The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) officially known as a set of Global Goals that spreadheaded by the United Nations (UN). In September 2015 the UN members met at the United Nations and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the proposal to be as a final document. That final document contained 17 goals that covering a broad range of sustainable development issues. These goals included ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change and protecting nature resources.

Nowadays, the fact that as in many middle income countries, reducing inequality is an urgent issue for the government to tackle, which is strongly reflected the national development plans and focused in the economic and social policy planning of Indonesia.

The Indonesian Government played a significant role in developing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and was a leader among middle income countries in the negotiations that took place at the UN over the last few years. At the international level, Indonesia has also made very strong commitments to decent works and played a critical role in ensuring the issues above were included in the SDGs.

In the meantime, global economic conditions have deteriorated and this will make the achievement of the SDGs, and in particular Goal 8, more challenging in all countries. In Indonesia, the Government has recognised that the country is once again at a critical cross-road in its economic and social development. External factors including the economic slowdown in China, plummeting commodity prices and pronounced volatility in Asian financial markets has led to concerns about future growth and employment prospects.