Key components of a “people-centred development agenda”

During a meeting of a UN working group seeking to draw up sustainable development goals for the international community, developing countries highlighted the need for structural economic transformation to create productive employment and decent work. Ranja Sengupta reports.

NEW YORK: The developing-country Group of 77 and China has called for a “structural transformation of economies of developing countries, especially African economies, through industrialization that induces value addition and economic diversification” to generate employment and decent work for all.

This call was made at the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The three-day meeting (17-19 June) at the UN headquarters in New York addressed two themes: the first was employment and decent work for all, social protection, youth, education and culture, while the second was health and population dynamics.

There was a clear articulation of the need for full and broad-based employment as well as decent work all around the world. The need for social protection emerged as a major area of concern while the voice of the youth resonated round the room with a powerful intervention by a youth representative. The crucial importance of education, especially quality education, and respecting the diversity of culture as essential ingredients of sustainable development, also came across very strongly.

Discussions over the past three sessions of the OWG had dwelt upon conceptual issues, poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, desertification, land degradation and drought, and water and sanitation.

Formulation of the SDGs is one of the major agreed actions from the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The Co-Chairs of the OWG are Ambassadors Macharia Kamau of Kenya and Csaba Korosi of Hungary.

Transformative agenda

Speaking on behalf of the G77 and China at the opening of the fourth session, Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji said that “the common desire for a transformative global development agenda beyond 2015 can best be achieved through collective efforts and an enhanced global partnership that places development and the wellbeing of people at its core. The post-2015 development agenda, including the SDGs, has the potential to be a turning point for achieving this aspirational transformative change if the international community and national governments seriously commit to an agenda for meaningful transformation on structural, institutional and normative levels. The subjects of discussion over the next three days are essential components of a people-centred development agenda.”

For such transformation, Ambassador Thomson said that “industrialization is a powerful tool to generate inclusive and sustained economic growth, create productive employment and decent work and lift millions of people out of poverty”.

He added that it will help developing countries, especially African countries, to address the issues of unemployment as well as employment quality, including underemployment, informality, vulnerability and working poverty.

The G77 and China stressed that “the employment-generating capacity of growth strategies is essential for achieving sustainable, sustained, and inclusive economic growth, which when fairly distributed, can bring millions of people out of poverty worldwide.”

According to the Group’s statement, “despite a decline in the number of the working poor, namely those employed but living below the $2 a day poverty line, the majority of workers in the developing world remain in informal and vulnerable jobs. This implies irregular incomes and little or no social protection for these workers. In turn, such workers are increasingly becoming more vulnerable and less resilient to cope with social, economic and environmental risks and shocks. It is imperative therefore that developing countries, with the support of the international community and developed partners, build new and more inclusive development pathways with the aim to provide equal employment opportunities to all people in the economy, including the adoption of objective action-oriented affirmative programmes to assist the poor and the marginalized.”

The G77 and China statement also highlighted the issue of migrant workers and the need to integrate them and their families into society: “The international community should give its due consideration to the linkages between migration and development in the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014, and in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda.”

Ambassador Thomson drew attention to the “urgent need to improve market access to rural farmers to mitigate the flow of rural-urban migration. In this respect, more equitable access would imply limiting agricultural subsidies by governments in the developed countries that create an imbalanced trading system favouring developed countries. Agricultural policies need to be aligned with country priorities and global realities and take into account marginalized groups, such as smallholder farmers.”

He said that employment objectives need to become central to global actions and mechanisms. “These objectives need the support of international cooperation that supports developing countries through: (1) actions at the level of international economic, financial, trade, technology and social systems, to support and enable developing countries’ efforts; and (2) refrain from actions by developed countries that create barriers to developing countries’ efforts and progress.”

Social protection

On social protection, the G77 and China underscored the impact on reducing inequality while boosting productive employment.

The Group especially emphasized the need for social protection and social inclusion for various vulnerable groups such as women, adolescents, the elderly, the disabled, migrants and people living with HIV/AIDS.

In this context, the Group made a strong statement against the austerity measures imposed by the global consensus which necessitate budget cuts especially on social expenditure, particularly targeting social safety nets, including old-age pension.

“These adjustment measures run the high risk of excluding a large segment of vulnerable households at a time when governments should be considering supporting a social protection for all, scaling up rather than scaling down social protection systems. It is imperative that governments focus on expanding social protection  coverage  rather  than improving the targeting of existing programmes,” Ambassador Thomson said.

Recognizing youth as an emerging group that needs special attention, the G77 and China pointed out that youth unemployment threatens the skill sets and productive capacities of entire generations in several developing countries and sustained bouts of youth unemployment lead to higher rates of migration, loss of national capacities and resources, as well as leading to other social problems including aggravating national insecurity and violence.

“A global strategy on youth and employment needs to be conceptualized within the broader objective of full employment and decent work, and should address the quality and geographic distribution of employment,” Ambassador Thomson said.

The Group highlighted culture as an integral part that permeates the three dimensions (economic, social and environmental) of sustainable development. Culture also acts as both an “enabler” and “driver” of sustainable development.

“Development approaches should be adapted to local contexts and should therefore rely on the cultural resource while respecting cultural rights. Culture also drives development within a number of cultural sectors including the creative industries, cultural tourism and heritage, both tangible and intangible,” according to the statement.

Underscoring the importance of a good education, the G77 and China emphasized quality as opposed to quantity.

The statement pointed out that “when developing SDGs, more attention needs to be placed on relevant and measurable learning outcomes. For example, we must ensure that not only a greater amount of children are educated, but also that the education these children receive is of high quality delivered by adequately qualified teachers – in the most rural areas as well as areas affected by conflict and disasters”.

As before, the Group highlighted the need for special attention to be given to “traditionally vulnerable groups, who are girls, working children, rural and indigenous children, those with disabilities, children living with HIV/AIDS, children in conflict, migrants, orphans and linguistic and cultural minorities”.

“Inequalities need to be addressed through a case-by-case approach, rather than a one-size-fits-all target for countries,” it was stressed.

Changing health concerns

On the issue of health, the G77 and China was of the view that “health permeates all areas of sustainable development. It is closely related to the social, environmental, economic, cultural and political spheres”.

The Group said that because of changing demographics and population dynamics, it is time to call for “innovative, cross-cutting goals that reflect the changing health concerns facing men, women and children. Dense urban areas call for greater synergy between different sectors to address the failures of providing infrastructure and basic services to one-third of the world’s urban population that live in informal settlements.”

Ambassador Thomson specifically highlighted the issue of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and heart and respiratory diseases, which accounted for 34.5 million deaths in 2010, of which 80% were in low- and middle-income countries. According to the Group’s statement, this figure is expected to double within the next 20 years.

“This development trend is unacceptable and policies must be proactive and include access to health information and services, information on consumption and lifestyle and how to prevent health risks. Not only will this reduce health provision costs, but also contribute to economic benefits through a growing capable workforce,” the Group emphatically added.

In relation to population dynamics, the G77 and China acknowledged improved family planning as an effective way to address population growth. In this context, the statement highlighted a clear gender dimension.

In particular, a strong correlation exists between greater access to education for young girls in developing countries and a reduction of the number of teenage and unwanted pregnancies. Again, “increasing literacy and computing skills among women has shown to be effective in improving individual household finances, creating innovative and creative entrepreneurial activities”.

The Group also underscored the need for attention to the elderly and people with disabilities, adding that their inclusion in society needs to be assured through the provision of social protection instruments.

In the context of population dynamics, the G77 and China highlighted again the link between migration and development.

In strong words, the Group argued that a “paradigm shift needs to take place that recognizes migration as a catalyst for economic growth as well as knowledge and skills transfer. The stigmatization of marginalized migrant groups in countries other than their own is a threat to national stability and security, and often leads to human rights violations. Ensuring better integration and the respect of human rights should become a priority in our globalizing reality.”

Expressing growing concern over rural-urban migration, the Group said, “Focus on creating better employment and working conditions in rural areas will curb the wave of rural migrants moving to urban areas in hope of finding ‘better’ jobs. Rural migrants easily fall trap to a mostly low-wage, perilous and irregular work cycle with little chance to climb the vocational ladder. What is more, rural work migrants typically settle in the fringes of urban areas that are prone to landslides and flash flood, with little or no access to basic services and infrastructure.”

“Governments need to provide access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity to create sustainable cities with good quality of life for all residents irrespective of their social status or income,” the Group added.

Highlighting the crucial importance of global cooperation and supportive actions, Ambassador Thomson ended with a call for a strong mechanism for means of implementation, to be embedded within each specific SDG.

“In order to respond to the call for a transformative global development agenda post-2015, the Group of 77 and China reiterates the importance for the SDG framework to address the goals on global supportive actions and objectives through an enhanced partnership for sustainable development, which should include means of implementation within each of the specific SDGs.”

Industrialization

Developing countries that spoke afterwards at the OWG reinforced and complemented the G77 and China statement.

The African Group of countries, represented by Djibouti, called for a standalone goal on industrialization, employment and decent jobs, emphasizing the need for economic diversification and structural transformation in the region.

It stressed in its statement that “job growth requires a structural transformation of African economies through industrialization that induces value addition and economic diversification. Industrialization is a powerful tool to generate inclusive and sustained economic growth, create productive employment and decent work and lift millions of people out of poverty.”

The Group highlighted the interlinkages between employment and decent work for all, social protection, youth, education and culture. It stressed that “productive employment and decent work are essential elements in achieving the eradication of poverty, the reduction of inequalities and the respect of human dignity.”

It added that employment objectives need to become central to global actions and mechanisms.

“A development agenda which gives priority to productive employment creation, especially for youth, is of utmost importance for the African Group. A global strategy on youth and employment needs to be conceptualized within the broader objective of full employment, decent work, and dignified livelihoods. The capacity behind employment generation is fundamentally linked to reviving and enhancing productive policies, through adequate finance, investment, technology and trade policies,” according to the statement.

Citing the African Union Commission and the Economic Commission for Africa, the Group said that more than 70% of Africans earn their living from vulnerable employment as economies continue to depend heavily on production and export of primary commodities, and wider diversification is therefore needed.

It also cited the MDG Report 2013: Assessing Progress in Africa Toward the Millennium Development Goals on how it is critical to reduce inequalities in Africa, saying that one of the causes of those inequalities is the current structure of African economies.

It referred to the report recommendation that to transform African economies, the promotion of industrialization and structural transformation is needed through, inter alia, economic diversification and value chains linking raw material producers to end-users.

According to the Group statement, “Industrialization will help developing countries, especially African countries, to address the issues of unemployment as well as employment quality, including underemployment, informality, vulnerability, and working poverty. It will also strengthen, through wealth creation and taxation, the mobilization of domestic resources which, in turn, can help to achieve other development goals and targets, including education and social protection.”

The African Group then called for a standalone goal on industrialization, employment and decent jobs.

Since this transformation via industrialization will require more workers, “education and training policies should be aimed to support economic transformation and to prepare citizens [for] productive employment based on requirements of new labour markets”, with a special focus on women and youth. Education, which should remain a standalone goal, should go beyond primary or even secondary education.

The African Group also stressed the need for social protection as a tool to deliver on several goals such as poverty eradication, food security, nutrition, health and education. It pitched social protection as “a cross-cutting issue” that could be incorporated as a target across several goals.

At the same time, the Group felt that “productive employment and decent work, in the context of industrialization and economies diversification, remain one of the best ways to achieve social protection by providing income, cutting working poverty and vulnerable employment and by reducing the scope of regimes such as cash transfers or school feeding programmes. By putting more people in decent and productive work, countries will be in better position to define their national floors of social protection and to extend social security vertically (providing more comprehensive services and benefits) and horizontally (extending coverage to a greater number) to cover all groups.”

The African Group also highlighted the importance of culture in contributing to all three aspects of sustainable development and underscored the need for cultural diversity.

Fostering job creation

Benin, speaking on behalf of the least developed countries (LDCs), stressed that the high economic growth of the past decade in LDCs had not translated into a corresponding level of employment generation. “What is needed now is to foster the creation of new employment and decent work for all which should also be a goal of the next development agenda.”

The LDC statement highlighted the need to put in place policies that facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy and to support micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. “We need to trigger the main engine of job creation. Promoting structural transformation will have to be a key part of policy packages to promote employment and decent work for all.”

“LDCs need enhanced international support to build their productive capacities to reach the goal of full employment and decent work for all,” the statement added.

On social protection, the statement emphasized the Istanbul Programme of Action, saying that it “aptly recognizes that social protection has both short- and long-term benefits to sustainable economic growth, poverty eradication and social stability.”

Highlighting the need for everyone in LDCs to be covered by social protection schemes by ensuring essential social services and economic needs, the LDCs said that this should also be a goal of the next development agenda.

Benin further said that “it is a matter of grave concern that due to a variety of constraints, the LDCs [have] not been able to provide secured social protection schemes”.

“Development partners must provide adequate financial and technical support to LDCs to develop and implement social protection policies and programmes, especially for poor and disadvantaged groups.”

Underlining the fact that the number of youth is increasing very fast in LDCs, and that they are an asset provided they are given the necessary opportunities, the statement said it is necessary to give access to secondary and higher education, vocational training and productive employment, healthcare services and access to financial sector with entrepreneurial skills.

The LDCs issued a reminder on the various commitments made by development partners in the Istanbul Plan of Action and at the Rio+20 conference about this issue.

On education and culture, Benin pointed out that a quarter of young men and a third of young women are still illiterate in the LDCs, and poor outcomes in primary education have limited the scope for secondary and vocational education.

Quality of education and access for marginalized groups are also matters of serious concern, the statement pointed out.

“The next development agenda should set a goal of universal access and quality completion of primary, secondary and tertiary education. This is necessary for developing knowledge and skills, including technical and vocational, that are relevant to the worlds of work and life as well as to strengthen the role of culture and creativity in society,” according to the LDC statement.

Ghana, representing the West African states, highlighted the need for decent jobs for the youth. “The challenges include a weak private sector, graduates whose skills do not match the demands of the labour market, over-emphasis on universal basic education to the neglect of higher education, some foreign companies failing to respect local content requirements, and lack of access to international markets for processed products from African countries,” it said.

For addressing these challenges, Ghana underscored the need for quality tertiary (along with primary) education and practical, technical, science-based and professional courses as well as knowledge-sharing. It also highlighted the need for foreign direct investment (FDI) that focuses on processing of primary products for export and respects local-content requirements.

“Some African countries have put more emphasis on processing raw materials in the agriculture and extractive sectors to create jobs and wean themselves off foreign aid. The international community needs to support processed products from Sub-Saharan Africa to enter developed and some emerging economies,” it stressed.

The group outlined a detailed set of targets with associated indicators. Some of the targets include enhancing youth employment, improving labour productivity, and promoting entrepreneurship and enterprise development that create decent and sustainable jobs.

The West African states also highlighted the need for social protection, advocating targets of “social protection for all” and to “increase income-generating opportunities and job security for women in the informal economy”.

“Youth development” was another aspect that was highlighted, with a suggestion for a specific goal on “youth development facilities and activities”.

Important linkages

The permanent representative of Trinidad and Tobago, speaking on behalf of the 14 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said, “CARICOM acknowledges the important linkages between employment and decent work, youth, social protection, education and culture. In our view, joint consideration of these themes covers a broad spectrum of the sustainable development agenda at the national and regional levels.”

The statement pointed out that while governments in the region are involved in addressing these issues, “several challenges remain and further work is required with strengthening the capacity of the creative industries to contribute to economic growth.”

CARICOM highlighted in particular the issue of youth unemployment and several other challenges facing the youth who comprise approximately 60% of the region’s population.

Therefore, CARICOM governments are of the view that “young people should be at the centre of development policy, planning and implementation; youth development and empowerment should be prioritized and well resourced, and countries’ performance in youth development should be monitored and reported on; national youth employment policies should be linked to national macroeconomic development plans and young people should be involved in national and local-level labour policies and programmes.”

Further, CARICOM argued that “youth development must be adequately represented in the post-2015 global development agenda” and can be considered a cross-cutting issue.

It also highlighted that “social protection is one of the foundations for inclusive equitable and sustainable development and that it can play a transformative role in addressing, not only symptoms, but causes of poverty and social exclusion”.

CARICOM also reiterated its “full support for the employment and decent work agenda and remains open to the consideration of a standalone goal on employment and decent work”.

Education priority

Papua New Guinea, representing the small island developing states (SIDS), made a strong case for a “transformative standalone goal on education”, as the experience of the second Millennium Development Goal (on education) shows that while the task remains unfinished it must continue to be a priority.

The post-2015 SDG on education has to focus on quality and access and has to take into account access for vulnerable groups, according to the statement. Such an SDG will lead to employment and decent job conditions, and enhance health and living standards.

The SIDS advocated repeatedly for a standalone SDG on education that provides “equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all”, adding that this must include “accessibility as a key component of such a goal”.

They went on to raise the point about the threat to biological resources and ecosystems and the seas. Several factors including land and coast degradation, loss of biological diversity, and changing land and water usage patterns are driving this increasing threat. Lack of knowledge about indigenous methods of preservation and of long-term environmental planning and management is aggravating the situation.

In this context, the SIDS proposed a set of climate-related education factors under the education goal. Learning about climate change and disaster management must be included and informal learning especially by younger generations is a must. The learning must also be based on local contexts and experiences and must prioritize traditional and indigenous knowledge. Several other issues including NCDs and sexual and reproductive issues will also need to be included in the curriculum.

The Group also recognized the link between employment, decent work, youth, education and other development issues. In the context of the global crisis, to provide tax reliefs and to put in place a fair and equitable trading system is necessary for generating employment and decent work, the SIDS asserted.

The SIDS re-emphasized the importance of the ocean and the seas for their growth and survival and asserted that these must be protected.

The SIDS also highlighted the importance of social protection, the provision of social services and the crucial role of traditional forms of services in this regard especially for people who are especially vulnerable, such as those with disabilities. The importance of educating and giving decent work to the youth was also stressed.

Several other groups and countries, including Tanzania, Peru (with Mexico), India, Belarus, Guatemala (with Colombia), Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Tunisia, China, South Africa, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, made statements during the three-day session of the OWG.

The EU, Italy (with Spain and Turkey), Denmark (with Ireland and Norway) and the US (with Canada and Israel) were among the developed countries that presented statements. (SUNS7609/7611)                                

Third World Economics, Issue No. 548, 1-15 Jul 2013, pp 2-6