SDG #8 is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

Within SDG #8 are 12 targets, of which we here focus on Target 8.8:

Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

Target 8.8 has two indicators:

• Indicator 8.8.1: Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status

• Indicator 8.8.2: Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status

This target gets us a little closer to understanding what SDG #8 means by “decent work.” We can measure decent work, like we can with all topics covered in the SDG targets and indicators. We need work to be decent to achieve the other Goals relating to poverty reduction and to fulfil the equality aspirations of the SDGs. For all work to be safe and secure helps to further this aim.

In an earlier instalment in this series, we explored two treaties which put the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into effect. Article 22 of one of these, the ICCPR, enshrines freedom of association into international law by its parties: 

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.”

Some of the International Labour Organization conventions which guide international labour law include:

• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention of 1948

• 00:12 100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C105">Abolition of Forced Labour Convention of 1957

• Protection of Wages Convention of 1949

• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention of 1949

• Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951

• Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention of 1958

• Migration for Employment Convention of 1949

• Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention of 1975

• Domestic Workers Convention of 2011

Relevant human rights instruments adopted by the UN General Assembly include:

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

Also relevant are two protocols supplementing a UN convention against Transnational Organized Crime:

• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children of 2000

• Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air

Many of the countries which may have been at highest risk of fatal occupational injuries don’t have data as of 2021. Though among those who do, the highest is Egypt, with 10 per 100,000 workers. For non-fatal occupational injuries, the highest is Costa Rica, with 9421 per 100,000 workers.

When measuring level of national compliance with labour rights, the world has scored 4.5 out of 0-10 measure, with 0 being the best. The worst performers as of 2021 were Iran and UAE with a score of 10, followed by China, scoring 9.