The agenda builds on global cooperation between the world’s countries, in order to achieve welfare, social development and protection of environment and climate.
The 193 UN member states have agreed on "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". The 17 new goals with their 169 sub goals will continue the efforts made for the millennium goals and it is expected that the coming 15 years will see a serious equalisation of the world’s resources through just economic development.
For the global trade union movement, the formulation of the goals is decisive in orde to meet the challenges of the future. The key to a world based on respect for people’s differences and equal value presupposes a working life based on equality. It is therefore extremely important that the new goals are reached more fully and sooner than the millennium goals were, not least in order to create a more sustainable global working life.
It is gratifying to see that after several years of intensive lobbying by the trade union movement, the creation of sustainable, inclusive economic growth based on full employment through good and fair working conditions has become an independent goal. It will be reached through the ILO’s "Decent Work Agenda": The creation of productive work, guaranteed rights in working life, the right to basic social protection and increased inclusion through support of the social dialogue. In addition, it declares that all kinds of child labour must be abolished by 2025. The member states should also take immediate actions to eradicate all forms of forced labour, slavery-like work and trafficking. Migrants, and especially women, in the most exposed situations will be covered by fundamental rights in working life.
The ambitious agenda gives hope that the negative effects of globalisation can be reduced and that a more equal economic development can take place, in which women and men are treated with respect, without violence, discrimination and harassment; an agenda built on respect for the world’s limited resources and different national pratices. This will not be achieved by nice words, it requires action by the individual member states. The Swedish government has the possibility to take the lead and set a good example together with other EU countries.
Oscar Ernerot