Focus
Policies and advocacy
News from the TUDCN network
News from the development community
Upcoming events
Useful links

 

 

The three case studies contained in this publication showcase the contribution that social dialogue can make to development processes. These national case studies provide valuable examples of the role that social dialogue can play in reaching many of the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda such as ending poverty, reducing inequality, promoting decent work and sustainable economic growth, promoting gender equality. The studies focus primarily on tripartite social dialogue, although bipartite social dialogue is also part of the analysis.

The publication is available here.

Policies and advocacy  

Social dialogue for development – Brussels seminar report  

The East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) has obtained membership of the African Union’s Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). ECOSOCC was established in 2004 as an advisory organ to the African Union composed of civil society organisations. As the continental policy-making body, the African Union is a major development actor. Through ECOSOCC, civil society organisations can contribute to AU policies.

Find out more

Denmark is in the process of changing its approach to development cooperation. It has some major implications for how development aid is delivered and aims to more narrowly align it with the government's interest. While Denmark has long been upheld as a model of development cooperation, these changes will likely mean additional challenges to a long-term based approach.

A new study by the Peace and Solidarity Institute, of Spain´s CC.OO 1st of May Foundation, highlights that the funds earmarked for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have fallen by 71% in the last five years. The study looks at the recipient organisations and  suggests a number of improvements for the Spanish development cooperation agency instruments to ensure greater transparency, effectiveness and complementarity of the resources allocated to non governmental organisations.

Over half of the world’s active population works in the informal economy. In India, the percentage of people active in this sector is as high as 90%. In West Africa, informal economy now represents over three quarters of the active workforce and is on the rise. Bellevue Institute has been undertaking some work in both these contexts.

The Swiss SSO Solidar Suisse will enlarge its current engagement in China towards a broader engagement with regional networks in Asia and projects in Cambodia in order to share workers’ empowerment and experiences across borders.

The key to this country’s democratic robustness lies in its promotion of social dialogue. Bringing workers and employers together when making decisions that affect them builds a national consensus and reinforces the institutional stability that maintains Ghana as one of the healthiest democracies in Africa.

The Solidarity Center warns that the broad crackdown on garment workers, union leaders and worker rights activists in Bangladesh marks a troubling escalation of efforts to silence garment workers and criminalize their fundamental rights to organize, speak to power and improve their lives and livelihoods.

In July 2016, twenty-two countries presented national voluntary reviews of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, over a day and a half during the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This report synthesizes some of the findings of the reports, drawing primarily from the written reports and executive summaries of the majority of countries.

Civil society makes a valuable contribution to the fight against tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax fraud. In 2017, the European Commission will launch a new training and networking project for civil societies around Europe. This will involve a series of training courses as well as guidance to organisations on how to build and improve pan-EU networks.

Pointing to the rise in populism and xenophobia, the labour leaders are demanding that governments act to hold corporations responsible for their global supply chains, adopt policies and regulations to ensure the benefits of digitalisation flow to workers and their families, crack down on company tax avoidance and put in place just transition measures in the fight against climate change.

The TUDCN secretariat puts together daily e-mail alerts with 3 or 4 highlights of development news of particular relevance to Trade Unions. If you are interested in receiving them, sign up by sending an e-mail to [email protected] with "Daily News Report SIGN UP" in the subject line.