According to the ILO study, while sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions are really needed, they must be specific.
This requires global understanding to guarantee that no one is left behind in the pursuit of decent work and social justice on the road to the 2030 Agenda.
One of current challenges is in-work poverty worldwide, which despite its decline, regional disparities continued to persist in 2023.
While in some regions the rates of working poor persisted in the Arab states, Africa continues to have the highest proportion of working poor in the world.
Africa continues to have the highest proportion of working poor, at 29%. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, some 145 million people live in extreme working poverty.
Against this backdrop, ILO forecasts that working poverty and informal employment will persist, both of which are deeply intertwined. Hence, the achievement of the 2030 Agenda is seen as a distant future, especially in those regions lacking fiscal capacity to cope with economic tensions.
With regard to the decline in gender parity in managerial positions, ILO warned that in view of recent setbacks, it would be some 176 years before parity in this type of position is being achieved.
The Arab States and parts of Asia are the regions with the greatest difficulties as a result of discrimination, restrictive laws and inadequate social protections for women.
The stagnation of global productivity is another major challenge, the ILO notes, facing a worrying slowdown, an indicator of potential risks to economic well-being and development, as it is recognized as a key driver of living standards, its importance to people’s quality of life.
However, ILO urges caution when extrapolating productivity growth rates, given their inherent volatility, as well as the uncertainty associated with the estimates.
Meanwhile, informal employment persists, despite initial signs of recovery in 2021 following the pandemic-induced disruption.
Globally, over two billion workers were in the informal economy in 2023, 58% of the global workforce, an indicator that would only register a slight decline to 57.8% in 2024.
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