World Day Of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20. The purpose of this day is to recognise in letter and spirit that even though the world is moving ahead through cooperation and innovation, social inequality still persists.
It refers to equal opportunities, distribution of wealth, healthcare facilities and privileges within a society.
Social justice also includes human rights and looking after people who have historically faced discrimination based on race, religion, sex and economic background.
Saturday is #SocialJusticeDay.
The #GlobalGoals are a universal call for social justice that seek to address poverty & inequality to leave no one behind. https://t.co/FxRibAf5yN pic.twitter.com/GmiCnvoo98
— United Nations (@UN) February 20, 2021
Theme: “A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy”
The digital economy is transforming the world of work. Over the past decade, expansion in broadband connectivity, cloud computing, and data have led to the proliferation of digital platforms, which have penetrated several sectors of the economy and societies.
Though this provides many opportunities and has helped in ‘work from home’ facilities amid the pandemic, it has also “laid bare and exacerbated the growing digital divide within” in developed and developing countries, according to the United Nations.
Social justice in a digital economy has become a necessity as traditional workforces have started suffering.
Background: On 26 November 2007, the General Assembly declared that, starting from the sixty-third session of the General Assembly, 20 February will be celebrated annually as the World Day of Social Justice.
Few facts about the World Day of Social Justice, according to the UN.
- Employment growth since 2008 has averaged only 0.1% annually, compared with 0.9% between 2000 and 2007.
- Over 60 per cent of all workers lack any kind of employment contract.
- Fewer than 45 per cent of wage and salaried workers are employed on a full-time, permanent basis, and even that share is declining.
- By 2019, more than 212 million people were out of work, up from 201 million in previous years.
- 600 million new jobs need to be created by 2030, just to keep pace with the growth of the working-age population.