A/HRC/37/32 VI. Participation and accountability 57. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an agenda “of the people, by the people and for the people”, in which States committed to instituting a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.55 This pledge evokes a fundamental human rights norm, that of participation, which recognizes that stakeholders have a right to participate meaningfully in the development, implementation and monitoring of policies that affect them.56 58. The principle of participation has a distinct application for the collective dimension of the right to work, particularly the right to form and join trade unions. As noted by ILO, the right to organize and bargain collectively provides an essential foundation for social dialogue, effective labour market governance and the realization of decent work.57 Social dialogue includes all types of negotiation, consultation or exchange of information between or among representatives of Governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. 58 It should ensure the inclusion of representatives of groups that are underrepresented in formal work, such as women, migrants, older persons and persons with disabilities, and a number of prerequisites need to be fulfilled in order to support robust social dialogue mechanisms and processes. These include strong, independent representative workers’ and employers’ organizations with the necessary technical capacity and access to relevant information, respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, political will and commitment to engage in good faith in social dialogue on the part of all parties, and appropriate institutional support.59 Crucially, through social dialogue and collective bargaining, workers and their organizations improve their working conditions and wages and, in many instances, have successfully expanded the scope of collective bargaining to include questions of workers protection, such as safety and health at the workplace and social security schemes, workers’ education and training, and even the participation of workers in the management of enterprises.60 59. Social dialogue also allows for accountability and may be an important means for holding States accountable for delivering on their obligations with regard to the right to work. In the specific context of the Sustainable Development Goals, OHCHR has urged States to establish a participatory national follow-up and progress review process, which should be based on the relationship between Governments and the people. The country-led component for accountability should be built on existing national and local mechanisms and processes, with broad, multi-stakeholder participation, and should establish benchmarks, review the national policy framework, chart progress, analyse lessons learned, consider solutions and ensure that policies and programmes are on the right track for meeting the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. Finally, national reviews of progress in the implementation of the Goals should also integrate reports and recommendations of existing human rights review processes, as well as information from existing national mechanisms for oversight and review on matters relating to the Goals, including the parliament or other legitimate decision-making body, local government authorities and national human rights institutions.61 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 General Assembly resolution 70/1, para. 52. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 18 (2005) on the right to work, para. 42. ILO, Fundamental principles and rights at work: From challenges to opportunities, Geneva, 2017, para. 12. See ILO, Social dialogue: Finding a common voice, Geneva (undated). Ibid. Ibid. OHCHR, Integrating Human Rights into the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Follow-up and Review: Ensuring Accountability for the SDGs, available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/MDGs/Post2015/AccountabilityAndThePost2015Aagenda.pdf. 13