Decent work will be at the heart of Indonesia’s development agenda as it moves to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, explains Gilbert Houngbo, Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
In late February I joined Muhamad Hanif Dhakiri, Minister of Labour, other members of the Indonesian government, the United Nations in Indonesia, the country’s social partners and many others to consider the country’s transition from the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Sound a bit technical? May be, but the discussion raised fundamental questions about Indonesia’s future: what kind of a country does Indonesia want to be, and in what kind of a world should it find itself?
Do we want a country and a world of rising inequality, of exclusion, of unemployment or poorly paid and precarious employment? Or, do we truly believe in the sentiments expressed in the opening paragraph of the 2030 Agenda, a world of “just and inclusive societies”, where gender equality is a reality, where the planet and its resources are protected, where there is “inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and decent work for all”?
Indonesia well understands what is at stake.
Indeed, it played a vital role in the global community’s reflections on what should follow the Millennium Development Goals and helped negotiate the final text which was embraced by all of the UN family. For this country, its trade unions and business community and for its civil society advocates, the need for full, productive employment and decent work is clear.
More people in productive decent work generate the resources needed for investment in health, education, improved infrastructure, and stronger social protection systems. In turn better health, higher levels of education and skill, more efficient and greener infrastructure, as well as a social protection system that guards against poverty will improve the productivity of the workforce.
Decent work and productive lives
A growth process built around bringing more people into productive and decent work thus becomes self-sustaining and sustainable.
As such, the 2030 Agenda aligns closely to the ambitions of the Indonesian nation. It is relevant to national development strategies, and adherence internationally to the Agenda can only serve to boost the export markets that will play such an important role in Indonesia’s future.
Decent work is important because it will help provide the productive jobs needed to lift family incomes out of the poverty trap."
Gilbert Houngbo
Decent work is important because it will help provide the productive jobs needed to lift family incomes out of the poverty trap. But let us not forget that decent work is important because it is based on respect for fundamental principles and rights at work. The last twenty years or so have seen enormous strides in creating and stabilizing democracy, not just through elections but also in people’s daily lives through respect for human rights including at the workplace.
This is a tremendous asset for the country. One of the reasons foreign and Indonesian businesses invest here is your hard-won reputation as a country, which is steadily building up a legislative framework and compliance system based on ILO Conventions.
Time for action
Given that we have just fifteen years to implement the 2030 Agenda, the time for action is now. Already the programme is being buffeted by headwinds, global growth is slowing and Indonesia has seen less demand for its exports. Nevertheless, this is not a time for being passive.
One of the reasons foreign and Indonesian businesses invest here is your hard-won reputation as a country."
As a result of this meeting the ILO has committed to act along with other UN agencies to develop and refine a national strategy for the 2030 Agenda in Indonesia. We, along with the stakeholders in Indonesian society recognize the labour market challenges confronting the country today and the urgent need to address them in a comprehensive and holistic manner.
The ILO agreed to deepen further its engagement on this package of issues and as an immediate step proposes to organize a series of follow-up bipartite and tripartite technical meetings in order to explore solutions to labour market issues in more detail.
The ILO is committed to mobilizing technical and financial resources to assist employers, workers and governments to help make the changes needed. We can bring together specialists from around the world and across these areas of expertise in order to move toward a consensus. But, this will require an equal commitment from government, unions and employers in Indonesia.
Indonesia, along with the ILO and the international community must work together and move quickly on the promotion of decent work for all and implement the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
