HAPPENING AT THE UN

Two coffees. One is an expense of two euro if we are sitting at a table in the city center, irrelevant in the budget of a Western family. For half of the world population, on the other hand, it constitutes the earnings of a day's work and is a figure which is certainly not enough to escape poverty.

On the same planet there are those who can have breakfast at the bar regardless of how much they spend and those who must organize lunch and dinner with the same money. According to the United Nations, "a prolonged lack of decent job opportunities, insufficient investment and under-consumption lead to an erosion of the basic social contract at the foundation of democratic societies, in which we must all contribute to progress". It usually happens when everyone takes care of their own garden ignoring that of their neighbor, or worse still by removing the water from others which is basically the most common behavior adopted in recent centuries by those who could afford it. For this reason, Goal 8 of the UN 2030 agenda, which focuses on the right to work, is one of the main challenges of our times.

The creation of "quality" jobs should be the priority of the world economy, but so far growth and dignity have not gone hand in hand. It took strikes, demonstrations, protests and deaths to get a working schedule that didn't eat up the whole day. Other battles have been fought to ensure acceptable safety conditions, but from this point of view we are still far behind and there is a long way to go. It is about fostering sustainable growth by creating the conditions that allow people to have quality jobs, an indispensable prerequisite for a dignified life.

The data reveals that we have not yet reached this goal. Global unemployment is on the rise with over 2 billion people living on less than $ 2 a day and before 2030 we need to find 470 million jobs for those who will enter the labor market. Each country will have different parameters, of course, but it is important that development is widespread and proportional.

Global unemployment is on the rise and over 2 billion people live on less than $ 2 a day

For this reason, the first point of Objective 8 emphasizes the necessity to "support per capita economic growth in accordance with national conditions and in particular an annual growth of at least 7 percent of gross domestic product in developing countries". But there's more, we must also "progressively improve global efficiency in the consumption and production of resources and try to disconnect economic growth from environmental degradation".

Decent work for all and environmentally friendly growth are the challenges of our time

Protecting the environment is essential, but it is not enough because while we enjoy an espresso spending the entire pay of a twelve-year-old Indian who in the meantime is perhaps sewing the shoes with which we will go on vacation, there are still those who are subjected to forced labor. Slavery has been abolished but not eradicated, human trafficking still exists, child labor shows no sign of subsiding and to all of this is added the recruitment of child soldiers forced to fight wars that they cannot even understand. "Protecting the right to work and promoting a healthy and safe working environment for everyone, including immigrants, especially women and precarious workers" means a better life for everyone. It also means watching the European football championships without being tormented by the doubt that the ball kicked elegantly into the net was sewn by a Pakistani under-aged and underpaid by a multinational.

Development, security, dignity, the environment and solidarity are closely linked. On paper you have 'work' but in reality you have 'peace'.