SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, PRIORITIES FOR TRADE UNIONS AND ENGINEERS
Reduce inequality, promote gender equality, secure decent work for economic growth, ending poverty: are key priority SDG’s for unions and Engineer's associations to pursue; as identified by the participants to the UNI Apro FES SAARC Sub-Regional Seminar held on 15-17 July in Kathmandu, Nepal,
Trade union activist and officials representing Professional and Managers of UNI affiliates, from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka together with Engineers from Nepal Engineers Association [NEA] participated in the seminar.
Round Table discussion on Engineers’ Empowering Communities for Sustainable Future was the key knowledge sharing session of the seminar; which was moderated by Jayasri Priyalal, Regional Director UNI Apro, Engineer Kishore Jha, Former General Secretary of Nepal Engineers Association, Dr. Rajen Meherotra, former President of Industrial Relations Institute of India, Dr. Manodha Gamage, Managing Director Intelligent Solutions Sri Lanka, and Pav Akhtar Global Director for UNI Professionals & Managers were the key speakers at the Round Table.
Annette Schlicht – Resident Representative, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Nepal graced the inauguration extended her greetings to the seminar, and introduced the FES, highlighting the need for Trade Unions to evolve new strategies to cope with the challenges of digitalization at work place.
International Core Labour standards, ILO’s decent work agenda, Occupational Health and Safety recommendations, UN Guiding Principles on Human and Business Rights, UN Sustainable Development Goals, 4th Industrial Revolutions in Era of Acceleration were the topics included in the seminar, Rajendra Acharya, UNI Apro Asst. Regional Secretary and Jayasri Priyalal UNI Apro Regional Director facilitated the seminar as resource persons.
Participants in their groups endorsed the multi-stake holder collaboration as a way forward for professionals to secure decent work and influence policy directives to spur growth towards sustainable development in the digitalization drove shared economy.
A National network meeting promoting equal opportunity for women professionals and managers preceded the sub-regional seminar addressing the issues, challenges in the shared economy driven by digitalization and Internet of Things.