GENEVA (ILO News) – ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, will take part in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-level Week 2023  in New York.

Illustrative image (ILO)

The 78th UNGA session marks the crucial midway point for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  and the accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals. During the UNGA High-level week, which takes place September 18 to 26, several key events will be held to galvanize progress on the SDGs.

On SDG Acceleration Day, Sunday 17 September, the ILO will co-host an event on the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions . Several governments are expected to present national implementation roadmaps, as well as announce financial pledges to support programme implementation. The Accelerator is designed to support countries in creating 400 million decent jobs, including in the green, digital and care economies, and to extend social protection coverage to 4 billion people currently excluded. The ILO event is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Weekend, during which 12 High-Impact Initiatives designed to accelerate progress on the SDGs are being spotlighted.

The SDG Summit, formally known as the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), will be held 18-19 September. On the first day, Houngbo will address world leaders on the need to strengthen public institutions and more effectively integrate policies to achieve the SDGs .

Later the same day, he will attend a High-Level Pledging Event to mark International Equal Pay Day 2023 . The event, “Standing up for equal pay – celebrating achievements and understanding challenges”, aims to give countries an opportunity to make new equal pay pledges. It is organized by the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), which is led by the ILO, UN Women, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The Director-General will launch a global ILO communications campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need to reduce inequalities in the world of work. The launch will take place at the Global Citizen Festival, on 23 September, and Houngbo will use the concert stage to call for more action to reduce inequalities and support social justice.

The ILO will also participate in several other high-level meetings during the week. These include a ministerial-level meeting of the Group of Friends of Decent Work for Sustainable Development, preparatory meetings for the Summit of the Future, scheduled to be held in September 2024, and a number of bilateral meetings aimed at promoting national and international cooperation to promote decent work and social justice.