If You Want Peace & Development, Work for Social Justice!

If You Want Peace & Development, Work for Social Justice is the bold slogan of the 2019 World Day for Social Justice celebrated, yearly, on 20 February.

Social justice is about gender equality, the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants; it is about removing barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability. Access to decent work and social protection for all, and the respect of rights at work are indispensable to achieve social justice.

Nevertheless, data shows we have a pyramid society with, at the top, a small, though powerful elite, and way below them a global workforce that has seen its working conditions deteriorating as precariousness increases globally.

As highlighted by the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2019 ​

• Being in employment does not always guarantee a decent living: A majority of the 3.3 billion people employed globally in 2018 experienced a lack of material well-being, economic security, equal opportunities or scope for human development.
• Many workers find themselves having to take up unattractive jobs that tend to be informal and are characterised by low pay and little or no access to social protection
• In 2018, 1.1 billion worked on their own account, often in subsistence activities that are pursued because of an absence of job opportunities in the formal sector and/or the lack of a social protection system.
• In 2016, there were still 114 million children, aged 5 to 14 years, in employment, and although their number is decreasing, this is happening at too slow a rate to meet the sustainable development target of ending child labour in all its forms by 2025.

Convinced that no lasting peace can be achieved without Social Justice, since its creation in 1948, SOLIDAR International Cooperation Network works together with its partners all around the world to support the full implementation of the ILO International Labour Standards. It does so by:

• Supporting the standard setting role of the International Labour Organisation
• SOLIDAR at 105th ILO Conference – Global Value Chains: A binding Treaty is needed!
• Monitoring and Advocating for the implementation of ILO recommendation on Social protection floors
• Campaigning for the respect of the right to organise freely
• SOLIDAR at the 107th ILO Conference – Fighting for Trade Union Freedom in Egypt and Algeria
  

This year the ILO celebrates its 100th Anniversary. SOLIDAR will participate in the International Labour Conference to reiterate its commitment to the values and the role of the oldest (and yet so relevant!) UN Agency as well as its commitment to keep working for Social Justice.