Tag: newsletter

Building Back Better: Towards achieving SDG 8

By Caritas Europa

All across Europe, work still fails to be ‘decent’. Minimum wages that are insufficient to meet basic needs trap many people in in-work poverty. We see increasing forms of non-standard employment that have little to no social protection coverage and a significant informal economy that exposes workers to exploitation. To raise awareness of this and other labour market inclusion challenges, one of SDG Watch Europe’s members, Caritas Europa, organised a webinar on 22 November to assess how the EU and its Member States can advance towards achieving SDG 8 (decent work) in the context of the COVID-19 recovery. 

The COVID-19 crisis has further worsened the labour market situation across Europe and has impacted the progress Member States had been making on achieving this Sustainable Development Goal. It is now more important than ever for the EU and its Member States to refocus on guaranteeing decent work for all.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions and an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General António Guterres, pointed out during his intervention that due to the transitions in digitalisation and automation, many people need training and retraining. This capacity-building would enable people to maintain formal employment to meet their and their families needs. Mirzha de Manuel, member of Executive Vice President Dombrovskis’ cabinet, emphasised that COVID-19 has also offered us an opportunity to address the challenges in our current economic model, highlighting many of the recent and upcoming Commission initiatives to tackle the existing challenges. As Professor Sachs rightly stated, strengthening and enforcing Europe’s social model and the European Social Charter will be an important foundation to build on.  

But the starting point, as Cardinal Turkson noted in his intervention, is that policymakers, employers, and each of us need to recognise the importance of human dignity and to centre our economy on the value and worth of all human beings. Jobs should promote the dignity of the human person, not their exploitation. All future initiatives and policies at the EU and national levels should be centred on this understanding, contribute to implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights, and aim to fulfil all SDGs holistically and coherently. 

The Forus Barefoot Guide: How do we practice collaboration in these times?

By Forus International

Collaboration is vital for transformative social change. But how do we practice collaboration in these times? That is the question driving Future Convergence: the Forus Barefoot Guide. The Guide and the campaign value our human history as a complex and intricate story of committed social change actors. We believe that civil society organisations have a unique and historic role in re-orienting people to work together, reducing polarisation and nurturing our shared humanity. But we also need to challenge ourselves, turning towards each other to mobilise and multiply our collective power. 

In the Forus Barefoot Guide, we explore real experiences, innovative practices, ways of collaborating and leadership forms that offer hope for a way forward. This practical resource is intended for individuals and organisations who want to improve their learning processes and social change practices. Written by thirty-one civil society leaders and practitioners from twenty countries worldwide, it reunites practices and experiences that bring diverse people and organisations together towards a vision of a more equitable, inclusive, humane, and sustainable planet. 

Each chapter focuses on a different topic, ranging from our understanding of “power”, our engagement with governments and the private sector, and civil society’s capacity to adapting in the face of the globalisation of social issues to collective leadership, relationships with donors, synergies with social movements, and the process of continual, horizontal learning.

Around the Guide, we have developed a multimedia and multilingual campaign with surveys to collected positive practices of collaboration from around the globe, podcast episodes and Conversation Starters – a series of videos focusing on topics from each chapter of the Guide that allows for interaction. 

Want to share your experience? Read the Forus Barefoot Guide here and join the campaign! The Guide is available in English, French and Spanish.

A big thank you to all the writers and Forus members, Doug Reeler, Nomvula Dlamini and Rubert Van Blerk from the Barefoot Guide Connection and Tamarind Tree Associates, South Africa, and Marcela Terán from Liberation Works for developing the Guide and campaign with us.