Gilbert Houngbo advocates a new era of social justice and talks about the Global Coalition for Social Justice and the challenges currently faced by the initiative-which seeks to reduce inequalities and fulfill the UN's 2030 Agenda. In an exclusive interview to G20 Brasil, Houngbo also addresses uberization, ecological transition, and the impact of AI on the world of labor.
With the urgent need for measures to ensure fair working hours and decent income-and to reduce socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial inequalities as well as inequalities between men and women-the Global Coalition for Social Justice was created to promote compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. The Coalition strives to ensure a better world without leaving anyone behind by 2030. Fifteen G20 member countries have already signed up as members of the Coalition, co-chaired by Brasil this year and the next.
Led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the initiative aims to promote joint work by civil society organizations, governments, the private sector, and academia to leverage social justice worldwide. Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of the UN agency, speaks in an exclusive interview about the efforts that have been made to ensure the success of the Coalition, and the adoption of a new social contract so that the world can address inequalities, taking into account the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Houngbo highlighted the progress made in reducing global rates of hunger and poverty and increasing life expectancy compared to the mid-20th century-but also attacked the inequalities that still persist. He reiterated the urgency of transforming labor relations to ensure decent conditions and decent wages. He also presents paths to overcome the challenges of uberization, ecological transition and the expansion of artificial intelligence in the world of work.
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A living wage is good for business
When it comes to social justice, the views between employers and workers are not necessarily far apart. A few months ago at the ILO, the government, employers, and civil society agreed on the principle and methodology for defining the concept of a living wage, for example, which is part of what we are fighting for in terms of social justice. Employers know that better social justice is also good for business. I am very positive about this and the work we are doing. It is not always easy, but we are very pleased with the level of global cooperation.
The urgency of a new social contract
What one could argue is that there has never been a universally accepted definition of a social contract: let us be pragmatic and honest. To me, the existing, or old-fashioned, social contract is the regulation of our daily lives, not necessarily at the global level, but at the national or community level. Altogether, 5% of the world's population captures between 70% and 75% of the world's assets. We live in a world where four billion people, half of the population, have zero protection. More than 730 million people go to bed without a guaranteed meal per day. Is this how we want to continue?
When we compare the current situation with that of 1945, after the Second World War, it is clear that things have improved. Poverty has been reduced. In the case of Brasil, China, and many countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia, we have made progress. Life expectancy has improved. But we also know that we are struggling to achieve the SDGs by 2030. What we are saying is that the existing social contract has to be revised and renewed. If you take the experience that we have all had during COVID-19, for example, there are so many lessons we can learn if we, as global citizens, want to move in the right direction. I do not expect inequalities to be eliminated, but we need to keep them to a minimum.
What we are saying is that the existing social contract has to be revised and renewed. If you take the experience that we have all had during COVID-19, for example, there are so many lessons we can learn if we, as global citizens, want to move in the right direction. I do not expect inequalities to be eliminated, but we need to keep them to a minimum.
Reducing social and economic inequalities
We believe that the starting point is a very clear political commitment. So many dimensions that intersect: race, gender, the different groups that can be discriminated against, including the LGBTQI community, indigenous peoples, people living with disabilities, for example. We know that there is still a gap of approximately 20-23% in pay between men and women for work of equal value, and the policy has to change. So all of this, I believe, is the political commitment, creating incentives for the private sector to follow suit and also providing or creating a few specific provisions that workers can use to balance family and career.
Ecological transition and creation of formal jobs
We believe that it is possible to combine the two. The transition of justice is important for all of us, to keep in mind that we need to move as quickly as possible to comply with the Paris agreement. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that you do not want to do this at the expense of people's jobs. And I am very happy that the Brazilian G20 presidency insists on this as one of the focal themes-which is the development of skills so that we can help our workers to make the transition from the current economy to a greener, much more technological or intelligent economy driven by artificial intelligence. It is a question of balance. Balancing fundamental needs, the shift is very necessary towards a green economy, but at the same time making sure that you need to focus on maintaining jobs, and decent jobs, for the citizens.
AI has an impact on workers' rights
First of all, I would like to say that maybe this is a bit controversial. I do not think we should see artificial intelligence in a negative way, it is not an obstacle. On the contrary, technology and artificial intelligence are here to stay, they will stay and they will reshape our daily lives. It is a question of adapting and making sure that it is made for human beings. We know that many jobs will be and are already being lost because of artificial intelligence. And we also know that many, many millions of new jobs will be created. In the short, medium term, the delta will remain positive.
The challenge is that job losses and the number of new jobs created can become negative. Connected to this is the transformation of existing jobs, which makes the equation positive. We need to reskill ourselves so that we can be more comfortable and on top of this need for transformation. It is important for us to think about the global governance of AI. How we define it will help address the question of the risk of impact on labor rights. It is important to ensure that there is a minimum level of protection provided to workers. This is why we need to step up our efforts, including public and private sector investment, to upskill these people.
