World Day of Social Justice

Posted on February 20, 2022

Imagine living in a world where people go to sleep hungry every day, where children never have a chance of going to school, where your voice never changes anything. Now, look around. You don’t need to imagine; the realities are all around us. Social justice, a view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities, continues to be out of reach for millions of people across the world. The basic human rights and fundamental freedoms as set out in the Declaration of Human Rights should be ensured for everyone, however, people continue to be discriminated against based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, place of birth. In recognition of the commitment made by governments to promote social justice, the United Nations set out on the 20th of February to observe World Day of Social Justice.

This year’s theme for World Day of Social Justice is ‘Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment’. Informal employment can be understood as employment in either the formal or informal sector that isn’t covered by national labour legislation, social protection or entitlements, such as domestic workers and informal traders. Currently, more than 60 per cent of the world’s working population work in the informal sector, and the majority of these workers do not have any form of social protection or work-related benefits such as healthcare services or pensions. Most of the workers in the informal sector take on this type of labour out of necessity and have limited economic opportunities to graduate out of poverty. The result is that many of these workers and their families remain vulnerable to shocks such as natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic did not only lead to significant loss of lives, but it also had a huge impact on livelihoods. Lockdowns and economic downfalls meant that many people, specifically informal workers, lost their jobs and recovery has remained uneven.

One sector that is dominated by informal employment is agriculture. It was estimated that in 2016, 94 per cent of workers in agriculture are in informal employment across the globe. In Africa, this proportion is even worse, with 98 per cent of agricultural workers in informal employment, usually as farm labourers. The majority of these informal labourers are women, who routinely work for lower wages, in unsafe conditions and at the risk of violence or sexual harassment. Migrant labourers face similar challenges and, due to a lack of social protection, suffer from human rights violations. Small-scall and subsistent farmers also fall under the category of informal employment, and while they may not be at risk of human rights violations, their growth is limited by a lack of policies and support. As such, they remain in poverty, and as Ousmane Badiane, Director for Africa at the IFPRI argues that “informality creates jobs and wealth, but at a rate that is not sufficient to overcome poverty.”

In order to reach social justice, and achieve Agenda 2030, it is essential that leaders and policymakers address the injustices suffered by those in the informal sector and promote the transition towards formal employment. The International Labour Organisation outlines multiple pathways in which the transition to formal employment can be supported by governments including the introduction of incentives for formal employment, improving labour standards that provide guidance for policy development, and ensuring the preservation and expansion of the formal economy. Additionally, governments need to adopt integrated policy frameworks that ensure the promotion and realisation of basic human rights in the workplace, including promoting equality, eliminating discrimination and violence, and ensuring access to education and skills development. Governments also need to expand social protection and social security to people working in informal employment.

As part of the process of formalization, there is a significant need to better understand the drivers and characteristics of the informal market, and monitor progress made. The process will not happen overnight, and formalising the informal market alone will not achieve a “just society for all”, but it is one way in which the world can get closer to realising equitable and equal opportunities for all. 

- Author Andrea du Toit

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