During September 25 and 26, 2015, world leaders will meet at a special summit of the United Nations (New York) to adopt the 2030 Agenda , which constitutes the roadmap to build more egalitarian, inclusive societies and in harmony with the environment. The new Agenda, which is made up of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), has been considered by the UN Secretary General as the "most inclusive the world has ever seen."
In this new development framework, decent and quality employment plays a fundamental role in achieving a sustainable world: SDG 8 calls for the promotion of decent employment and includes the goal of eradicating all forms of child labor by 2025 (target 8.7).
Sustainability is the key: to achieve a sustainable world, it is essential to generate sustainable employment and sustainable economic growth. This will only be possible if we remove girls and boys from child labor, guaranteeing the full fulfillment of their rights and assuring them an education that allows them to develop all the necessary skills to get decent jobs.

Eliminate child labor: catalytic commitment to the SDGs

The SDGs are closely linked objectives that require action from different fronts for their effective and sustainable achievement. According to the ILO, eliminating child labor is a transversal goal in the development of the regions and the world in general, since it will generate multiplier effects in other objectives established by the Agenda:

• End of poverty (SDG 1).

• Quality education (SDG 4).

• Gender equality (SDG 5).

• Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8).

• Reduction of inequalities (SDG 10).

• Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16).

Child labor is a fundamental part of the equation: the achievement of these objectives involves at least 12 different goals that can be directly affected by its elimination. Therefore, if we want to achieve compliance with the SDGs, we must end child labor.

Latin America and the Caribbean ahead of target 8.7

The Regional Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor is an alliance of the countries of the region that has emerged with the objective of definitively ending child labor. This commitment is led by 25 Ministries of Labor in the region, who have managed to prioritize the eradication of child labor on the regional agenda, understanding that the sustainable development of the region will only be possible if this reality is ended.
Target 8.7 is ambitious but feasible: according to the ILO 1 , most Latin American and Caribbean countries need to allocate 0.3% of their GDP in the next 10 years to end this reality by 2025.
Together with workers 'and employers' organizations in the region, the member countries of the Regional Initiative have managed to translate their political and institutional commitment into different cooperation actions. However, it is necessary to intensify the reduction of child labor in order to reach 2025 without child labor, and for this it is necessary to invest more resources.
The new Sustainable Development Agenda calls for intensifying collective action to achieve a more inclusive and equal world, and eliminating child labor is an essential goal to achieve this.