Welcome to the United Nations
Workers and Trade Union Major Group
The 2022 HLPF will take place in a context of multiple crises: COVID-19, increasing conflicts, growing poverty and inequality, and a worsening climate crisis. All these elements resulted in a dramatic backlash of progress on the SDGs, including the goals under review at HLPF 2022: COVID-19 has wiped out 20 years of education gains (SDG 4), further deepened gender inequalities (SDG 5) and hijacked efforts to tackle the climate crisis (SDG 14 and 15). Given this framework, the HLPF 2022 must provide clear guidance on policy priorities to accelerate action on the SDGs. For trade unions, key answers to redress the SDGs trend come from Goal 8. By including aspects connected to economic performance, labour market output and outcomes, labour rights and environmental preservation, SDG 8 provides a strong leverage for other goals, including the goals under review this year. Indeed, by calling to eradicate child labour, Goal 8 contributes to ensure education for all (SDG 4). By pushing to “decent work for all and equal pay for work of equal value”, SDG 8 contributes to gender equality (SDG 5). And by calling for “decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation”, SDG 8 sustains progress in SDG 14 and 15. This is why trade unions call for a New Social Contract based on SDG 8 and rooted in a gender-transformative agenda, and support the vision of the UN Secretary General’s Report “Our Common Agenda” and the ” UN Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection”.
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