Welcome to the United Nations
With just five years left to meet the 2030 Agenda, SDG 8 - promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all - remains one of the most off-track goals. Although modest gains have been made, including increased access to financial services, progress has stagnated or regressed across critical areas such as youth employment, informality, labor rights, and child labour. The erosion of decent work is symptomatic of broader global structural challenges, including macroeconomic volatility, inequality, climate shocks, geopolitical fragmentation, and digital transformation. The UN Expert Group Meeting on SDG 8 (New York, 6-7 February 2025) highlighted how the SDG 8 agenda is not only central to the economy but foundational to the 2030 Agenda. Decent work underpins poverty reduction, gender equality, education, and climate resilience. Achieving it requires addressing both the quantity and quality of employment — with equal attention to rights, social protection, productivity, and inclusion.
This session will explore critical pathways to accelerate progress on SDG 8 by identifying priority areas in need of urgent action and examining how national policies can be realigned to place decent work at the center of economic planning. Participants will discuss practical strategies for formalizing informal work, financing social protection, embedding labor standards in green and digital transitions, and strengthening data systems to monitor labor rights and non-standard forms of work. The session presents an opportunity to re-commit to the vision of SDG 8 — one where growth benefits all, where work is safe and dignified, and where no one is left behind in transitions shaping the future of work.
Proposed guiding questions:
- Which areas under SDG 8 are most in need of urgent acceleration, and why?
- How can national macroeconomic frameworks be restructured to prioritize full employment and decent work?
- What mechanisms are effective in transitioning informal to formal work, particularly for women and youth?
- How can decent work goals be embedded in digital and green economy transitions?
- What are promising financing models to close the decent work and social protection gaps?
- How can data systems be improved to track progress on non-standard work and labor rights?
Chair:
- H.E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa, Vice-President of ECOSOC
Moderator:
- Mr. Sangheon Lee, Director of the Employment, Job Creation and Livelihoods Department, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Panellists:
- Mr. Jason Judd, Executive Director, Global Labour Institute, Cornell University ILR School
- Mr. Patrick Paul Walsh, Professor of Global Affairs and Sustainable Futures, University College Dublin (UCD), Vice-President of Education at UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
- Ms. Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
Lead discussants:
- Ms. Siobhan Vipond, Vice-Chair of the ITUC Women’s Committee and Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress
- Ms. Macarena Letelier, General Manager, Confederación de la Producción y del Comercio, Chile
Interactive discussion:
Due to limited time and to maximise participation, interventions in interactive discussions should be limited to two to three minutes. The time limit will be strictly implemented, using a timing device and/or microphone cutoff as necessary. Depending on the number of requests for the floor in a given discussion, the time limit may be adjusted downward, as necessary. Participants are discouraged from reading prepared statements; instead, they are encouraged to make informal remarks and engage in an interactive discussion. Priority will be given to ministerial-level interventions.
