Sustainable Development Goal 8
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Employed, productive populations fuel investment, sustainable economic growth, and inclusive progress. With more than 2.2 billion people living on less than US$2 per day, however, growth that eradicates poverty depends on providing decent jobs — equal opportunities for fair wages, safe working environments, and social protection.
UNU research provides guidance for countries to navigate the changing geo-economic landscape, while creating growth that lifts vulnerable populations through capacity building, job creation, and targeted social benefits. Our work in Africa, for example, is helping establish robust information systems to monitor and evaluate economic progress and its social impacts, thereby creating knowledge that gives planners the power to transform skewed development into opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.
FEATURED EXPERTS
Alice Eckstein
PROGRAMME MANAGER, UNU-CPR
"The eradication of forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour is essential to achieving SDG 8. My work supports the 193 states that have pledged their commitment to this goal with the best information on what works to end these forms of exploitation. This helps policy actors take effective measures to advance the 2030 Agenda."
Maureen Were
RESEARCH FELLOW, UNU-WIDER
"A stable economic environment and supportive economic policies are fundamental for sustainable development. My research focuses on the analysis of macroeconomic challenges such as inflation, debt, financial inclusion, and unemployment to find policy solutions towards promoting economic growth and sustainable development."
Kunal Sen
DIRECTOR, UNU-WIDER
"Providing full and productive employment and decent work for all is an important goal of the 2030 Agenda. Inclusive and sustainable growth that benefits all individuals is not possible without the attainment of this goal. My research helps identify the constraints and addresses the policy challenges around SDG 8."
FEATURED PROJECTS
The Changing Nature of Work and Inequality
Through in-depth examinations of 11 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as cross-country comparative studies, this project investigates the impact that new technologies and globalization have on workers' earnings, and how that, in turn, impacts earnings inequality.
Delta 8.7
Delta 8.7 is a global, online knowledge platform on effective measures to eradicate modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour in order to accelerate identification of what works to end modern slavery, aiming to facilitate global uptake of the resulting insights by policy-makers, business and other practitioners.
Inclusive Growth in Mozambique – Scaling Up Research and Capacity
Carried out with in-country and international partners, this collaborative project aims to support economic growth in Mozambique that substantially improves the living standards of the country’s population over the long term, to ensure no one is left behind.
