SANTIAGO, Chile, (ILO News) – During a high-level visit to Chile, the ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, stressed the need to advance social justice and so accelerate progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs), notably SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth.
During his mission, on Tuesday April 30, the director-general met key stakeholders, including the minister of labour, minister of foreign affairs, senior government officials and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations.
The minister of labour, Jeannette Jara, and her team briefed Houngbo on the government’s pension system reform, the implementation of both the 40-hour week law, and the the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), which is expected in June this year.
The director-general also met the minister of foreign affairs, Alberto Van Klaveren.
In addition, Houngbo held separate discussions with representatives of workers’ and employers’ organizations and briefed them on a range of issues, including the Global Coalition for Social Justice, of which the Chilean government is already a member.
“The Global Coalition is focused on mobilizing support for social justice globally, and on bringing innovative solutions to solve unprecedented challenges such as growing inequality, employment insecurity, a climate crisis and an ever-changing technological landscape,” the director-general said.
Houngbo also took part in an event, Towards the Second World Summit for Social Development: Scaling up global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda”, co-organised by the ILO and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The event was attended by Amina Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of the United Nations; José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC executive secretary; Li Junhua, assistant secretary-general for economic and social affairs of the United Nations; Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Juan Somavia, former director-general of ILO (1999-2012), among others.
Speaking to the delegates, the director-general underlined the pivotal role of the upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development (to be held in 2025) in accelerating progress towards achieving the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. Reflecting on the impact of the First World Summit for Social Development (held in 1995) on the ILO’s work, he stressed the need for the next summit to yield even greater outcomes.
“The UN has to support Member States to ensure an inclusive summit…We need to listen and take action so that this is not just another summit,” he said.
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