(5th meeting) High-Level Political Forum 2025

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I invite the Forum to resume its considerations of sub-item A of Agenda Item 2, Review of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, 8, 14, and 17. We shall now hold an interactive panel discussion on SDG 8, and interlinkages with other SDGs, that is decent work and economic growth. With just 5 years left to meet the 2030 Agenda, SDG 8, promoting sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all, remains one of the most Off-track goals. Although modest gains have been made, including increased access to financial services, progress has stagnated or regressed across critical areas such as youth employment, informality, labor rights, and child labor. These discussions will explore. Critical pathways to accelerate progress on SDG 8 by identifying priority areas in need of urgent actions and examining how national policies can be realigned to place decent work at the center of economic planning. The session presents an opportunity to recommit to the visions of SDG 8, one where growth benefits all, where work is safe and dignified, and where no one is left behind in transitions in shaping the future of work. I first invite the Forum to view a video prepared by the Statistics Divisions of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, showcasing the findings from the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025 on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 8. Please play the video.

Decent work for all. is more urgent than ever amid global economic uncertainties. Global economic growth is slowing. Between 2010 and 2014, the global real GDP per capita grew by 2.0% annually but slowed to 1.7% from 2015 to 2023. In 2025, Global GDP per capita growth is projected to slow to just 1.5% due to heightened trade tensions and policy uncertainty. The global unemployment rate fell to a record low of 5.0% in 2024. Yet, 58% of the global workforce was informally employed, lacking social protection, legal rights, or workplace safety. Youth unemployment remains high at 12.9%, triple the adult rate. Child labor dropped from 160 million to 138 million children from 2020 to 2024, but ending it by 2025 would require an 11-fold acceleration in progress. 1 in 5 young people, are not in education, employment, or training, with young women twice as likely to be left behind. Tourism contributed 3.4% of global GDP and accounted for 5.6% of global employment in 2023. Small Island Developing States remained most dependent on tourism, with 13% of GDP and 12.9% of employment from tourism. Compliance with labor rights declined by 7% between 2015 and 2023. To ensure decent work for all, governments must expand social protection, formalize informal jobs, enforce labor rights, and invest in green and digital economies, while ensuring fair access to opportunities amid global uncertainty. For more information, read the SDG Report Thank you.

And now I'm pleased to welcome our panelists for this discussion. Ms. Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. I think who will be joining soon. Mr. Jason Juth, Executive Director of the Global Labor Institute of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations School at Cornell University, and Mr. Patrick Paul Walsh, Professor for Global Affairs and Sustainable Futures at the University College Dublin and Vice President of Education at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, as well as our lead discussions. I'm also pleased to welcome our moderator, Mr. Sangin Lee, Director of the Employment Policy, Job Creations and Livelihoods Department at the International Labour Organization. I now hand over the conduct of the discussion To the moderator. Mr. Lee, you have the floor now.

Thank you so much, Your Excellency, Mr. Tappa. Good morning, Excellencies and colleagues and friends. We are now just 5 years away from 2030, and SDG 8 on promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all remains one of the furthest off track. The progress has stalled or even regressed in key areas like informality, youth employment, child labor, and fundamental labor rights. This reflects deeper structural challenges like inequality, fiscal stress, and fragile institutions and disruptive transitions from climate to digital and geopolitical. The digital economy and increasingly artificial intelligence has created opportunities but also increased precarity. Many platform workers, as you know, remain outside legal protection, and the fast-growing role of artificial intelligence raises concern about the algorithmic bias and job displacement and exclusion from labor standards. These issues and more were discussed in the UN experts group meetings on SDG 8, which ILO and UNDESA convened earlier this year. The meeting resulted in a technical background paper for today's discussion. It offers a stocktaking of where we stand and what's holding us back and where bold action is needed most. If you have not yet done so, please do check our paper out at the website. The experts' message is very, very clear. We must go beyond business as usual. This work must be at the heart of macroeconomic planning, climate and digital transitions, and social recovery strategies. Despite the persistent gaps, we know what works. The key enablers are pro-employment policies, social protection systems, inclusive digital governance, and targeted support for green and care economies. Emerging technologies are rapidly reshaping the world and presenting both immense opportunities but also a risk of entrenching exclusion and precarity. So today's session will spotlight practical strategies and policy shifts to accelerate progress and manage the ongoing transitions, whether digital, green, or fiscal. Our panel will offer key insight before we open the floor to member states, the UN system, and stakeholders. Following the floor discussions, we will close with a reflection once again from our speakers. With that, let me proceed to the panel discussions with the experts. Our panel will have 2 rounds of questions. First one is on gaps and barriers to SDG progress. Second one, logically, on the solutions and the way forward. However, I encourage all the speakers to focus on the issues that they found most important within their areas of expertise. So let's delve right into the first round of discussion, which is about what are the most pressing gaps and systematic barriers hindering progress toward achieving SDG 8. Perhaps let me start with Jason. Thanks for coming for this important event. I know your Global Label Institute is doing something really pioneering work. to help us in many respects in the delivery of the SDG 8. Maybe you can elaborate a bit more. How good is our knowledge at the moment of these actual gaps? And above all, how do we measure decent work? It's a difficult question, I know. And how can we do better to track informality, labor rights, and the non-standard forms of work? And also, is AI really a game changer in this respect? Over to you, Jason.

Well, thank you for the invitation. I thought I would address 2 gaps. I'll start with one that we've done work on recently at Cornell University. It's the interaction of climate and decent work, and then I'll turn to meaningful measures of progress on decent work. Since the High-Level Forum gathered last, one of the issues that has come on strongest is climate adaptation. I contrast this with climate mitigation. Our focus has overwhelmingly been on mitigation, decarbonization, and this has to some extent been at the expense of attention to climate adaptation. And by that I mean specifically the impacts on workers and employers and output and earnings, the impact of extreme heat and intense flooding. And we see this showing up most obviously in sectors like agriculture and construction and manufacturing. Our focus at the Global Labor Institute has been analysis of work in the apparel sector, which is global. We see heat stress for workers increasing significantly over the last 20 years. And we measure this with the wet bulb globe temperature, this combination of high heat and high humidity. Workers in the vast subtropical and tropical band where apparel is made are often working in extreme heat and high humidity conditions. Outside today here in New York, it's 32 Celsius and the humidity will average about 75%. There will be Today, millions of workers in the apparel industry around the world working in conditions that are that present greater heat stress than than we feel today walking outside in New York. We also looked at the economic damage that high heat in particular does to work, to workers, and to earnings. We looked at 2030, and we projected earnings losses or. job creation, foregone earnings by 2030 and 2050. Across just 4 countries— Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam— we see that the gap between an industry, an apparel industry that adapts to climate change, and an industry that ignores, that fails to adapt to extreme heat and intense flooding, the gap between the earnings in those 2 2 types of industry is 22% by 2030, and the jaws widen by 2050. It's almost 67%, just in those 4 countries. So I'll turn next to your question, Mr. Li, about how do we close the gap, and then if there's time, I'll come back to the question of measure. And, uh, and AI. Governments, member states can first set clear standards for heat in the workplace. Some member states have done this and enforcement is lagging. Others are relying on vague measures of, of, uh, of, of heat risk. For example, uh, work— the workplace should be— the temperature should be tolerable. That's an unacceptable not meaningful standard. So the first is to set standards and tighten enforcement. The second is, forgive me, not to wait on the ILO. The ILO will eventually establish a clear standard for workplace climate impacts, but this could take a while, and in the interim, workers and employers are suffering ever-accelerating levels of high heat. And the second act that member states can take is to, is to fund the transition in the workplace or support the financing of interventions in heat, for example, in manufacturing settings, in agricultural settings, in construction. We've done an analysis that shows that by reducing heat, worker health improves and importantly, earnings improve. So the return on investment for employers by funding heat interventions is positive and relatively quick. The last, the last thing that I'll mention is that member states should be listening to workers. Excessive heat is intuitive. You don't need new data from Cornell University telling you that high heat is a problem for worker health or cuts into worker output. So listen to workers and encourage advanced freedom of association, because where there is workplace or sectoral bargaining between employers and workers, this issue of extreme heat can be addressed.

Thank you so much, actually, Jason. I mean, you highlighted the critical importance of the heat stress and the implication, but good news is if we do manage it very well, then there must be some very significant, actually, economic and social gains from that action. So that's good news. So let me turn to Paul. Paul, you also have lots of the studies on what are the gaps on the SDG and also related barriers and et cetera. And also, I know you have a very impressive track record on the development and the networking expertise around the globe. So also, you emphasized quite a lot on this issue of the green and digital skills. In that context, So how much gap remains there? And also, what would it take to fully align, for example, this education system, current system, with the additional objective, especially in the area of the digital and the green skills? Thanks, Paul. Over to you.

Vice President Abiko Sock, moderator, Excellencies and, uh, and colleagues. Um, so it's a joy to be here today and to get an opportunity to talk about progress on SDG 8, or lack of progress. Um, I'd need 10 hours to answer those questions, but I'll, um, I have a few notes here. Hopefully they're interesting. So for me, global supply chains have evolved to be the key drivers of world GDP growth, but they are also associated with a race to the bottom on taxation but also a race to the bottom on social environmental protections. So global supply chains also tend to have unsustainable labor market outcomes across nations to various degrees. So for example, which was highlighted by the moderator, informal employment in the workforce, populations not in employment, education, or training, particularly youth and particularly young women, And then most prevalent, the lack or the lack of enforcement of fundamental human rights and labor rights in particular. So UNIDO, in their strategic planning, outline why global supply chains need to be transformed into engines of economic growth that are actually induced by inclusive and sustainable industrial development. So government, educational, corporate partnerships across global supply chains could in theory use digital revolution to produce goods and services that are driven by investments in people who actually have the correct digital and green skills. So access to education and training for young people, and particularly young women, but also access to training for people in the labor force, no matter how senior, is actually critical along the supply chains and coming from points of origin and to points of destination. To address this, uh, to address this challenge, let's call it a gap, UNIDO, UNITAR, and SDSN, with support from DLR Piper and SustainTrain, launched the Capabilities for the Future Hub in Riyadh at a multilateral industrial policy forum last November. Um, the idea, the objectives of the hub are very simple: equip workers, governments, multinationals, and SMEs with the digital and sustainable development skills skills essential for SDG transformations. Collaborate with universities along the supply chains and vocational colleges to offer interoperable microcredentials across the regions of the world. And that is harder to do than it sounds. Promote inclusivity by promoting educational and training programs for all groups in the labor force, but with particular attention to those that we do not want to leave behind, like those with disability. Other SDSN partnerships who focus on these types of professional training in the labor force are— I'm going to mention a few. One is the Build Skills Academy. It's a European Commission project, and its aim is to insert digital and green skills into vocational education curriculum and then to have it accredited across Europe and to also be recognized across the suppliers, particularly for the built environment. I should have said it's focused on the built environment, which is mentioned before, to make sure that these credentials are recognized both inside and outside of Europe. Another similar project is the Future Skills Project run by UNDP and NBRF, which focuses on the Middle East and North Africa region, but it has the similar goal. So if Europe and the Middle East and North Africa got together, they certainly could do a lot of good work in terms of building capacity in green and digital skills across education and the, um, the labor force. And then finally, I just want to mention UAE's— United Arab Emirates— Government Experience Exchange Program. So since 2018, from the World Government Summit, they have done a large-scale initiative that promotes global multi— a global multilateral approach to building capacities in government administrations to deliver what I call the 5 Ps If you can remember that from 2015 across the world.

Thank you so much, Paul. I think both actually, Jason, you and also Paul, you indicated some areas of the high priority policy actions in the case of heat stress and also the green and the digital skills. I just want to unpack a little bit on what exactly what we are going to do. as at the practical solutions. So I want you actually move from the diagnosis to solutions. And you have already mentioned— both of you actually mentioned the need for shaping the ongoing changes. I mean, basically transition, how to make it just and equitable where actually decent work is secured and also at the end of the day, decent and worthwhile life for everyone. So in that context, probably Jason, I come back to you once again. You mentioned the very important interaction between climate and the work, actually, you know, in the context of rapid technological changes. You also mentioned the importance of taking actions already right now, including financing and support as well. So how can we enable transitions in this area, they are truly just? And what kind of, or which active policy-related tools and actions do you recommend to address some of these really urgent issues? Thank you. Over to you, Chase.

Thank you. We found in our analysis that employers and their regulators, member states, as well as their trade partners, their in the apparel industry, their buyers overseas were largely ignorant of, in our example of extreme heat, the impact on workers. We understand it intuitively, but there's very little data available to regulators about high heat levels in workplaces, for example. So one of the actions that member states can take immediately is to begin to track wet bulb globe temperatures, heat and humidity levels for workers. As I said in my previous remarks, by reducing heat levels at work, worker health improves, worker productivity and therefore output and earnings improve. So you can approach this, rare among the issues that we undertake here with SDG 8, as a a win-win or something that can be of benefit regardless of your approach, whether it's worker health or improving earnings or both. The problem is the ways in which we track progress on these issues is years behind. The SDG measures are meaningful, but high level. So, one of the— under, I think, 8.5, one of the measures is average hourly earnings by gender and by occupation. Enormously useful, but again, a very high-level measure, a sort of right direction, wrong direction measure. And regulators can begin to collect data from their employers, from their employers' trading partners, now widely available data that shows outcomes for workers across a spectrum of issues that matter most for workers. So wages, hours, safety, climate impacts. And at the Global Labour Institute, we've taken 25, just 25 labour outcome measures in order to track progress for workers. So in addition to the SDG measures, a workplace— an aggregation of workplace-level measures already available to employers will give you a much clearer picture of progress on labor outcomes. This includes working conditions and also labor rights, things that are sometimes difficult to see and difficult to And core labor standards are an obvious example— tracking freedom of association, discrimination, forced labor, etc.— often difficult to see and difficult to track. So these 25 labor outcome metrics are useful to regulators to figure out from the workplace to the sectoral level which sectors and which workplaces present the greatest risk. And just to give an example related to extreme heat, what are the indoor temperatures and what are the indoor humidity levels in an apparel factory in Phnom Penh or in Managua in the middle of the high heat season? Most employers don't know this. Their governments don't know this. But we know that high heat has a profound impact on decent work. On worker health and therefore on earnings and therefore on job creation. So our group, the Global Labour Institute at Cornell, is happy to work with member states to apply these 25 labour outcome metrics to provide more meaningful, harder, clearer, comparable measures of outcomes for workers. We also have evidence— I'll close with this— we also have evidence that these metrics are of use employers and global buyers. We had a message from the Chief Sustainability Officer this week at Devolt, a leading Norwegian apparel producer, saying they have used the Cornell Labor Outcome Metrics in order to report to their government on progress on SDG 8 and other sustainability measures, and that 25 quantitative measures for labor outcomes, much more useful than the 800 or 900 required— the 800 or 900 data points required under GRI reporting or under the CSRD regime. Thank you.

Thank you, Jason. It's very clear about the importance of the workplace intervention measures in actually accelerating the delivery on SDG 8. Of course, you actually gave a very good example in the context of heat stress and the climate changes. I think that is a very important aspect, probably we may better reflect in our strategy for the next 5 years. So I just turn to Debra again, a bit similar question. Actually, you highlighted a lot about the green and digital skills and some good examples. So good example of collaboration and etc. If you can level a bit further, exactly how can all these good examples and practice translate in something practical solutions which can be— which everyone, every member state of the workers and employers can use in practice? Over to you, Paul.

Yeah, so in the, in the short time slot, I'm actually going to talk about the project SDSN is doing with the insurance industry, uh, in particular supported by Swiss Re. Um, so we launched at the 2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development and the 4th PrepCom for FFD4, uh, 2 projects. One was a position paper on insurance and sustainable development supported by Swiss Re, and another was a massive online course It was the first one that the SDG Academy did on corporate side. It was on insurance and SDGs, and that was done in partnership with the Better Insurance Network in the UK and Unitar. Phase 2 of this project will be— it's actually listed on the Seville Platform for Action, and again, it's called Knowledge Exchange, Capacity Building, and Innovation to Enable F4D with Insurance. And our partners are the World Bank, C3A project, so working with finance ministers, Association of Caribbean States, obviously UNIDO and UNITAR, SDSN, and, and we are supported by DL Piper and Howden, who are insurance brokers. And these projects in general and these initiatives are just to show the enabling role that insurance can have on banking and investment, but targeted towards all the SDGs and and also fostering public-private partnership, particularly at a national level. So the point though I just want to make for this session, and which is part of the paper, is just to focus in on SDG 8. So there's no doubt that insurance is a great enabler of supply chains, just like logistics and transportations, etc., but we believe it can be a big driver of inclusive and sustainable supply chains. But the key thing is that workers have to be in formal employment. Okay, so formal jobs provide the structural framework for assessing insurance schemes and social protection, while these systems in turn incentivize formal employment by offering financial security and the ability to navigate risks of unemployment, bad health, and environmental shocks like heat— like extreme heat, for example. Formal jobs also allow workers to access even a bank account is a miracle. You can access that financial system, and that should not be taken for granted. And from a government perspective, formal jobs also mean your tax base gets bigger and that you're able to invest in a lot more things. And it's our belief there's a strong case for corporates and high-income countries to help underwrite and offer guarantees to build social protection systems in low-income countries. And this can also include employer and worker comp— contributions in the formal sector. Formal jobs will be good for sustainable economic, social, and even sustainable government finances. So again, I think there can be great cooperation between insurance and the financial sector and governments in social protection, but workers have to be in formal employment for this to work.

Thank you, Paul. This is really a Great, actually, context, actually, which actually brings, actually, me to some questions for Laura. Laura, welcome to the panel.

Thank you.

I initially have 2 questions for you, but I'm trying to merge them together in one question. You heard already from Jason and Paul about these gaps and what practical actions we can take and solutions and et cetera. But let's put this all in context in the region you are actually working on, is West Asia. In your region, what are the SDG 8 areas you think are the most urgent actions needed for improvement? And so in your experience, has the economic growth, for example, translated into into job creation and decent work, including aspects of informality and youth employment. Furthermore, you heard about all the financing issues from Jason and Paul. They all highlight the importance of those issues. We have a bit of a dilemma, as you know. We are confronting very tight fiscal space. At the same time, there is a strong need for more investment, a great investment. So how can the government finance the inclusive job creation and social protection while navigating this difficult economic and climate and digital transitions? So I know it's more difficult questions to respond, but I count on you to respond to all these questions in 3 or 4 minutes. Thank you. Over to you.

Thank you, and sorry for being delayed. Let me go directly, and I think I just captured some of presenters talking about— the key issue is that we need smart formalization strategies. I mean, now government to go into from informality to formality, it's truncated, disaggregated, fragmented policies. Sometimes you will work on business environment, others on tax issues, issues, sometimes on social protection, but we need a strategy, a smart strategy which is integrated, coordinated, looking on all aspects, okay, so that to move from informal to formality. This is a key point for it. In our region, this is a big issue because almost 60% of the labor force, people who are employed, are employed in informal sector. Second part is we do have in our region, the Arab region where I come from, is that high unemployment of female, which extends above 40%. Then we need to look into care economy investments and legal reforms so that to unlock all these barriers that is keeping women from engaging in the labor market. A third thing is we do have also one of the highest globally youth unemployment. And here we come back to the issue of the skill sets. It's not anymore— we are in an era coming up, it's not anymore credentials. It's not anymore you have a bachelor degree in computer science or engineering or accounting. It is what is the skill sets that you are acquiring in these credentials that you have. So it means that talent is extremely important. So skilling is extremely important, and this is where a revamping of our educational tertiary education system is a key, and especially also on skilling on the job so that when we're talking about decent jobs, decent work, we need to have the right skill sets also into it and investing A third part, which I just heard a little bit about, is also financial inclusion. It's unfortunately 64% of our youth are unbanked. They're not financially included in the system, and this is extremely important if we're looking into entrepreneurship issues, engaging in the economic sectors. So you need to make sure that their systems are financially included. Having said that, then we'll be coming and saying, where does the fiscal space come from and where is the money coming from? In a region, for example, which is our middle-income— majority of our middle-income countries are burdened with fiscal— short in fiscal space and burdened with debts. This becomes an important— how to mitigate this. First of all, in our studies, we just found that smart spending is extremely important, which— what I mean by improving spending efficiency. If just— if our region just had spending, fiscal spending efficiencies according to global averages, then we will be unlocking around $100 billion. And $100 billion can cover a lot of these policies and systems that we're talking about, including the social protection to safeguard Gaza. Second part is better tax reinforcement. Enforcement and curbing illicit financial flows. If we have done this, this will raise also revenues that we're talking about by almost 33%. We're talking about unlocking another $110 billion into it. This is extremely important to look into funding the social protection systems, funding the policies of unemployment policies that is needed, funding a lot of things, and reshaping the thinking of what is social protection. Because a lot of the narratives going on on social protection is a cost burden, but in actuality it's not a cost burden; it's it's a catalyst for economic development. So if you shift that catalyst, the notion of the social protection, then you will be hitting to the economic development and enhancing economic development. A third option is extremely important: is that the aligning of bank credit to deposit ratios in our region? This ratio is extremely lower than the global average. If we're just having the bank credit to deposit ratios according to global averages, we will unlock almost around $400 billion to private sector liquidity. And this is— we're talking about massive job creations. And that's— we're talking about the green job creation and decent work job creations that we can unleash off it. And the last part we're talking about is the SDG acceleration. That's And this also enhances the fiscal space of governments to put investments in SDG 8 investments and in creating the jobs needed. Having said that, this is at the national levels, at the regional levels, but also we need also to go into the global reforms in that thing. And in the terminal, because we're talking about all this majority of our region, middle-income countries and Low development countries also are burdened with debt. So we need also to improve the debt relief mechanisms that is there. And also credit rating agencies have to revisit their mechanisms of rating because they are penalizing middle-income countries who are always on track. They never defaulted, but they are getting the premium, risk premium, inflated risk premium that has to be revisited on that thing. Third thing, I think concessional loans and financing has to be revisited, including restoring ODAs on that thing. As we've just finished from the CIVIL meeting on financing for development, I think the operationalization of the Borrowers Forum is a key so that developing countries can have a collective voice in global financial governance. That will help also, and scaling climate finance because it's extremely important. We're talking about transitions, and the green transitions, we need to have climate finance increasing and supporting it to create decent work as we go along. I hope I finished in 3 minutes.

Yeah, you did a perfect job. Thank you so much. Actually, we are planning to ask you first, but it turns out it was a good decision to ask you last, actually, because you actually brought all different elements together so well. So actually, it gave a very good setting scene for our lead discussant. Let me first invite Mr. Siobhan Vifont, the Vice Chair of the ITC Women's Committee and the Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress. So Siobhan, I hope you are here. I think your perspective is certainly from the trade union. You heard all the panel discussions so far. What do you suggest as the most promising approaches to protecting labor rights and financing decent work, especially in the face of this disruption, as you heard, and also the austerity pressure everywhere at the moment? Over to you.

Thank you, Chair. I'm going to focus on 3 policy approaches that are game-changers for SDG 8. Care systems are a key area in which accelerated progress on decent work and gender equality— the global economy is yet to fully utilize the potential of creating decent care jobs. Public investment of just an extra 1% of GDP in the care economy over the next 5 years will yield an average GDP increase of more than 11%, as well as a 6.3% increase in employment. Trade unions all over the world are working to secure public investments in care. For example, in Chile, trade unions are participating in the establishment of the national care and support system, and in South Africa, unions are organizing domestic workers and home care workers. Secondly, a powerful tool to finance decent work is living wages. The ILO Global Report of 2020-21 argues that instituting adequate, regularly adjusted minimum living wage systems is the single most powerful lever for accelerating the 2030 Agenda. And why? Because living wage policy triggers a cascade of SDG co-benefits, from fighting poverty and inequities in SDG 1 and 10, to improve food security, SDG 2, to the ability to pay for health services, SDG 3, and school attendance, SDG 4. Still, living wage policies must go hand in hand with equal pay for work of equal value. Which is one of the main factors contributing to the feminization of poverty. Last but not least, we must align platform work with the goals of SDG 8. Platform work is an area which has emerged out of algorithmic management and artificial intelligence, and where workers are often treated as a commodity. We have a victory to celebrate here. Last month at the ILO conference, we reached an agreement on a set of worldwide rules that companies must follow to protect platform workers, which will be binding. This achievement is a very concrete example of how cooperation and democratic decision-making are the way forward if we're going to make progress on the 2030 Agenda. A final caveat: all these policies will deliver for SDG 8 if and only if they are part of a structural, broader reform— the reform of global financial architecture. That is why we need to connect the dots between UN processes. CSW, HLPF, and FFD4 Conference, and the upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development, to raise ambition and place social justice at the core of sustainable development. Only a strong multilateral system rooted in solidarity, democracy, and social dialogue can achieve a sustainable world in which full employment is coupled with decent work. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Now, let me actually turn to Ms. Macarena Téllez, the General Manager at the Confederation of Production and Commerce from Chile, representing employers. Macarena, you come at these issues from employers' perspective. How is the private sector stepping up actually to support the formalization, labor standards, and the job quality creation, especially in the global supply chain and also green transition? Over to you, Macarena.

Thank you very much. Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. I will speak in my native language, English. I thank you for the question. Thank you for your question, Mr. Lee. Authorities, Excellencies, friends, indeed today there is concrete data that is very worrying. There is lower growth in countries' economies. There is stagnation in levels of productivity. There is greater unemployment, especially in our region. And as regards Chile, we're especially concerned about the number of unemployed people in women, youth, and older people. Companies and major multinationals do have tools to quickly help us achieve SDG 8, but SMEs are of particular interest to us. What can we do to create more and better jobs? In this regard, we think that there are gaps that are worrying in the digital sphere. The advent of AI is threatening the creation of more workplaces, and this is leading the company and business sector to seek to reconvert workers so that we can ensure these workspaces, especially in small and medium-sized companies, SMEs. And they actually represent 98% of job creation. So we want these jobs, these workplaces to be within the formal sector that gives dignity to employers as well— to employees as well as better working conditions. So in this regard, we believe that the best conditions for creating employment in the formal sector are regulation that today is adapted, that includes flexibility and adaptability built in to deal with the advent of AI. Recently, there was a report that came out in our country where it indicated that automation in jobs is threatening around 50% of this employment in the basic supply chain sectors, such as in work in supermarkets and retail and that sort of thing. And so we are facing this challenge of how to create bodies for social dialogue between employers and workers in the areas where jobs are created. We're facing this challenge of finding an agreement with the working sector. What are the best conditions today? How we can be confused by the concept of a minimum wage with a living wage that requires a state subsidy because we cannot force SMEs to bear costs to ensure these better working conditions in all of our countries. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much to all the panelists, experts, and lead discussants. Now, we now open the floor to the member states. and IGOS and the UN entities and stakeholders' representatives for their reflection and experience. So with that, let me give the floor back to Your Excellency, Mr. Thapa. Thank you.

I thank the moderator, Mr. Lee, for conducting the panels excellently, and we'll now proceed to the interactive discussions. Delegation wishing to intervene are invited to request the floor by requesting the microphone buttons. I have seen so many of you have already done it. I also take the opportunity to remind participants that due to the high number of inscriptions received already, the time limit for the interventions from the floor is limited to 2 minutes. A countdown clock is visible on the screen to alert speakers when it is time to conclude your statements. In case speakers exceed the time limit, the microphone will be automatically deactivated. I apologize in advance if speakers are cut off. You know that this measure is being taken to ensure that all speakers can deliver their statements in the limited time available for the discussions. Still, you may send your full statement by email. To ensure proper interpretations, the delegations are also asked to speak at a normal pace, even within 2 minutes, and to provide a written copy of your statements by email to statements@un.org. With this, now I give the floor to Her Excellency Sanni Grahn, Lausunen Minister for Social Security of Finland, to be followed by European Union.

Thank you very much, Honourable Chair, Your Excellencies, distinguished Delegates, for development to be sustainable, it's essential to ensure the well-being of current and future generations. Effective and efficient social, health, and employment policies and structures are important not only for social inclusion, but for economic growth and productivity too. They support economic stability in the long run by reducing the pressure on publicly financed social security and social and health services. Investments in research, innovation, digitalization, and lifelong learning are powerful tools for enabling just transition. It's vital that women and girls in all their diversity have equal access to these opportunities. Finland supports private sector development in emerging markets and contributes to the development of stable, predictable, inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-friendly business environment. We underline the importance of tri-party cooperation and broad stakeholder engagement, taking a whole-of-society approach. This is key to improve working life, including labour productivity, decent working conditions, and occupational health and safety. Promoting gender equality in the workplace is a cornerstone of fair, resilient, and high-performing labour markets. Sustainable consumption and production can significantly advance economic growth and promote decent jobs by creating a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economy. Sustainable economic growth relies on carbon— low-carbon and nature-positive solutions that promote circular economy and consider social sustainability. It's important to integrate these solutions systematically in high-impact sectors such as construction, textiles, mobility, and food.

My apologies, the mic was cut off. I thank Her Excellency, the Minister for Social Security of Finland. Now, I give the floor to Distinguished representative of European Union, to be followed by Algeria.

I don't have the mic. Ah, okay.

Thank you.

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its member states. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia, as well as San Marino, align themselves with this statement. Several signs of progress have emerged in advancing the SDG 8. Nevertheless, there is still substantial effort needed to achieve it. We believe that the upcoming World Social Summit offers an opportunity for the world to renew the social contract through a comprehensive approach based on human rights, social cohesion, solidarity, and an enabling environment for enterprises, inclusive growth, and decent work for all. Significant challenges still persist as informal employment remains pervasive, with hundreds of millions of workers living in poverty. Almost half of the world's population has still no access to any form of social protection. The numbers of children affected by child labor are beyond imagination. Social justice and social development are only possible through ensuring adequate income and decent work for all by creating an enabling environment for full, productive, and freely chosen employment, including for sustainable enterprises; respecting, promoting, and realizing international labour standards, in particular the fundamental principles and rights at work; adequate social protection for all, which ensures income security and decent living and working conditions; and effective social dialogue. To allow sustainable wage growth over time, policies are needed to boost productivity and competitiveness, by promoting high-tech specialization, innovation, and investment, and help workers gain the skills needed to adapt to the changing labor market essential for the green and digital transitions. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Tripartite Declaration on Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises on Social Policy are of paramount importance.

I now thank the distinguished representative of European Union. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria, to be followed by Nepal. Algeria, you have the floor.

شكراً سيد الرئيس لقد عكفت بلادي. Thank you, President. Algeria has made efforts to adopt a economic diversification policy and to improve the investment and employment climate as part of a social policy that guarantees the rights of the people to life and health. We'd like to share several elements with you. Algeria has adopted programs for youth employment in various areas. That's allowed us to increase the number of jobs for young people to about 69,000. And we also have improved pensions and remuneration, as well as taxation. We have also enhanced productivity in other areas, as well as non-fossil fuel energies, increasing our national and international production. We also are supporting SMEs. We have increased the number of creative projects in universities from 2023 until 2024. Thirdly, Algeria has strengthened its reforms of investment and finance to create a favorable investment climate in essential sectors such as governance and the digital sector. In order to boost transparency and productivity. We also are increasing our production to reach 4 million by 2027 by focusing on industrial production. In the same vein, Algeria has developed ICTs, and we are the 15th country in the ITU's list. That is to say, we are above the average for Africa and— microphone is cut off at the speaker.

I thank the distinguished representative of Algeria. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Nepal, to be followed by Canada. Nepal, you have the floor.

Nepal's journey towards decent work and economic growth has been challenging. Our national review shows that progress on SDG 8 remains the lowest among all the goals, highlighting structural issues we must urgently address. To tackle these challenges, Nepal's 16th Plan focuses on transforming our economic base. The plan aims to diversify the economy, strengthen the local industries, invest in skills, and boost priority sectors like agriculture, tourism, and green jobs. Nepal will soon graduate from the LDC graduation by meeting all the thresholds, but GNI per capita remains low, and our economy has multiple vulnerabilities, environmental and climate risks, which cannot be tackled alone due to their regional nature and further threatening the sustainability. After graduation, the loss of international support will impact trade cooperation and concessional financing, creating new challenges for sustaining growth and creating jobs. One of the most pressing issues is growth does not generate enough decent jobs at home. As a result, many young Nepalese continue to migrate abroad for work, often under unsafe and little protection. And many return home with long-term health problems, while the host country fails to upload the basic decent work and standard. This is why we stress that the principle of decent work must be enforced in our migrant work too. Sorry for that.

I thank the distinguished representative of Nepal. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Canada, to be followed by Norway. Canada, you have the floor.

Merci, Monsieur le Président. Thank you, Chair. Canada continues to implement targeted strategies to promote economic growth that is inclusive and sustainable and to guarantee that all Canadians have access to decent work. The adoption in 2024 of the Canadian law is just one example. This law supports the creation of sustainable jobs and helps workers to acquire the skills, training, and tools necessary to access new opportunities for sustainable employment. Canada also recognizes that inequalities continue to be an obstacle to achieving SDG number 8. Thanks to the new law on wage equity, we are seeking to improve results for women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and underrepresented groups internationally. Canada is committed to promoting conditions for decent work in the care sector, who often work in the informal sector and exposed to dangerous and precarious circumstances. Canada is also committed to helping young people overcome obstacles, be it within the country or overseas. In 2024, Canada announced funding to support professional training for young people in the agro-food sector in Egypt. More than 20,000 students benefited from technical training, internships, and professional guidance services, helping them acquire the skills that are suited to that environment. To build resilient employment strategy and youth Skills is supporting thousands of young Canadians to develop the skills that they need to get jobs that we know are so important. We're enthusiastic about working with other member states to help us develop new ways of overcoming the obstacles to achieving SDG number 8. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Canada also for maintaining the time. And now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Norway, to be followed by stakeholder group for communities discriminated on account of descent. Norway, you have the floor now.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I would like to highlight 4 points. First, Norway believes securing human rights and labor rights with a strong and consistent focus on gender equality and women's rights is crucial to achieve SDG 8. Women's participation in the labor market is fundamental, both for achieving gender equality and for achieving economic growth. We cannot afford to only use the talent of half the population. I'd like to repeat that, actually. We cannot afford to only use the talent of half the population. Second, decent work is key to reduce poverty.

We need full and productive employment, social protection, social dialogue, and rights at work.

Social dialogue is a powerful and efficient mechanism to create a regulated and well-organized society where rights are secured. It also is crucial for preventing and solving conflicts. Third, innovation is important for economic and social development.

We must foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem to tackle challenges and provide employment for the growing youth population.

By providing funds, to stimulate the development of local incubators. We have seen that these sectors managed to attract private investments. Fourth and last, the 2025 Second World Summit for Social Development represents an opportunity to accelerate collective global efforts to combat poverty and inequality and the

I thank the distinguished representative of Norway.

Now I give the floor to the stakeholder group of the communities discriminated on work and descent, to be followed by Mexico.

Excellencies, I am Ali Matal, speaking on behalf of the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent.

When we talk about decent work under SDG 8, we must recognize that for over 270 million people worldwide, the very notion of decent work is structurally denied due to descent-based discrimination. The stratification has confined our communities to the most stigmatized, hazardous, and underpaid jobs, with many Dalits overrepresented in sanitation work, manual scavenging, Roma communities across Europe engaging in collection, Burakuma community in Bucharin and many communities in Africa engage in care and nation services and informal domestic labor. These roles are not chosen but assigned by society, often from birth, denying generations of young people the dignity, the opportunity, and the security promised by the 2030 Agenda. Despite the legal progress, persistent stigma and exclusion limits their access to employment and equal participation in society. The Gambia is a proud host of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which adopted a resolution on the protection and the promotion of the rights of communities discriminated by work and descent. This groundbreaking step positions Africa as the first continent where governments have collectively acknowledged and taken action on descent-based discrimination. We call on member states to join us tomorrow for launch of our joint UN People Policy On women from communities with discrimination or conditions by 2:30 PM in Conference Room B. We call on UN member states to explicitly recognize CDWDs in the national development plan, labor policies, and reporting on SDGs, particularly SDG 8, 10, and 16. We call on the UN member states to adopt and implement anti-discrimination legislation that significantly prohibits discrimination on the basis of work. We call on the UN member states to support regional and global mechanisms such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights resolution.

I thank the distinguished representative of Stakeholder Group for Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico. Mexico, to be followed by Russian Federation. Mexico, you have the floor.

In Mexico, we are working on precisely that. The National Development Plan has 2 of its main 4 pillars being on sustainable development and economic growth, and we continue to put workers at the center of our decision-making. We are proposing a strategy drives shared prosperity, in which we recognize the creation of and access to decent work is the main pathway to offer people an opportunity to access a better quality of life. As part of this strategy, we launched Plan Mexico, which, as President Claudia Sheinbaum and Secretary for the Economy Marcelo Ebrard have highlighted, is a comprehensive strategy to boost resilient infrastructure, sustainable investment, and regional value chains. This plan is built on 4 principles: sustainability as a cross-cutting axis, social and territorial inclusion, regular regulatory frameworks that enable change, and institutional coherence with the 2030 Agenda. Allow me to illustrate this with a few examples. We have We've relaunched SDG 8 with a new— we've relaunched Made in Mexico certification with a new focus. Only products aligned with the SDGs can be labeled as such. Today, more than 900 companies already carry this label highlighting contributions to SDGs 5, 8, and 12. We have also created the Development Centers for Well-Being, regional industrial ecosystems that promote innovation, decent employment, and environmental sustainability. In these zones, we offer tax incentives of up to 25% for spending on worker upskilling and technological innovation. The future of work and economic growth cannot keep leading to inequality. A systemic overhaul is needed. The speaker's microphone has been cut off.

I thank the distinguished representative of Mexico. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Russian Federation, to be followed by Czechia. Russian Federation, you have the floor.

Distinguished President, in these times of global geopolitical turbulence, SDG 8 is one of the most strategically important for the Russian Federation. The Russian government has consistently been implementing a policy that aims to achieve sustainable economic growth and boost employment. We're stimulating investment in industry, infrastructure, digitalization, and innovation, both in large cities and in the provinces. We're paying special attention to the development of SMEs, to personnel training, as well as support for youth and the self-employed. State measures include tax breaks, employment subsidies, reskilling programs, and creating high-tech production. This allows us to both modernize the economy and at the same time create decent jobs, including in the environmental and social sectors. At the same time, top Russian companies are actively incorporating the principles of sustainable development into their corporate strategies. Businesses are increasingly becoming the driver for positive changes, setting high standards in the areas of employment, productivity, inclusiveness, and fair working conditions. At the same time, Russian businesses are building lasting ties with international organizations, including the UN Global Compact, as well as civil society institutions. Russian businesses are also actively investing in ESG projects, from clean energy to digital transformation of production, from labor production initiatives to healthcare programs for employees. Attaining SDG 8 is also a priority for our policy in supporting international development. Russia is providing support to African states, CIS states, as well as LDCs in the areas of professional education and personnel training. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Russian Federation. Now I give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of Czechia, to be followed by Philippines. Czechia, you have the floor.

Excellencies, dear participants, enabling decent work for all is the key to fulfilling the promise of leaving no one behind. Czechia takes active part in initiatives promoting inclusive economic growth and full and productive employment in the UN system, OECD, OECD and EU and supports all strategic documents and standards. Today, the world experiences instability and poses severe challenges to economic growth. Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as other conflicts, destroy lives, houses, but also affect prices of food and energy. We are facing the immense challenge of a twin transition to green and digital economies. Now, it is the time to ensure a just transition for all, harness the potential of emerging sectors and technologies, and bridge digital divides between and within countries. With both SDG 5 and SDG 8 under review this year, I would like to stress that women's economic empowerment is a way to unleash our economies. While the world is still struggling to achieve full and productive employment globally, some countries and regions will soon be faced with a lack of workforce, such Czechia. This will bring many challenges to their economies and social systems. Such a development will— it even more imperative and build inclusive economics which will leave no one behind and we are able to benefit from the potential of a diverse workforce. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Czechia. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Philippines, to be followed by Council of Palm oil-producing countries. Philippines, you have the floor now.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. The Philippines affirms that achieving SDG 8 is central to the 2030 Agenda. Decent work is not just a goal, it's a cornerstone of poverty reduction, gender equality, education, and climate resilience. We stand at a defining moment. Technological shifts, climate change, and global developments are reshaping work creating opportunities but affecting groups in vulnerable situations. In response, the Philippines is implementing the Trabaho para Sabayan Act, which institutionalizes a 10-year national employment master plan grounded in a multi-stakeholder approach. This plan is designed to generate quality jobs, stimulate inclusive and job-rich economic growth, and ensure that employment is not only accessible but meaningful, productive, and resilient. We emphasize rights-based employment, lifelong skills development, and pathways that transition workers into formal economy. We are scaling up demand-driven training through enterprise-based education and training. Employment facilitation is being enhanced by stronger public employment services, apprenticeships, and job matching. Social protection measures ensure a just transition, including emergency employment business Decent work is embedded in our green and digital transitions through the Green Jobs Human Resource Development Plan, Digital Workforce Competitiveness Act, and our role as a Pathfinder Country under the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection. Excellencies, the Philippines reaffirms its commitment to SDG 8 through inclusive policy, social dialogue, and global cooperation. We are ready to work with partners to ensure no one is left behind in growth, in transition, and in the future of work. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Philippines. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries, to be followed by United Republic of Tanzania.

Thank you, Mr. President. The palm oil sector is a critical engine for delivering SDG 8, particularly in rural and developing regions. Across Indonesia, Malaysia, and beyond, the sector generates jobs, boosts rural incomes, and advances formal employment and labor protections. This is the result of deliberate reforms driven by national rural development strategies and smallholder inclusion, international labor norms in our certification schemes, buyer and consumer pressure for ethically sourced commodities. And here is how the sector is contributing to SDG 8. Firstly, through economic growth and rural inclusion. Palm oil contributes to 3 to 5% of GDP in Indonesia and Malaysia. The sector supports around 24 million jobs globally. And Malaysia, in fact, has achieved full employment in the year 2000 with palm oil as a key growth driver. In Pahang, a state in Malaysia, 57% of smallholders were previously unemployed. Underscoring palm oil's role in absorbing labour. Secondly, under fair wages and safe working conditions, major companies like Wilmar and Musim Mas ensure minimum wage compliance, medical benefits, maternity protection, and paid leave. Injury rates have dropped by up to 50% through stronger health and safety protocols like PPE, mobile clinics, and grievance systems. Thirdly, under rights and inclusion, certification schemes like MSPO, ISPO, and RSPO integrate international labour norms ensure no child labor, fair wages, gender equity, grievance redress, and freedom of association. Finally, as a pathway for inclusive employment, women now take up leadership roles in processing facilities. Social protection schemes such as insurance, housing, and childcare extend to both domestic and migrant workers. As the 2030 deadline nears, reforms can be seen in our palm oil industry through formalization of employment, and mechanization and youth upskilling. Let us deliver SDG 8 through partnerships. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of United Republic of Tanzania, to be followed by Denmark. Tanzania, you have the floor.

Thank you, Honorable Chair. The United Republic of Tanzania welcomes this timely focus on SDG 8, a goal that is catalytic to the realization of the 2030 Agenda. Despite global uncertainties, Tanzania has made strong economic strides. In the year 2024, our GDP grows by 5.2%.

Thank you.

25%, supported by flagship infrastructure investment, notably the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Projects and the Standard Gauge Railway, which has significantly reduced travel time and created over 200,000 jobs. From 2020 to early 2025, we created more than 8 million jobs. 49% of which were secured by women. Yet we acknowledge that 87% of employment remains informal. Formalizing the informal economy, especially for women and youth, remains a national priority. We firmly believe that decent work must go hand in hand with inclusive growth. Tanzania's strategic promotes structural transformation of the agricultural sector, access to finance, and skill development through vocational training programs. Our financial inclusion efforts have raised access to banking services to an average of 23% of the population, and the use of ATM and banking branches continues to expand even in rural areas. in rural areas. I thank you, Chair.

I thank the distinguished representative of Tanzania. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Denmark, to be followed by Zimbabwe. Denmark, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, colleagues, and friends, as a Danish youth delegate on vocational education and job creation. And as a young person navigating today's labor market myself, it's a privilege to address the high-level political forum on SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, just 5 years from our 2030 deadline. Youth unemployment sits at 13%, and 1 in 5 young people are not in education, employment, or training— young women twice as likely as young men. These figures underscore the urgency. Behind every percent is a young person being denied dignity, protection, and opportunity in workplace. Cooperation must be carried out by, with, and for young people to ensure the guaranteed decision-making power. Denmark's dual-track vocational system, where, for example, plumbing apprentices spend half their time in company placement and the other half in school, With student-elected council overseeing learning quality, delivers future-proof skills without undercutting wages or rights, adapt with local youth inputs. This model can help other countries build resilient workforces. To deliver real impact on SDG 8, we need coordinated approach. Youth participation must be embedded in the labor market governance at every level, from national tripartite bodies to company councils, formalization strategies should be co-designed by the ODServe. The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection gives us a concrete platform, but to reach its goal of 400 million decent jobs and coverage for 4 billion people, we must involve youth not just in the consultation room but in every stage designing implementation and accountability. Let us make 2030 not a deadline but a turning point where youth leadership—

I thank the distinguished representative of Denmark. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe, to be followed by Lebanon. Mr. President of Zimbabwe, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair and Moderator, Mr. Lee, fresh from our meeting in your offices in Geneva. Zimbabwe recognizes that achieving SDG 8 is fundamental to the elimination of poverty, the attainment of food security, the promotion of quality education, the realization of gender equality, and the reduction of inequalities. Through the National Development Strategy 1, my government is prioritizing structural transformation and economic empowerment. To realize these ambitions, it has enacted the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy and the Youth Employment and Empowerment Strategy. These policy interventions are destined to accelerate the country's transition into a technologically advanced and diversified industrial and commercial economy by 2030 by driving transformation, fostering rural industrialization, and promoting green industry initiatives. In these programs, the focus is always on ensuring that the youth, women, and persons with disabilities are the main proponents and beneficiaries. Zimbabwe believes that partnerships are strategic to the attainment of SDG 8. Consequently, the government of Zimbabwe is working with stakeholders that include regional and continental institutions, UN agencies, development banks, and private sector, and mobilizing financial and technical expertise. One such example is the fruitful collaboration with partners in developing the Decent Work Country Program. Through the African Continental Free Trade Area, Zimbabwe seeks to harness the immense potential of a market of more than 1 billion people to leapfrog to economic prosperity through deepened economic integration and increased industrialization, regional value chains, and sustainable development. In conclusion, Zimbabwe remains committed to accelerating SDGA through transformative policies, innovation, and partnerships. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe. Now I give the floor to the who is representative of Lebanon, to be followed by Lesotho. Lebanon, you have the floor.

Mr. Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Lebanon highlights the importance to promote policies supporting productive activities, decent jobs, entrepreneurship, innovation, and MSME growth, including access to concessional and non-concessional finance. Lebanon is still experiencing a multidimensional crisis, from severe economic and financial to the humanitarian one compounded by recent Israeli aggressions impacting key economic sectors, with significant losses in GDP and increasing unemployment, including youth unemployment and brain drain. However, Lebanon reaffirms the firm commitment to achieve SDG 8. Sustained and inclusive economic growth is challenging, and education remains a top priority and an asset for Lebanon while harnessing skills and innovation. Lebanon emphasizes on the growing demand for technical and vocational education as a key driver of youth employment. This includes strengthening partnerships with the private sector and investing in emerging sectors such as green, digital, and care economies. Lebanese universities are actively reforming the curriculums by integrating sustainability skills based on student feedback. Meanwhile, the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon offers incentives for investment including in agro-industry and export sectors. In addition, the Ministry of Economy has launched a pilot initiative for community-level microfinance programs targeting women and informal workers. In this regard, we stress on the interlinkages between gender equality and the SDG 8, as well as the must to empower women and women entrepreneurship. Finally, we reaffirm the essential role of micro and small-medium-sized enterprises in driving inclusive growth. The Lebanese government is committed to a broad reform agenda, including reforms of public institutions and working on banking restructuring with the latest amendment of the bank secrecy law. Therefore, an investment conference will be held in autumn to reopen Lebanon to productive investments and in order to update business-related laws and stimulate exports. Finally, Lebanon's calls for international—

Thank you. I thank the distinguished representative of Lebanon. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lesotho, to be followed by NGO Major Group. Lesotho, you have the floor.

Mr. President, Lesotho has ratified all 10 fundamental ILO conventions as part of 26 conventions and 1 protocol. Lesotho is actively integrating the standards into national policies and laws. In 2024, the country achieved achieved significant legislative milestones by enacting the Labor Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, reflecting its commitment to advancing sustainable development. These legal frameworks reinforce the country's dedication to promoting decent work, serving as a catalyst for inclusive economic growth, improved working conditions, and strengthened social protection systems. They also demonstrate Lesotho's proactive approach towards aligning national policies with SDG targets and integrating gender equality, youth employment, informality, and occupational health and safety into broader development agenda. Excellencies, let me also highlight the establishment of national social register for the potential eligibility of social programs and the development of special economic zones to promote effective business linkages for diversification of products to attract foreign direct investment and stimulate economic growth. Lesotho has also implemented an SDG Investor Map to mobilize private sector investment. 5 investment opportunities have been identified in agriculture, renewable energy, health, and financial services. Lastly, in pursuit of curbing high unemployment, especially among youth, efforts have been made to reform the education system to align the curricula with labor market demands, emphasizing STEM fields and vocationals. skills. We acknowledge that advancing decent work lies in adopting an integrated multi-sectoral approach, encouraging innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Lesotho. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of NGO Major Group, to be followed by Colombia.

Muchas gracias, señor presidente. Mucho gusto.

Chair, I'm very pleased to be here. There is clearly human will to improve conditions, especially in vulnerable sectors such as work in the home. Since the early stages of the pandemic, they have worked in worse conditions than other workers in countries where 189 is not ratified, we're not going to find a solution. It's clear that ratification of the Convention on Sexual Abuse will lead to improvements. There has to be greater interaction between the state on each level in order to coordinate effective implementation of SDG as well as labor norms. There is a worrying lack of social environmental respect in a number of companies that are violating labor laws but also predating natural resources, especially in industry. We cannot make progress in reducing the inequality gap and reducing poverty and nutrition when wages continue to be low. Less than the basic food basket or cost of living, and this particularly affects women who are leading their households, women and especially workers in the field. Protection of human capital is linked to extreme heat also in factories. I am Maria de Lascaux from Guatemala. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of NGO Major Group. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Colombia, to be followed by Ghana. Colombia, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Colombia believes that in order to progress effectively towards SDG number 8, we require transformative policies that combine inclusive economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social justice. This implies not only generating employment, but also guaranteeing decent working conditions, fair wages, adequate social protection, and real opportunities for those who have historically been excluded from the formal market. Recently, the Colombian Congress approved Ley 2466 of 2025. This represents a historic step forward towards more dignified work and equity. The new law recognizes postponed or deferred rights such as extending pay for nighttime work, formalization of apprenticeship contracts, regulation of digital platforms, and the consolidation of mechanisms to promote youth employment. Care work is also recognized and formalized, all of this in order to reduce inequalities. So Colombia has adopted a comprehensive approach through its public policy on dignified and decent work. This articulates or coordinates efforts promote formal employment, ensure adequate income, and expand social protections. This policy incorporates principles of human rights, gender equality, and intersectionality. It responds also to contemporary challenges in the world of work, such as digitization, the environmental transition, and structural gaps. Colombia has also instituted reform of its comprehensive social protection system for old age. This seeks to expand pension coverage and provide sustainable and equitable solutions to older people who have traditionally been left out of the contributions-based system. The National Territorial Technical Assistance Program has also been developed. It is intended to strengthen local institutional capacity and accompany design and implementation of employment policies that are adapted to each region of the country. Moving towards SDG 8 implies recognizing that economic growth will not be truly sustainable if it is not based on dignified work. The speaker's microphone's been cut off.

I thank the representative of Colombia. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ghana, to be followed by Timur Lesi. Ghana, you have the floor.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the 2025 SDG report paints a sobering picture On SDG 8, and that should concern us all. Ghana prioritized the 5 high-impact targets with decent work and inclusive growth at the core, and the results are encouraging. In 2024, our economy grew by 5.7% above the sub-Saharan African average. Inflation has declined sharply from 54% in 2022 to 13.7% in June 2025. Unemployment remains high at 14.7% and youth joblessness exceeds 25%. Over 70% of our labor force, mostly women and young people, remains in the informal sector. This is not just a jobs gap, it's a dignity gap. To address this, Ghana is implementing the Reset Ghana Agenda, a coordinated national strategy to expand opportunity and protect the vulnerable. Key initiatives include the 24-hour economy, unlocking jobs beyond traditional hours, the Big Push program, a $10 billion infrastructure drive, the 1 Million Coders initiative, training 1 million youth in digital skills, and the Gold Board, formalizing small-scale mining to boost FX inflows. We have also embedded job creation in our monetary policy objectives through the Bank of Ghana. Since 2022, we have produced quarterly labor statistics. This year, we are launching a national survey on skills mismatches to align training with demand. Our compass for this transformation is data. If we are serious about SDG 8, data must be treated as a core infrastructure essential to the recovery, not accidental to it. Let us act, not just commit, in these 5 years. The future of work and dignity of workers depend on this action.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. I thank the distinguished representative of Ghana. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Timor-Leste, and to be followed by Kyrgyzstan. Timor-Leste, you have the floor.

Honorable Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Timor-Leste's pursuit of SDG 8 is rooted in resilience, ambition, and the unwavering belief that every Timorese deserves future of dignity, opportunity, and prosperity. To achieve this vision, we must act urgently on several fronts. First, economic diversification is not an option; it is an imperative. As we prepare to join ASEAN and deepen regional and global integration, we must unleash the potential of sectors like agriculture, fisheries and tourism, and digital innovation. Second, the future belongs to our youth. With over 70% of our population under the age of 35, young people are our greatest asset. We must invest in youth empowerment and women's economic participation, ensuring they are equipped to lead, create, and contribute meaningfully to our national development. Third, we cannot ignore the informal economy. Formalizing and supporting micro and small enterprises, improving access to finance and product— protecting workers' rights will not only build resilience but also strengthen our economy from the grassroots up. Excellencies, SDG 8 is more than a target. It is a social contract with our people, a promise of inclusive growth, shared prosperity, and human dignity. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Thank you, Mr. Mures. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kyrgyzstan, to be followed by South Africa. Kyrgyzstan, you have the floor.

Distinguished participants, SDG 8 of the 2030 Agenda is a key for sustainable growth, poverty reduction, reduction of inequalities, empowerment of women and youth, and the strengthening of a social contract. The Kyrgyz Republic stays strongly committed to these objectives by advancing human-centered and equitable development policies. Over the past 3 years, Kyrgyzstan has managed to ensure annual economic growth of 9%, with GDP per capita increasing by 1.7 times, which reflects both post-crisis recovery and the progress in structural transformation. Employment remains a national priority. The government has adopted targeted programs to accelerate the transition from informal to formal employment, foster entrepreneurship, expand access to vocational training, and enhance youth employment. The share of youth not in education, employment, or training declined to 18.6% in 2023, though there is a substantial gender gap. To improve the quality of employment, The new labor code has been adopted along with reforms in wage policy and the introduction of decent work standards and zero injury approach. Improvements have been made in labor statistics with increased attention to accounting for migration flows. The child labor rate decreased to 19.6% in 2010. The Kyrgyz Republic emphasizes the importance of targeted reforms to support vulnerable groups, including women, youth, migrants, and persons with disabilities. We remain committed to advancing an inclusive, sustainable, and rights-based labor market in line with international labor standards.

I thank the representative of Kyrgyzstan. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of South Africa, to be followed by UNDRR. South Africa, you have the floor.

Distinguished Vice President, Moderator, and panelists, over the next 10 years, an unprecedented 1.2 billion young people in the Global South will become working-age adults, and they will need and jobs. Despite economic growth in many of our countries, many of our economies failed to create sufficient job opportunities for those who are able and willing to work, indicating that economic growth on its own is not enough to solve the missing jobs crisis. Where jobs are created, they are often not transformative. They do not bring with them the required level of wages, social protection, security, and dignity. Necessary for decent work. Developing countries' reliance on commodity exports and the limited opportunities to climb global value chains in part underpin this poor jobs performance. To address these challenges, South Africa has created a task force on inclusive economic growth, industrialization, employment, and reduced inequality to prioritize decent jobs. under its G20 presidency. This task force will deliver a set of G20 principles to try and address high informality, limited access to quality education, and weak labor market institutions, policy and regulatory reforms, digital transformation, and migration, and to address the opportunities of the green transition and digital transitions. We support the implementation of Compromiso de Sevilla, UNOC III, and the Pact of the Future. And I thank you, Chair.

Now, thank you, South Africa— representative of South Africa. Now I give the floor to distinguished representative of Spain, to be followed by Honduras.

Thank you. Spain is fully committed to inclusive and sustainable economic development and to decent employment for all. At the national level, unemployment rate has fallen in the last 10 years to 10%, which is the best figure in the last 17 years. The number of unemployed women is the lowest ever. Thanks to the 2021 labor reform, we've reduced temporary contracts. In addition, the increase in minimum wage of €61 since 2018 has made it possible to reduce inequalities, the risk of poverty and exclusion, especially for women. Decent work is the central axis of Spain's labour policy. Thanks to the introduction of paid leave in the event of extreme weather conditions or natural disasters and the introduction of the obligation for companies with more than 50 workers to have equality and prevention plans to prevent harassment against LGBTI staff, We have promoted measures for the incorporation of the labor market of young people, people with disabilities, and to enhance long-term employment, improving professional training, promoting work-life balance. In the future, we're working hard to improve conditions in the care sector. We will reduce the average working day to 37.5 hours per week and update legislation on occupational risks. Our system highlights social protections. Spanish cooperation has supported the Global Accelerator for Social Protection and Decent Work promoted by the UNSG. We've also made financial contributions to this and other initiatives to promote joint and coordinated work with the UN system and IFIs to achieve this goal. We're working with the ILO on the action plan for transition from the informal to the formal economy. Finally, we're working for the effective formalization of employment in all countries and for universal social protections and decent work, as we said at FFD4 in Seville. Spain will continue to support those countries that commit to increasing their investments in social protection by 2% per year. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Spain. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Honduras, to be followed by UNDRR Honduras.

You have the floor. Thank you, Chair, Excellencies. The government of Honduras is working on restructuring our framework for national management, guiding public investment to sectors that create formal employment such as energy, health, social protection, and productive development. In supporting food security and local employment through job creation. We're contributing to improving channels for access to connectivity and trade in the productive sector. In 2025, public investment represents 9.7% of GDP and 22% of our overall budget. We have invested in infrastructure, in roads for secondary and tertiary roads, with more than 2,000 projects. Naturally, the key axis of this transformation is implementation of fiscal justice that introduces a progressive system, promotes transparency and redistribution of wealth with the aim of reducing inequalities. Progress achieved between 2023 and 2025 shows mixed signals. On the one hand, GDP has maintained stable economic growth at around 4% for 2025. The other rates have fallen significantly. However, informal work continues to limit access to social protections. The government of Honduras has implemented mechanisms to facilitate this transition for the inclusion of young people. The political The decent employment policy with sustainable businesses and decent work for Honduras and the current employment pool for persons with disabilities and the comprehensive job center as well as other systems and the National Institute for Professional Training are training more than 50,000 people a year. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Honduras. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, to be followed by France. UNDRR, you have the floor now.

Distinguished delegates, colleagues, and partners, as we enter the final stretch of the 2030 Agenda, the urgency to safeguard decent work and economic growth has never been greater. This was reaffirmed at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, where member states emphasized investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience to protect and sustain economic progress. Disasters are eroding economic resilience, causing job losses, business closures, and productivity declines. According to the 2025 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, Annual direct losses from disasters now exceed $202 billion, with total losses including cascading and ecosystem impacts exceeding $2.3 trillion. Excellencies, disaster risk reduction strategies must be integrated into employment, labor, and social protection policies to build resilient livelihoods. To achieve SDG 8, We must embed risk-informed strategies into economic planning and investment. Disaster risk reduction is more than a shield. It is a catalyst for inclusive, sustainable growth. It protects existing jobs and creates new ones in resilience-building sectors. At the Global Platform last month, Member States endorsed the Geneva Call for Disaster Risk Reduction, outlining 8 priority actions to strengthen economic resilience and to protect livelihoods. We must act with a sense of urgency. Investing in DRR means investing in economic stability, productivity, and decent work. I commend Member States for reaffirming this both in Sevilla at FF54 and the HLPF deliberation. Together, we can build economies that are resilient, adaptive, and future-ready. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of UNDRR. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of France, to be followed by Guatemala. France, you have the floor.

I'm speaking on behalf of France Volunteers, a French platform for international volunteering for exchange and solidarity under the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. As we head toward 2030, SDG 8 remains one of the ones who are lagging the most behind, and yet it is at the heart of the changes we need— reducing poverty, including youth, empowering women, and the environmental transition. But there already are solutions on the field— in the field. Volunteering is one of them. The International Labour Organization estimates that 20% of the world's population is committed to volunteering actions, whether formal or informal. This number represents the the strength of this movement that's often underestimated. Volunteers often act in the field day to day. I'm thinking of Valentine, who works in Senegal, who is helping to support the Women and Shells program aiming to improve working conditions of women in mangroves. I'm thinking of Vivian as well in Burkina Faso and Togo, who is working at the SAR Afrique NGO to promote youth employment. These examples illustrate the contribution of international volunteering to sustainable economic models based in specific countries. Volunteering is also a powerful driver of employability for young people and women in particular. Volunteering in its international aspect is an asset for professional insertion, allowing for the gaining of skills and knowledge that are so crucial in a constantly changing labor market. But to harness its full potential, volunteering must be more recognized as a tool to implement the SDGs at all scales. 2026 will be the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Therefore, we believe it's important now to strengthen recognition of volunteering as a tool for economic and social transformation and to help to make it more visible. We also need to incorporate volunteering on the political level.

I thank the representative of France. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Guatemala, to be followed by Ecuador. Guatemala, you have the floor.

Excellencies, distinguished delegations, yesterday we talked about how to connect the drivers of our economy with the aspirations of our people. Today I want to talk about the threads we are weaving together to build this connection— dignified work and economic growth for all. At first glance, the employment figures in Guatemala may seem positive. The national unemployment rate is less than 2%, but as we know, these can actually hide— these figures can hide realities. There's a high level of informality where the majority of Guatemalans work without social protections and without full labor rights. This is the story of one of the greatest gender gaps in history and also the vast number of young people who are not studying or in work. And this is the problem we have decided to tackle. In order not to try and do so blindly, we have taken a fundamental technical step. We are transforming our employment survey system to design public policies to be surgical in our precision. This intelligence is feeding our overall government policy through 2028 that is driving a humane economy. We're not talking about an assistance or benefit economy. We're talking about empowerment. In order to support our economy, we have scholarships for the future as well as technical training and university. We have selected more than 1,500 people already. We are going for the heart of our economy, SMEs, and facilitating their access to credit and training, enhancing the participation of young people and women in enhancing their skills for the future. Excellencies, Guatemala does not aspire to growth that leaves half of its population behind. We are aspiring to development where each Guatemalan person can build a life project with certainty and dignity. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Guatemala. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ecuador, to be followed by Sovereign Order of Malta. Ecuador, you have the floor.

Señor Presidente. Chair, it's of great concern that over the last decade progress to achieving SDG 8, has been markedly unequal. Of the 12 targets, only one, relation to access to finances— financial services, is currently on the right track. There is a persistent gap between economic growth and improvements in quality of employment, and this reflects deep realities in the regional and global economy. In Latin America, the main challenge The challenge continues to be around sustained economic growth and decent employment for all. Precarious employment, underemployment, and the informal sector continue to be widespread in our region. The GDP per capita does not reflect structural inequalities that persist. In Ecuador, youth unemployment is a particular matter for attention, and addressing this reality requires public and private investment that allows us to assign resources in a focused way in order to broaden access to education across all levels and modalities to build conditions that offer better employment opportunities. Ecuador is committed to building concrete opportunities and real opportunities for the youth in our country so that they can improve their living conditions and actively contribute to the development of their communities. We do so through comprehensive public policies, financial incentives, and the scholarships, but aligning resources to achieve this continues to be a challenge for Ecuador. As a high to middle income country, we are seeking concessional finance in particular, as well as broader multidimensional indicators so that we can apply better metrics for development. I reiterate Ecuador's commitment to Agenda 2030 and the SDGs to improve our present and our future. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Ecuador and now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Sovereign Order of Malta, to be followed by Switzerland.

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, it is an honor to address this Assembly on Sustainable Development Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic growth and its vital role in advancing the 2030 Agenda. As the Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Order of Malta, a lay religious order with over 900 years of service to the sick and the poor, I bring a faith-based perspective. Work is not just economic output but a source of dignity, purpose, and service to the common good. Across 120 countries, the Order's humanitarian work from hospitals to livelihood programs, affirms that economic growth must be rooted in human dignity. In February, our mission to the UN hosted an interfaith conference on the ethical issues of artificial intelligence. Professor John Tasioulas of Oxford University reminded us that AI's trajectory is not inevitable. It reflects human choices which must promote dignity. He warned that as AI automates work, we risk losing the meaning, skill, and cooperation that work brings. Financial compensation alone cannot replace the fulfillment people find in contributing to something larger than themselves. As Pope Francis said, what gives dignity is work. Decent work means being part of society in a way that matters. Mr. President, the COVID-19 pandemic created a dramatic and lasting awareness of mental health challenges, challenges that have not disappeared. The prolonged isolation, the widespread reduction in daily personal interaction, and the sudden disruption of work life exposed vulnerabilities in our societies that are— that we are still grappling with. These issues remind us how deeply human beings need connection, structure, and a sense of purpose. As we advance towards the 2030 Agenda, let us reaffirm that decent work is not only about economic output but about purpose. Thank you very much.

I thank the representative of Sovereign Order of Malta. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland, to be followed by Costa Rica. Switzerland, you have the floor.

Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, Switzerland currently enjoys a high level of prosperity marked by its open economy as well as its high level of stable employment. However, it does face demographic challenges as well as environmental challenges and a shortage of qualified workers. To address these challenges, Switzerland has invested in sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as in training and innovation. This requires concrete action, for example, promoting sustainable resource management, strengthening social protections for vulnerable workers, and facilitating access to employment for young people in difficulty, asylum seekers, and persons with disabilities. Providing high-quality child care at affordable prices and combating the wage gap are also priorities for Switzerland. On the international level, Switzerland supports developing countries in their transition toward a normal economy, developing their private sector, and their integration in the global economy. We also help to promote resilient and sustainable global value chains by promoting responsible enterprise management, productivity, and the creation of decent jobs. To this end, Switzerland is working closely with various international actors, especially financial institutions, U.N. agencies, the private sector, and civil society. International Geneva, with its many specialized agencies, especially ILO when it comes to employment and decent work, provides a unique ecosystem for strengthening synergies and partnerships for the implementation of SDG 8. In the current context of a constantly evolving global environment, Switzerland believes that effective and resilient multilateralism is crucial to attain the goals of the 2030 Agenda. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Switzerland. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Costa Rica, to be followed by Azerbaijan. Costa Rica, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. To achieve economic growth that is truly inclusive and sustainable, We must radically transform our development— economic development paradigms. First, sustainability and equity must be endogenous variables, not externalities in our growth models. Economies that degrade natural capital and exclude population sectors inevitably face structural limits to their growth. Costa Rica advocates for policies that internalize environmental and social costs, ensuring effective inclusion of the most vulnerable. Second, technological innovation and human capital are fundamental multipliers of inclusive growth. To close access gaps that disproportionately affect women and youth, it is imperative that we invest in technical education, digital skills, and the care economy. Third, without financial architecture that is robust, predictable, and accessible, no transformation is feasible. We must mobilize both domestic and international resources and establish strategic partnerships across governments, the private sector, and civil society to optimize capital allocation to towards productive and sustainable investments. Chair, the Seville Commitment calls us to an urgent transformation to place people and planet at the core of our development operations. This configuration cannot be delayed. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Costa Rica. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Azerbaijan, to be followed by Bangladesh. Azerbaijan, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Excellencies, Azerbaijan has demonstrated a resilient and forward-looking economic performance. From 2011 to 2023, the economy maintained an average annual GDP growth rate around 2%, while non-oil and gas sector expanded at robust 4.4% per year, a clear indication that diversification strategy is yielding tangible result. This diversification strategy expected to be complemented by rising minimum wages, pensions, and other income transfer to enhance economic resilience of vulnerable groups. All the years past, we have taken concrete steps to empower our citizens and reduce inequality. Through the self-employment program launched in 2017, With just 1,200 participants, we have empowered over 17,000 individuals in 2024 alone, creating meaningful income opportunities and entrepreneurship pathways for unemployed and vulnerable groups. We're particularly proud of our gender-responsive economic policies. Between 2020 and 2025, Azerbaijan allocated $42 million in loans to support 1,400 women-led businesses, leading the creation of around 1,500 new jobs. Dear colleagues, innovation and inclusion must go hand in hand. In March 2025, Azerbaijan adopted its national artificial intelligence strategy focused on promoting ethical, inclusive, and sustainable AI development across key sectors. As part of this strategy, government tasked with building workforce skills in AI and data governance, organizing specialized training programs and preparing qualified instruction to effective lasting result. As I conclude, we are convinced that decent work is not a luxury, but this is a foundation of sustainable development. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Azerbaijan. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh To be followed by Malaysia. Bangladesh, you have the floor.

Mr. President, Bangladesh reaffirms that decent work and economic growth is not a standalone objective. Over 80% of our workforce remains in the informal sector, making the formalization of work, skills development, and entrepreneurship not just economic imperatives but essential for delivering on SDGs 1, 5, 9, and 10. Our interim government's reform agenda prioritizes the formalization of the informal sector, enhanced labor protections, SME support, and youth employment, all essential to fostering equitable growth and leaving no one behind. We are investing in inclusive growth. The Skills for Employment Investment Program has trained 700,000 youth with a 60% job placement rate. Over 41,000 women have received business grants through urban livelihood programs. But numbers alone do not capture the full story. To truly transform development, we must rethink the way we build economies. This is where the concept of social business, pioneered by Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, plays a groundbreaking role. These non-dividend sustainable enterprises reinvest all profits to solve social problems, creating jobs, restoring dignity, and uplifting communities. In a world facing polycrisis, we believe the social business model offers a resilient, inclusive, and locally rooted solution that links SDG 8 with health, education, gender equality, and innovation. As Bangladesh transitions from LDC status in 2026, we are calling for international cooperation to integrate social business and blended finance into SDG investment frameworks, especially for SMEs and youth-led enterprises. We also urge greater attention to ESG accountability climate-resilient jobs, and digital inclusion, especially for rural populations. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Bangladesh. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Malaysia, to be followed by Major Group for Children and Youth. Malaysia, you have the floor.

Mr. President, Excellencies, under the Madani Economy Framework, Malaysia aims to be one of the top 20-30 economies by 2033, targeting female labor force participation rate of 60% and a labor income share of 45%. As of 2024, it stands at 56.5% and 33.1% respectively. Malaysia's economy grew strongly With real GDP increasing by 5.1%, up from, up from 3.6% in 2023. The growth— this growth was driven by strong domestic demand, higher investments, and a rebound in exports. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.2%, and the labor force participation rate rose to 70.6%. showing good progress. The Progressive Wage Policy is part of labour market reforms aimed at raising workers' salaries in line with productivity growth. It supports existing policies such as the Minimum Wage Order, productivity-linked wage systems, and collective bargaining. The Progressive Wage also supports broader strategies which focus on creating high-quality jobs in areas like the green growth, advanced technology, and digital services. In conclusion, Malaysia is making continuous efforts in SDG 8 and paving the way for a more inclusive and future-ready economy. With that, thank you so much, Mr. President.

I thank the representative of Malaysia. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Major Group of Children and Youth, to be followed by Saudi Arabia. Major Group for the Children and Youth, you have the floor now.

Thank you, Chair, for the floor. I am Maria Magdalena from European Student Forum, a voluntary regional coordinator for ECE in the equally voluntary Major Group for Children and Youth. The Youth Constituency has actively contributed to the SDG 8 review this year, including a dedicated plenary at ECOSOC Youth Forum and participating at the EGM. The future of work is here, and young people must be at the center of it. Thus, we bring you the following recommendations. First, we call for the launch of a Youth Employment Task Force under the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth co-convened with the Descent Work Youth Constituency. We, for example, need various data on youth employment and labor rights for evidence-based policies and to monitor progress. Furthermore, as the caste system has impacted people globally all too long, we demand on the launch of a dedicated UN Forum on Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent to finally address the systemic marginalization of 270 million people facing caste and descent-based discrimination. Third, the upcoming World Social Summit must include accessible language on financing for youth employment in especially green and digital sectors, care economy, and decent work, a global youth jobs reporting mechanism under the Global Accelerator, and formal recognition of youth constituencies as implementation and accountability partners. Additionally, the civil society process for the summit must include major groups and rights holders in direct decision-shaping roles. Finally, we request broad implementation of tax exemptions and subsidies for those paying and hiring youth, prioritizing marginalized groups to promote decent living and sustainable employment, and call for expanded access to informal technical and vocational education training programs.

I thank the representative of Major Group for Children and Youth. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Saudi Arabia, to be followed by Suriname. Saudi Arabia, you have the floor.

شكراً السيد الرئيس يعد الهدف الثاني. Thank you, Mr. President SDG. Is the cornerstone of the implementation of inclusive growth and economic empowerment and productivity by laying the groundwork for decent work for all. Despite the progress made when it comes to policies and programs, international challenges remain. These include increasing unemployment, especially among young people, as well as informal and unregulated employment. And the gap between skills and labor market demands, which limits the ability of economies to generate decent jobs. Saudi Arabia believes that the acceleration of progress will require a reorganization of our priorities, and the focus should be placed on initiatives with high impact in accordance with national priorities. As part of the Saudi 2030 Vision, vision, we are carrying out systematic reforms allowing for the diversification of income sources as well as economic growth. Our non-oil GDP has increased by over 30%— 50% since 2017, thanks to our economic diversification, the involvement of the public— of the private sector. We have introduced reforms in the labor market and the participation of Saudi's labor market has increased 50% for— 36% for women. And this is based on flexible legislation and policies focused on empowerment. We place great importance on regional balanced development, investing in promising sectors. And we believe that progress is not measured only by the scale of initiatives, rather by the changes that they produce on the ground. Thank you.

Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Suriname, to be followed by Indonesia. Suriname, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates. Suriname recognizes that sustained inclusive economic growth and decent work for all are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. With only 5 years left, SDG 8 remains one of the most off-track goals, yet it is the foundation for reducing poverty, advancing gender equality, education, and building climate resilience. Suriname continues to face significant challenges. Unemployment remains too high, especially among the poor and in our interior regions. Informality is growing, leaving many workers without protection or stable income. Workplace safety still needs urgent improvements, and we face gaps in reliable labor markets data that weaken planning and action. Our response is guided by our multiannual development plan, our Decent Work Country Program, and our labor market policy. These plans aim to diversify our economy and create more secure jobs supported by new laws and funds like our Production Credit Fund and the Savings and Stabilization Fund. To tackle informality and unlock more decent jobs, Suriname is expanding training and entrepreneurship support. We have supported over 637 small and medium businesses since 2023, with special focus on women and indigenous entrepreneurs. We reach people in all regions with free skills training and job placement support through our Training for Employment Roadmap and institutions like the Suriname Hospitality and Tourism Training Center. We must strengthen institutions, close data gaps, and reach all communities, and we call on our partners to keep supporting Suriname with capacity building, technology, and innovative financing for social protection.

I thank the representative of Suriname. I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia, to be followed by Gambia. Indonesia, you are—

Thank you, Chair. Over the past decades, Indonesia has adopted an integrated rights-based approach to achieving SDG 8, focusing on inclusive growth, decent employment, and sustainable economic transformation. Indonesia's consistent 5% economic growth alongside increases in GDP per capita and labor productivity reflects strong economic resilience. Job creation has been driven by the expansion of MSMEs, infrastructures, and digitalizations, particularly in tourism, manufacturing, and creative economy. To address persistent structural challenges such as informality, inequality, and skill mismatch, it is important to advance systemic reforms in labor regulations, strengthening protections for vulnerable workers, and integrating informal sectors into national employment frameworks. To prepare the workforce for the green economic shifts, it needs to outline strategic actions to strengthen skill development, promote inclusive and sustainable employment, and create quality green jobs in the renewables energy. To promote inclusive employment Indonesia is expanding access to childcare, ensuring equal pay, and encouraging women's participation in formal sectors. The government is also advancing social inclusion for persons with disabilities through the establishment of disability service units and for older persons through the National Aging Strategy. Indonesia stands ready to share the skill and scale these approaches and to collaborate with global partners. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Indonesia. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Gambia, to be followed by Malawi. Gambia, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Chair and delegates. The Gambia has experienced steady economic growth over the past 3 years, registering 6% in 2024. Mainly driven by agriculture, tourism, and service sectors. It has also implemented policies to improve the business environment. There has been an increase in employment opportunities, especially for youth and women, and support for small and medium enterprises through access to finance, capacity building, and market challenges. Infrastructure improvements have also facilitated trade, investment, and economic activities. The country has legislated New Labour Act 2023, and for the first time included child labor, occupational health and safety, as well as decent work program. In addition, the government has identified 3 main, main strategies for promotion of youth employment and livelihood improvement. The key among them is the skills development as a central pillar in promoting youth employment by improving and building new technical and vocational training institutions. To sustain interventions in Tibet, the government created a Tibet Fund in 2025 to support skills and enterprise development. The government is also supporting the development and growth of MSMEs, as well as promoting investment as means for creating decent and sustainable jobs for the growing young population. Enterprise Development Fund for Women is created to support women businesses in addition to National Entrepreneurship Fund at the Ministry of Trade. However, challenges remain such as youth unemployment, informal employment, and ensuring decent work for all, requiring collaboration and partnership with development partners to address informality and equip the workforce, particularly the youth, with requisite skills and knowledge responsive to market needs. I thank you all.

I thank the representative of Gambia. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Malawi, to be followed by UNU.

Thank you, Chairperson. First of all, let me thank everybody for this important meeting that we have, and I wanted to agree fully with the panelist Rora Dasit on the statements that he made. That some of our small countries have been devastated by the climate change, cyclones, and also unsustainable levels of debt that has taken away the fiscal space for us to intervene in areas, especially on SDG 8, and that has made our milestone achievement of this particular important goal a little bit complicated. But as government, we are doing as much as we can in order to see what happens in the remaining 5 years on this particular SDG. One of the things that we're doing is, as Malawi is a pathfinder under the UN Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transition, but we have also developed a national job creation strategy to drive employment, especially among the youth. And we are also improving our access to capital and skills development, which is extremely important for the youth to get something to do. We are also working on developing labor market information systems, which should help us track progress on labor employment and specifically this particular SDG. Our takeaway for call for action from this meeting, Chairperson, is we want to strengthen partnership We also want to insist that the access to concessional financing and technology is very important for smaller countries like ours to achieve our goal. At the meantime, we'll be working towards creating a favorable work environment for our youth. I thank you, Chairperson.

I thank the representative of Malawi. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative United Nations University, to be followed by Ireland. UNU, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, we know decent work and employment are central to reducing poverty and inequalities and promoting inclusive, sustainable, country-led growth. We are on the heels of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development and moving to implementation of the Compromiso de Sevilla. It is important to connect the jobs agenda to mobilizing domestic revenues and fiscal space, recognizing the criticality of decent work in growing the tax base and increasing productivity. In part, more effort must be made to expand earnings and employment through supporting micro and small enterprises and supply chains, including through formalization, as most of the world's workers and enterprises remain in the informal economy where pay and working conditions can be meager. More attention should also be paid to generating demographic dividends by increasing the human capital and workforce participation of women and youth, as well as older people who want to remain in work.

This includes taking an age-based approach to AI, digital policies, and employment to ensure intergenerational opportunities are optimized.

The global gap between men and women in employment is 24% and tends to be even higher in parts of the Global South. In the Middle East and North Africa, for example, female labor force participation is under 25— 20%, while it's over 70% for men, with clear links to SDG 5, improving access to care, laws, education, and technology should be prioritized.

Among youth worldwide, some 20% are not in education, employment, or training and struggle to secure decent work or start a business due to inadequate job creation, skills mismatches, or lack of credit mobility, among other challenges.

An estimated 1.2 billion young people are set to enter the labor force in low- and middle-income economies over the next decade, and just 400 million jobs are due to be created. This math means policies must engage and ensure private sector viability and accelerate sectors strategically.

Countries can also see sizable economic gains from the so-called silver economy, the work and purchasing power of those over the age of 50.

This requires investments in health and longevity, SDG 3, along with reskilling, financial inclusion, and business operations support. Finally, let's remember—

I thank the representative of— I thank the representative of the UNU. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ireland, to be followed by Dominican Republic. Ireland, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Ireland aligns itself with the statement of the European Union and has the following to add in national capacity. Decent work and economic growth are at the core of sustainable development and the well-being of individuals. Ireland recognizes that social protection is critical to address income inequality and the persistent exclusion of the poorest from the benefits of economic growth. Investing in people goes hand in hand with increasing competitiveness, competitiveness, and reducing inequalities. Ireland's policy for international development, A Better World, commits to promoting inclusive economic growth and trade, to support initiatives that seek foster trade and investment as well as helping developing countries build their domestic and international trade capacity and infrastructure to ensure that they can access the economic benefits of expanded regional and global trade opportunities. The 2nd World Summit for Social Development is set to take place in November 2025, and renewing the Global Social Contract is key to rebuilding trust, social cohesion, and solidarity with ongoing challenges posed by demographic decarbonization and digital transitions. The need to align investments in education, vocational training, lifelong education and skills development so that workers' competencies respond to labor market opportunities and support fair, sustainable, and just transition of our economies. And the creation of green jobs must not be overlooked. In Ireland, Green Skills 2030, the first national further education and training strategy for the green transition, identifies the specific green skills needed by different sectors of the economy, vital for workers to be successful in transitioning to new green jobs. Ireland's National Employment Service Strategy Pathways to Work contains specific actions to improve employment outcomes for young people aged under 30 and to reduce the proportion of youth not in education, training, or employment. People and their jobs must always remain at the center, even as industries and economies change shape. We need to ensure a just transition for all, leaving no one behind. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Ireland. Now I Give the floor to the distinguished representative of Dominican Republic, to be followed by Coteva. Muchas gracias, señor presidente.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, the Dominican Republic reaffirms its commitment to the 2030 Agenda, especially SDG 8, over the past few years. Our country has seen historic statistics on the labor market. In 2025, there are more than 5.1 million people who are employed, with an employment rate of 62.8%, the highest level in our history. In 5.5 years, more than 500,000 jobs net were created in the formal economy. The unemployment rate dropped from 16% in 2019 to 11.8% in 2024, which means that we are below the average in our region. And we are one of the most advanced countries according to the ILO. We have improved our professional training with the establishment of a National Institute for Professional Training, as well as the implementation of various programs, including Dominican Republic Work. We've also strengthened social integration and professional integration. The informal economy has shrunk. Minimum wage has Increased by 20.6% thanks to our government's measures. As part of our responsible macroeconomic policy focused on decency of work, we reaffirm our conviction that growth can only be sustainable if it is translated into well-being and opportunities for our people. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Dominican Republic. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Côte d'Ivoire, to be followed by United Arab Emirates. Côte d'Ivoire, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, 5 years before the deadline we've set for achieving the SDGs, my delegation notes with concern that despite the efforts made in many areas, Progress when it comes to gender equality, economic growth, and decent work for all remains uneven and inadequate. Faced with these challenges, Côte d'Ivoire believes that collective actions must be taken for employment of young people and women in particular, as well as modernizing our workforce. My delegation notes that, led by His Excellency Mr. President of Côte d'Ivoire. The efforts of our government have produced robust and inclusive economic growth at about 6% on average between 2012 and 2024, despite external shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic and global geopolitical tensions. This performance was possible thanks to structural reforms to maintain macroeconomic stability as well as a sustained investment policy in infrastructure, agriculture, industry, and services. To promote employment and strengthen human capital, the government of Côte d'Ivoire has adopted several ambitious programs aiming to foster employment among youth and women. These include the Government Social Program, or PSGOV, allowing for the creation of more than 2 million jobs between 2019 and 2023. The Youth Employment Agency, which facilitates the insertion of more than 200,000 young people on the labor market since 2019. To improve working conditions and strengthen social protections, Côte d'Ivoire, since 2015 and up until now, has been amending its labor code with the support of the ILO to better regulate the rights of workers and to provide them with better social coverage, including in the informal sector. In closing, Côte d'Ivoire reaffirms its commitment to achieving SDG 8. Microphone's cut off for the speaker.

I thank the representative of Côte d'Ivoire. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of United Arab Emirates, to be followed by Ethiopia, Poland, and Brazil. United Arab Emirates, you have the floor now.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, it's an honor to join you today. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains one of the most ambitious and unifying frameworks of our time. It challenges us to rethink economic growth, not as an end in itself, but as, as a means to deliver lasting prosperity for both people and planet. It calls on nations to pursue inclusive, resilient, and sustainable pathways for the benefit of current and future generations. At the heart of this vision is SDG 8, a goal that recognizes the transformative power of economic opportunity, decent work for all, and inclusive growth as essential drivers of sustainable development. The United Arab Emirates is proud to be a committed partner to the 2030 Agenda. We have embedded the SDGs into our national vision, aligning our long-term strategies with a development model that is inclusive and future-oriented at its core. As a country driving a profound transition from a resource-based economy to one powered by knowledge, innovation, and diversification, we are investing strategically in future-enabling sectors, From clean energy and advanced manufacturing to artificial intelligence and the digital economy, these are not simply investments in industry or infrastructure, but in people, opportunity, and a more equitable future. Under the leadership of the UAE government, the Ministry of Investment is at the forefront of these efforts. Through forward-looking investment policies, enhanced transparency, and international partnerships, we continue to serve as a platform that catalyzes impactful and sustainable investment across borders. We are committed to building an economy that offers meaningful opportunity for all, and as we look ahead, the UAE remains ready to collaborate with all of you in shaping a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world.

Thank you.

I thank the representative of United Arab Emirates, and now I give the floor to the distinguished representative

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson, Excellencies, distinguished representatives. Ethiopia fully recognizes economic development is critical to reduce poverty and unemployment. Accordingly, Ethiopia continues to achieve robust economic performance with an average 7% GDP over the past 6 years while investing on human capital and job creation to achieve fully productive employment. Accordingly, job creation that targets on support to SMEs and MSMEs through innovative financing, skilling, and creating market linkages remains the key focus of the government. Further, Mauritania has launched the 5 Million Coders initiative, while the newly enacted Startups Proclamation introduced schemes including duty-free benefits and favorable government procurement terms to promote innovation and tap the potential of digital economy. Ethiopia also signed several bilateral labor agreements, put in place labor market information system, and established vocational schools to encourage regular labor migration. As a result, over the past year, 4.5 million jobs were created in Ethiopia, both locally and abroad. Ethiopia's social security programs extended to both public and private employees, while the government revised the labor code and domesticated all core ILO agreements to improve protection of labor rights. However, unemployment, underemployment, and the skill mismatch remains a challenge. Mr. Chair, to achieve SDG 8, Ethiopia will continue to prioritize expanding MSMEs' access to finance, upskilling the youth, attracting FDI, scaling up green jobs, while at the same time strengthening social protection and labor rights by reducing informality in the economy. To support national efforts, Ethiopia will call for global partnerships in strengthening concessional financing. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Ethiopia.

Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative

Dear Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Poland has made significant progress in implementing SDG 8, recording dynamic economic growth for years clearly exceeding the EU average. Infrastructure development, technological exports, and industrial modernizations have contributed to increased productivity and the competitiveness of the economy. Employment has also risen, especially among women and young adults. Labor market reforms have led to improved working conditions and better enforcement of labor rights. However, Poland recognizes the significant importance of the challenge ahead of us. In order to fully achieve SDG 8, we need to build stronger partnerships between governments, businesses, and the civil society to foster responsible business practices and ethical supply chains.

Digital technologies offer an enormous potential to address barriers to achieving SDG 8.

Poland is actively involved in making progress in that field through various dedicated programs. Procedures digitalization can significantly contribute to decent working conditions by facilitating monitoring of observed abuse and increase the efficiency of administrative proceedings. Poland actively promotes sustainable business practices to ensure synergy between governments and businesses in action to achieve the SDGs. Financial incentives and access to finance for private sector are crucial to ensure that the efforts made by these businesses will contribute to our common goals. Transformation of the SME sector sector is crucial and its potential should not be disregarded, as the environmentally and socially sustainable practices adopted by these companies are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda and its goals.

I thank the representative of Poland. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Brazil, who will be the last speaker in this session. All right, okay, so we already heard the last speaker. Thank you very much. Unfortunately, still due to the high interest in the topic of the discussions and time constraint, it was not possible to hear from all those, particularly from the UN agencies wishing to speak in these sessions. Now I will give the floor back to the moderator in order to hear very, very short reflection from the panelists as well as his own concluding remarks. Now, Mr. Lee, you have the floor now.

Thank you so much, Your Excellency. So we got the very strict instructions, so I'll give 30 seconds to each panelist on the final reflection. So let me start with Rola.

Thank you. What we have heard today confirms a fundamental truth. Decent work requires sustained political commitment and coordinated action that aligns economic priorities with social outcomes. Let me tell you that the regional commissions are also stepping up to this. At ESCWA, we are deploying AI-powered labor market information system to help governments align skills with future jobs. Also, our sister regional commissions are also stepping up. ECE is advancing lifelong learning systems and digital skills development. ECLAC is pioneering tools to detect and prevent child labor risks. ESCAP is empowering women entrepreneurs and designing gender-responsive SME policies. ECA is building pathways for girls to enter STEM careers and launch digital startups. All of us are trying to demonstrate that decent work is not only possible, it is within reach with the right tools, political will, and shared commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Rola. Now, Jason, you have 30 seconds.

Okay, thank you. Well, I'm struck by how much is going on in SDG 8, and if you'll forgive me, I describe climate breakdown, which I discussed earlier, as an opportunity to make advances on the decent work agenda. There's room for Advancing freedom of association, for living wages, which we've heard about, social protection, which we've heard about, even formalization of work, finance of decent work. So it's the— for me, it's the intersection of labor and climate that continues to present great opportunities. So thank you.

Jason, wonderful.

And Paul?

Yeah, so there can't be global GDP growth if we have runaway climate change, biodiversity loss, social inequalities across the world, and conflict. So I'd like to just reaffirm where the HLPF came from. We need partnerships across countries, stakeholder partnerships across countries with lots of resources, and to invest in all people everywhere as if they're their own children or from the children of your own country. Education and professional training and invest in the labour force and quality jobs everywhere is our only pathway to global GDP growth going forward. Thank you so much.

Thank you all, all the speakers and the delegates, for your rich and insightful contribution. I think today's discussion made one thing very clear: SDG 8 is not just another goal. It is the foundation of the SDG 2030 agenda. So this framework is where social justice meets economic resilience and inclusion and also gender equality. Yet the gap between the ambition and the reality is very wide, as many of you already said. So closing it requires political will across the labor and finance and planning ministries. It also means opening space for effective dialogue with the workers and unions and employers and the communities and civil society organisations. Also, we need financing. We need to see investment in decent jobs not as a cost but as a multiplier. And also, we must rethink the global financial architecture so that countries have the social fiscal space to act. Ultimately, it all points to the need for renewed global solidarity so that the promise of decent work for all becomes a reality. The Global Accelerator, as many of you mentioned, is a key step towards this, and we hope this momentum carries into the Second World Summit for Social Development. With that, thank you again. Let me now hand back to you, Your Excellency.

Thank you. Thank you. I once again thank the moderator, Mr. Lee, for expertly guiding these discussions. I also thank our distinguished panelists for their very excellent, comprehensive, and insightful presentation and remarks. And similarly, I thank all the participants Thank you, Excellencies. Thank you, Excellencies. I would like to thank all the participants for their substantive and valuable contributions. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, we have thus completed our program of work for this meeting. The Forum will reconvene this afternoon at 3 PM to continue with its program of work. The detailed information on the program is available On the HLPF website. The meeting is thus adjourned.