Trade unions in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas set their SDG priorities for recovery and resilience

The Trade Union Development Cooperation Network has organised a series of regional webinars set unions’ SDG priorities for recovery and resilience ahead of the upcoming HLPF and to strengthen their collaboration with the ILO-ACTRAV and the United Nations’ Resident Coordinators at regional and national level.

Organised in February and March, the three webinars offered an opportunity to national and regional trade union representatives to exchange with UN representatives and other key stakeholders on ways of improving unions’ participation in the UN-led sustainable development processes undertaken at national level.

Furthermore, the discussions also served to prepare unions’ participation in the UN Regional Forum on Sustainable Development that have been taking place in March, as well as to prepare ahead of the upcoming Voluntary National Review (VNR) sessions that will take place at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development from 06 to 15 July.

The regional studies on the level of SDG-alignment of governments’ responses to the Covid-19 crisis in Africa (SDGs for recovery and resilience – country cases: Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia) and in the Americas (SDGs for recovery and resilience – country cases: Argentina, Chile and Colombia) served as basis for the conversations, along with contributions on the level of SDG-progress at national level from affiliates in VNR countries.

The webinar for the African region, was organised in collaboration with ATUDN. The event counted with the participation of the ITUC Africa Secretary General, Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, together with representatives from UN Economic Commission for Africa, the ILO Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and the African Union. As VNR countries, ZCTU Zimbabwe, UST Chad and TUCNA Namibia contributed their analysis regarding SDG implementation and recovery from the Covid-19 crisis in their respective countries.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, TUCA co-organised the event. Secretary General Rafael Freire and affiliates from the region had the opportunity to exchange with a representative of UNECLAC, and of the ILO Regional Office. The outcomes of the study conducted in the region were presented by CTA-A Argentina (who also represented the other two affiliates CGT and CTA-T), CUT Chile and CUT Colombia. These interventions were followed by contributions from affiliates from two VNR countries, namely UNT Mexico and CUT Brazil.

The session co-organised with ITUC Asia-Pacific, General Secretary Shoya Yoshida led the exchange with representatives of UNESCAP, ILO Regional Office and the Asian Development Bank. The debate was based of the analysis of the SDG progress at national level done by KSBSI Indonesia, PWF Pakistan and SERC Thailand.

 

 


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