The session was particularly fruitful, organizing two panel discussions on strategic orientation of the MOST programme and on partnership with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC). The meeting has produced decisions which acknowledge that a fresh perspective is needed to recast core activities, by and within regions, in line with the criteria of relevance to current challenges, efficiency and high-level visibility for enhanced and sustained impact  feed into current discussions on the post-2015 development agenda.

IGC members also highlighted the key mechanisms to deliver MOST results:

• the Ministerial Forums, which bring together Ministers of Social Development;
• National MOST Committees to promote decentralized engagement; and
• the exciting potential of MOST Schools, for which guidelines were developed during this session.

12th session of the MOST IGC chaired by Ms Alicia Kirchner, the President of the MOST IGC, Minister of Social Development of Argentina with active engagement of the regional Vice-Presidents: Ecuador, Kenya, Malaysia, Norway, Slovakia, and the United Arab Emirates. Mr Normand Labrie, representative of Canada to the IGC was newly elected as the Rapporteur.

The 12th Ordinary Session happened at an especially propitious juncture, enabling MOST to contribute key messages regarding the post-2015 development agenda, notably: the power of transdisciplinary approaches in the creation of more inclusive and equitable societies; the crucial importance of social inclusion for truly sustainable development; and the need for social policy decision-making to be informed by social science research.

During this session a panel discussion on strategic priorities for MOST in the context of the post-2015 development agenda launched a process to submit a comprehensive strategy for the MOST Programme to UNESCO’s Executive Board in April 2016.

During the MOST IGC meeting, the Scientific Advisory Committee met and discussed its workplan for next planning period.

The IGC – which meets every two years in Ordinary Session– is the body where UNESCO Member States establish priority areas for MOST, decide on overall policy and discuss resources mobilization issues, and interact on implementation with the Secretariat and Scientific Advisory Committee.