17 Days, 17 Goals: Goal 8 - Economic Growth
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Promote sustained, inclusive economic growth, full employment, and decent work for all -
This post is part of our blog series: 17 Days, 17 Goals. The blog series features foundations working on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals leading up to the first anniversary of the SDGs. The Council on Foundations Sustainable Development Goals & Philanthropy initiative is in partnership with the United Nations Foundation and SDG Philanthropy Platform. Find us on social media with #PhilSDGs.
Why do we need Goal 8?
- Global unemployment increased from 170 million to nearly 202 million between 2007 and 2012
- Nearly 2.2 billion people live below the $2 USD poverty line
- By 2030, 470 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to the labor market
- Though unemployment in the US has rebounded to 4.9%, there is significant concern of underemployment and African and Hispanic Americans still find themselves with higher unemployment (8.4% and 5.4%, respectively)
What are some of the targets?
- Sustain per capita economic growth, at least 7% GDP growth per year in least developed countries
- Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training
- Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers
Featured: Incourage
A Community That Works Well for All People
For more than a century, Incourage’s service area of central Wisconsin had a bustling economy built on the paper industry. When the paper industry contracted in the late 1990s, the Fortune 500 company headquartered there sold, resulting in a loss of approximately 40% of jobs. Incourage knew it needed to react in an innovative, effective and courageous way. In the nearly two decades since the sale, Incourage has been working to shape a more inclusive, sustainable local economy in which all people have the opportunity to meet their full potential.
Incourage's Blueprints for Tomorrow program shares contemporary knowledge and builds skills within local institutions, offering an integrated curriculum with lessons in adaptive leadership, user centered process, impact investing, collaborative development, and sustainable economies over the course of 25 months. Through knowledge sharing, training, collaboration and innovation, Blueprints is ensuring each participating organization is prepared to support an entrepreneurial culture shaped by resident participation. In 2016, it won the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Secretary's Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships.
Incourage’s Workforce Central brings together philanthropy, employers, government, and educational and service providers with a goal that everyone in south Wood County who wants to work has ample opportunities to prepare for and secure a family-sustaining job and advance in a career over time. Working to "put the force back in workforce," Workforce Central has become a model for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions (NFWS). NFWS is a collaborative of funders working to build their respective communities by funding training for workers and investments in the workforces needed by their regional industries. Learn more about NFWS.
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