A/HRC/41/44/Add.1 Government’s commitment to strengthening a human rights-based approach to international solidarity in its foreign policy. These positions hold a specific advocacy role at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels to advance certain areas of priority of the State’s foreign policy as part of its international solidarity approach. In 2017, the Government reestablished the position of Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law to stress the importance it accords to human rights in its foreign policy. Sweden was one of the first countries worldwide to create such a position. The Ambassador-at-Large shares the approach and vision of Sweden in the protection and promotion of human rights and engages with other States and in different forums to advocate for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, which are considered to be interdependent under the mandate. B. Foreign policy and international solidarity-related areas Global Deal initiative 19. Sweden launched the Global Deal in 2016, in partnership with ILO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is a global partnership and the first social dialogue initiative to promote good relations in the labour market with the aim to ensure that everyone can benefit from globalization. Partners of the initiative have a common goal to achieve decent work and steadily improve job quality with the aim of contributing to inclusive growth and shared prosperity. 10 According to information received from the Government, at the time of the visit of the Independent Expert, 87 actors had joined the initiative, including 19 countries and several companies, trade unions and other organizations. 11 To ensure the continuity of the initiative, the Government of Sweden decided to appoint an ambassador-at-large on the issue in order to promote the initiative and coordinate with partners, in close cooperation with ILO and OECD. 20. The Independent Expert was pleased to learn that the Government conceived and created the Global Deal in order to be in line with Goal 17 of the 2030 Agenda, which requires States to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. The initiative also aims at providing concrete input to realize Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth, 12 but it also has the potential to contribute directly to several other Goals, including Goal 1 (no poverty), Goal 3 (good health and well-being), Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 10 (reduced inequalities). 13 The leadership, ambitions and efforts of Sweden in the creation of this multi-stakeholder partnership show the State’s determination to find and exchange concrete solutions to reduce the inequalities in the global labour market generated by globalization. The commitment demonstrated by Sweden through the Global Deal reflects a model attitude, practice and partnership to advance human rights-based international solidarity. Corporate social responsibility 21. Despite the significant limitations of corporate social responsibility as a tool to achieve human rights-based international solidarity, Sweden has long been viewed as a pioneer in this field. As at April 2018, Sweden ranked number 2 out of 65 countries in the RobecoSAM Country Sustainability Ranking, based on 17 environmental, social and governance indicators,14 after topping the ranking in 2013.15 The Independent Expert was 10 11 12 13 14 6 See Global Deal, “Declaration of Support – A Global Deal: Enhanced Social Dialogue for Decent Work and Inclusive Growth”, available at http://www.theglobaldeal.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2017/02/Global-Deal-declaration.pdf. List of partners available at www.theglobaldeal.com/partners/. Global Deal Newsletter, No. 1, September 2017, p. 1, available at http://globaldeal.azurewebsites.net/ wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Deal-newsletter-No-1-September-2017.pdf. ILO, OECD and the Global Deal, Building Trust in A Changing World of Work: The Global Deal for Decent Work and Inclusive Growth Flagship Report 2018 (18 May 2018), p. 88. See www.robecosam.com/en/key-strengths/country-sustainability-ranking.html.