A/HRC/13/51 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 25 November 2009 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirteenth session Agenda item 5 Human rights bodies and mechanisms Report of the 2009 Social Forum (Geneva, 31 August–2 September 2009) Chairperson-Rapporteur: Mr. Andrej Logar (Slovenia) Summary The present report contains a summary of discussions and recommendations of the 2009 Social Forum, which was held in Geneva from 31 August to 2 September 2009, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 10/29. Under the main themes of national anti-poverty programmes: best practices of States in implementing social security programmes from a human rights perspective, the negative impact of economic and financial crises on efforts to combat poverty and international assistance and cooperation in combating poverty, the 2009 Social Forum heard expert presentations, each complemented by proceeding interactive debates to exchange views and concerns, and to make proposals on the following topics and their relationship to poverty: human rights perspectives on a social protection floor, approaches for addressing the social protection gap; best practices of States in implementing social security programmes from a human rights perspective; the role of civil society in improving availability and efficacy of social protection systems; enhancing efforts to combat poverty in the context of economic and financial crises; protecting the human rights of particularly vulnerable groups during economic and financial crises; improving policy coherence in international assistance and cooperation in combating poverty; and strengthening the effectiveness of international assistance and cooperation in combating poverty. GE.09-17229 (E) 031209