The 2nd Joint OECD-DAC and Trade Unions Forum took place in Paris on 14 December 2015, on the topic “Donors and labour movement strategies to implement the UN 2030 Agenda”. The forum addressed the potential for labour and donors to engage on shared strategies to implement the 2030 Agenda and its goals. High-level speakers from around the globe shared innovative approaches and policies that have proven effective at country level to reduce inequalities and to sustain country-led development. This meeting provided particular attention to the role of social dialogue as a means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda and more widely as a crucial contribution to enhance sustainable development strategies. The outcomes of the debates served to elaborate concrete recommendations and policy actions aiming towards possible future partnerships on these themes. Read more about the 2nd OECD-DAC and Trade Unions Forum. All presentations and documents of the Forum are available here.
Also in Paris, the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) and the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN) organised a joint seminar on 12-13 December, on the role for Trade Unions in the follow-up and implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, with ITUC affiliates from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific, and the Global Union Federations (GUFs). More information and photos from the seminar here.
Policies and advocacy
Meeting of the African Trade Union Development Network (ATUDN)
The African Trade Union Development Network (ATUDN), the African regional network of the TUDCN, met in Dakar on 23-24 November 2015, ahead of the 3rd ITUC-Africa Congress. The meeting gathered ITUC-Africa affiliates from all corners of the continent, who discussed about the different activities and aspects of the regional network. A main topic of discussion was the role of African trade unions in the monitoring and follow up of the UN 2030 Agenda. Participants also discussed about the ongoing research projects of the ATUDN, namely on the role of private sector in ODA and on social dialogue. Participants also discussed about thematic priorities of the network for the coming years.
The ATUDN put forward a resolution on "Effective, Coordinated and Action-Oriented African Trade Union involvement and actions in Development Processes", which was approved by the ITUC-Africa Congress.
A report of the meeting will follow.
2nd GPEDC Annual Implementation Forum in Seoul
The 2nd Busan Global Partnership Forum took place in Seoul, South Korea on 23–24 November 2015. The forum convened many of the different stakeholders who are part of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, including from civil society and the trade union movement.
Nobel Peace Prize to Tunisian Quartet: a huge win for democracy and human rights
On 10 December 2015, International Human Rights Day, the international trade union movement celebrated the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo to the Tunisian “Quartet”, which led the country to democracy and the adoption of a Constitution based on fundamental human rights.
COP21: ITUC Response to Paris Climate Summit Conclusions
The Paris decisions acknowledge the challenges and move global action forward, but while the Summit conclusions refer to the target of a 1.5-degree limit, the capacity to leverage ambition on the scale required to stabilise the planet is still a question for the future.
Report of the Regional TUDCN workshop on the effectiveness of trade union cooperation in São Paulo
The narrative report of the Regional TUDCN workshop on the effectiveness of trade union cooperation in São Paulo is available here (in Spanish).
News from the TUDCN network
Presentation of the PLADA in Haiti
On Monday 23 November 2015, in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), the Haitian trade union centres met to present the Development Platform for the Americas (PLADA) to the Haitian government and to discuss its implementation at national level. The event was attended by the general secretary of the TUCA, Víctor Báez, the Haitian Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ariel Henry, and the director of the ILO National Office in Haiti, Julien Magnat. The Haitian trade union movement was represented by the three national trade union centres affiliated to the ITUC and the TUCA, the Confédération des Travailleurs des Secteurs Public et Privé (CTSP), Confédération des Travailleurs Haïtiens (CTH) and Coordination Syndicale Haïtienne (CSH), as well as the sister organisation Centrale nationale des ouvriers haïtiens (CNOHA).
LO/FTF publication on formalisation of the informal economy
LO/FTF launched the publication "Paving the way for formalisation of the informal economy: Experiences and Perspectives from ITUC-Africa and Trade Unions across Africa". It is published months after the 2015 104th International Labour Conference adopted the Recommendation 204 on transiting from the informal to the formal economy. As Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, General Secretary of ITUC-Africa declares, "this is a major step in recognizing the reality of the informal economy and the need for intervention in addressing the decent work deficit there as part of the effort to meet the development challenge of our times."
Arguing the TOSSD: is the OECD’s new measure for Total Official Support for Sustainable Development a good idea?
By Jesse Griffiths (Eurodad)
In mid-November 2015, I went to an expert group meeting to discuss a new framework being prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for monitoring and measuring flows that could be considered developmental but are not currently captured in Official Development Assistance (ODA, or ‘aid’). This new framework is provisionally called Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD). The stated purpose of this framework is not to supplant ODA but to provide transparency on other financial flows that support the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN.
2015 Human Development Report Launched: Work for Human Development
Fast technological progress, deepening globalization, aging societies and environmental challenges are rapidly transforming what work means today and how it is performed. This new world of work presents great opportunities for some, but also profound challenges for others. The 2015 Human Development Report, released on 14 December at a ceremony in Ethiopia, urges governments to act now to ensure no one is left behind in the fast-changing world of work.
The report, titled ‘Work for Human Development’, calls for equitable and decent work for all. In doing so, it encourages governments to look beyond jobs to consider the many kinds of work, such as unpaid care, voluntary, or creative work that are important for human development. The report suggests that only by taking such a broad view can the benefits of work be truly harnessed for sustainable development.
New trends in Governmental Funding of CSOs: A Comparative Study of 9 OECD-DAC Donors
By HIVA (KU Leuven)
The study “New trends in Governmental Funding of CSOs: A Comparative Study of 9 OECD-DAC Donors”, commissioned by the Flemish NGO-Federation, intends to shed light on key trends in governmental support for civil society organisations (CSO). More specifically the study aims to identify the most important trends in governmental funding in eight different OECD-DAC countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK) and the EU. These actors represent different approaches to development cooperation in general and CSO support in particular, have experienced different evolutions in their ODA, and together represented around 50% of the governmental funding going to CSOs in the period under review. The study was executed over the period December 2014 to September 2015. Research questions addressed the funding context and policy; the scope of funding; the income sources of CSOs; the funding modalities and criteria; funding procedures and the relationship between CSOs and the government.
More information about HIVA’s research on civil society can be found here.
Upcoming events
TUDCN Africa regional development network meeting - focus on partnerships/thematic programmes (Lomé) Week of 23-24/02/2016
EU Policy Forum on Development (Brussels) 14-18/03/2016
TUDCN General Meeting (Bangkok) Week of 4-8/04/2016 (exact days TBD)
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the ITUC and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
