z LOCATION:New York\, United States of America SUMMARY:United Nations International MSMEs Day CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Galvanizing MSMEs worldwide by supporting women and youth entre preneurship and resilient supply chains \n\nThe United Nations General Ass embly designated 27 June as “Micro-\, Small\, and Medium-sized Enterpris es Day” (A/RES/71/279) to raise awareness of the tremendous contribution s of micro-\,small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).\n\nMSMEs and self-employed workers serve a core function in the development of economie s. Globally\, they represent about 90 percent of all businesses and accoun t for over two-thirds of employment. If adequately supported\, they can ef fectively contribute to the structural transformation of economies and dri ve inclusive\, sustained\, and equitable economic growth and jobs. However \, multiple simultaneous shocks and crises have disturbed the global worki ng environment for entrepreneurs and MSMEs. In addition\, conflicts\, comm odity dependence\, geopolitical tensions\, and pandemics drive social and economic instability\, making MSMEs extremely vulnerable to rising inflati on and supply chain disruptions.\n\nAmong the most vulnerable\, women- and youth-owned enterprises are often at risk of external shocks. This is whe n the percentage and overall number of business formations by women and yo uth are increasing worldwide. However\, facing limited access to affordabl e finance\, capacity-building support\, partnership networks\, and global markets\, women and young entrepreneurs need help to overcome the numerous challenges that frequently stifle the growth of their businesses\, confin ing many of them to informality or necessity entrepreneurship.\n\nPolicies that strengthen capacities and support MSMEs development and entrepreneur ship for women and youth need to be at the forefront to address those chal lenges\, lower and remove barriers\, and provide an operating environment for women- and youth-owned businesses to grow\, thus contributing to the f ull achievement of SDGs 1\, 4\, 5\, 8\, 9\, 10 and the “leave no one beh ind” promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sust ainable Development Goals (SDGs).\n\nThis MSMEs day will also focus on sup porting resilient supply chains to ensure workers and the environment bene fit. Supply chains are a critical component of global trade and commerce\, and conflicts\, disasters\, and pandemics can quickly impact their functi oning\, increasing costs and making transactions more difficult. In additi on\, competition and concentration of critical operations in international supply chains can pressure suppliers who are pushed to cut costs to stay in business. Poor working conditions\, lack of workers’ representation\, unfair wages\, unsafe working environments\, and reduced attention to env ironmentally-sound practices generate adverse outcomes. A human-centered a pproach is needed to help improve these conditions.\n\nPractices that resu lt in environmental degradation and compromise working conditions will ult imately affect MSMEs and the communities they serve. Therefore\, policymak ers and businesses must join forces to ensure economically viable\, social ly\, and environmentally sustainable supply chains.\n\nInternational MSMEs Day\n\nThe International MSMEs Day\, observed on June 27th every year\, p rovides an opportunity to highlight the crucial role of MSMEs in sustainab le development and advocate for policies that support their growth. The Un ited Nations General Assembly designated June 27th as the International Da y for MSMEs in recognition of the importance of MSMEs in promoting economi c growth and job creation.\n<\;h4>\;<\;strong>\;Galvanizing MSMEs worldwide by supporting women and youth entrepreneurship and resilient sup ply chains <\;/strong>\;<\;/h4>\;\n\n<\;p>\;The United Nations General Assembly designated 27 June as “Micro-\, Small\, and Medium-siz ed Enterprises Day” (A/RES/71/279) to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of micro-\,small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).&l t\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;MSMEs and self-employed workers serve a core func tion in the development of economies. Globally\, they represent about 90 p ercent of all businesses and account for over two-thirds of employment. If adequately supported\, they can effectively contribute to the structural transformation of economies and drive inclusive\, sustained\, and equitabl e economic growth and jobs. However\, multiple simultaneous shocks and cri ses have disturbed the global working environment for entrepreneurs and MS MEs. In addition\, conflicts\, commodity dependence\, geopolitical tension s\, and pandemics drive social and economic instability\, making MSMEs ext remely vulnerable to rising inflation and supply chain disruptions.<\;/p >\;\n\n<\;p>\;Among the most vulnerable\, women- and youth-owned ent erprises are often at risk of external shocks. This is when the percentage and overall number of business formations by women and youth are increasi ng worldwide. However\, facing limited access to affordable finance\, capa city-building support\, partnership networks\, and global markets\, women and young entrepreneurs need help to overcome the numerous challenges that frequently stifle the growth of their businesses\, confining many of them to informality or necessity entrepreneurship.<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;P olicies that strengthen capacities and support MSMEs development and entre preneurship for women and youth need to be at the forefront to address tho se challenges\, lower and remove barriers\, and provide an operating envir onment for women- and youth-owned businesses to grow\, thus contributing t o the full achievement of SDGs 1\, 4\, 5\, 8\, 9\, 10 and the “leave no one behind” promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and i ts Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;This MS MEs day will also focus on supporting resilient supply chains to ensure wo rkers and the environment benefit. Supply chains are a critical component of global trade and commerce\, and conflicts\, disasters\, and pandemics c an quickly impact their functioning\, increasing costs and making transact ions more difficult. In addition\, competition and concentration of critic al operations in international supply chains can pressure suppliers who ar e pushed to cut costs to stay in business. Poor working conditions\, lack of workers’ representation\, unfair wages\, unsafe working environments\ , and reduced attention to environmentally-sound practices generate advers e outcomes. A human-centered approach is needed to help improve these cond itions.<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Practices that result in environmental d egradation and compromise working conditions will ultimately affect MSMEs and the communities they serve. Therefore\, policymakers and businesses mu st join forces to ensure economically viable\, socially\, and environmenta lly sustainable supply chains.<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;h4>\;<\;strong>\; International MSMEs Day<\;/strong>\;<\;/h4>\;\n\n<\;p>\;The In ternational MSMEs Day\, observed on June 27th every year\, provides an opp ortunity to highlight the crucial role of MSMEs in sustainable development and advocate for policies that support their growth. The United Nations G eneral Assembly designated June 27th as the International Day for MSMEs in recognition of the importance of MSMEs in promoting economic growth and j ob creation.<\;/p>\;\n\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.o rg/meeting/united-nations-international-msmes-day DTSTAMP:20261025T114505Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR