The Global Coalition is committed to advancing social justice and decent work
Our mission
Foster multilateral cooperation and partnerships, accelerating progress towards the achievement of the SDGs. The Coalition serves as a platform to generate political commitments, investments and concrete actions that support social justice in alignment with national priorities.
Why a Coalition?
Our world faces challenges to social justice, stemming from overlapping crises and long-term structural economic transformations. Rising rates of extreme poverty, working poverty, child labour, youth unemployment, and informal work underscore the urgency of addressing inequalities and ensuring decent work globally.
How it works
The Coalition intervenes by enhancing advocacy, promoting policy coherence, and generating knowledge. Through cooperation and partnerships, we mobilize resources to address critical issues and evolve our activities over time to best serve the interlinked causes of social justice and decent work.
I see such a Coalition as a crucial force to help advance the Sustainable Development Goals and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. At its heart, this effort is about rebuilding the social contract through people-centred policies grounded and guided by social justice.
Governance arrangements
Forum
Coalition partners convene annually, either remotely or in person, to discuss thematic issues, share best practices, and facilitate knowledge exchange.
Coordinating Group
Comprising committed partners, this group meets twice a year to guide the strategic agenda, facilitate communication, engage external stakeholders, and mobilize resources effectively.
Secretariat
Hosted by the ILO, the secretariat supports key events, including Coordinating Group and Forum meetings, and maintains a repository of good practices through a web-based portal.
Thematic priorities
The Coalition’s thematic development will be built on the common priorities and opportunities jointly identified by its partners.
While the specific details of the Coalitions activities will evolve through engagement with diverse institutions and actors, the ILO has identified key areas of immediate action and a strong focus on outcomes. Areas of immediate action are:
- Addressing inequality, discrimination and exclusion.
- Realizing labour rights as human rights, ensuring human dignity and meeting basic needs.
- Expanding access to and capabilities for productive and freely chosen employment and sustainable enterprises.
- Providing protection and building resilience.
- Strengthening just transitions and the social dimension of sustainable development, trade and investment.
- Reinforcing institutions of social dialogue.
In its own work the ILO will target a number of initial priorities for advancing the Coalition’s early thematic development based on the concrete feedback it received from the tripartite constituents and partners. These are: Employment creation and universal social protection, Reduction of inequalities, Elevation of social justice and decent work in the priorities of other multilateral organizations and Promoting social dialogue.
Origins
The creation of the Coalition has been welcomed by a large number of Heads of State and Government, ministers and other global leaders, including the UN Secretary General.
The Global Coalition for Social Justice is an initiative of the ILO Director-General Houngbo, and has been shaped and developed in close consultation with ILO tripartite constituents, and endorsed by the ILO Governing Body in November 2023. The creation of the Coalition has been welcomed by a large number of Heads of State and Government, ministers and other global leaders, including the UN Secretary General.
The Coalitions scope of work is anchored in the ILO key foundational texts over e period of century that underscore the transformative power of social justice in fostering cohesive and productive societies, reducing poverty, hunger, inequalities and social tensions.
Partners
Participation in the Coalition is voluntary and open to a wide array of partners, including governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, international institutions, enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions.
Partnerships aim to increase visibility, amplify impact, and contribute to the achievement of various SDGs, emphasizing goals related to poverty eradication, gender equality, decent work, reduced inequality, and peace and justice.
The Global Coalition for Social Justice invites partners from all sectors to join this transformative journey. By becoming a partner, you commit to advocating for social justice, upholding UN and ILO principles, and actively contributing to advancing social justice globally. Together, we can leverage our collective strengths to make a meaningful impact, promote policy coherence, and foster a world where social justice is a cornerstone of renewed multilateralism.
Join us in building a future where freedom, dignity, and equal opportunity are accessible to all.