The Time for 8 Campaign, launched by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in 2019, has been putting forward the importance of SDG 8 in the recovery from the current multiple crises.  ITUC affiliates’ engagement in this campaign translated into an incredible mobilisation of trade union leaders and workers to emphasize the role of the trade unions as development actors and the importance of SDG 8 to leverage the overall Agenda 2030. The Campaign has also been a space to voice the trade union support to key UN processes, such as the UN Secretary-General’s call for a “renewed social contract” in his report “Our Common Agenda”, and the UN Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for a Just Transitions.

An important part of our actions in the framework of the Time for 8 Campaign has been to promote national dialogue with the United Nations and the involvement of trade unions in the development and implementation of UN strategies at country level. Indeed, since the Reform of the UN Development System, the ITUC has been engaging with the UN Development Cooperation Office (DCO) at the global and regional level, to promote a structured dialogue between trade unions and the UN System. Likewise, dialogue has been promoted between national trade union centres, the UN Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams, to provide inputs on the UN development policies, including the Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks.

As a follow up to such dialogue, this webinar will promote a space for exchange between trade union leaders from Asia Pacific, on the one side, and UN Resident Coordinators, on the other side, to share good practices in terms of promotion of SDG 8 and discuss follow-up actions to strengthen national dialogues between the UN and trade unions, with the support of the ILO, to ensure a decent work-based recovery and accelerate the SDG Decade of Action.

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