Statement by H. E. Dr A.K. Abdul Momen Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh at the high-‐level meeting on “Achieving poverty eradication through full employment and decent work for all in the Post-‐2015 Development Agenda”
23 May 2014, at 10:00 and at 15:00, Trusteeship Council Chamber
Mr. President
Excellencies
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen,
We align with the statement made by Bolivia on behalf of the G77 and China; and Benin on behalf of LDCs.
We thank the President of the General Assembly for organizing this high-level event on such an important issue in the context of the post-2015 development agenda.
Looking ahead post 2015, the world faces the challenge to create around 600 million new jobs in the next fifteen years to keep up with the growth of the labor force and close the job gap. While poverty eradication should remain as the first and overarching priority of the post-2015 development agenda, full employment and decent work through sustained economic growth and productive capacity building is fundamental and critical to address poverty.
The recognition that employment and decent work are one of the main strategies for people to address poverty led to the inclusion of it in 2005 of the new MDG Target 1.B that states and I quote, “achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people” (unquote), but this target fails to directly address the issue of productive capacity.
The post 2015 development agenda, therefore, should address some of these gaps, not only by integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, but clearly linking productive capacity, infrastructure development and economic growth with full employment and decent job for achieving the overarching goal of poverty eradication.
It is essential that post 2015 development agenda highlights the importance of job creation through an enabling environment, forward-looking macroeconomic policies, productive employment opportunities, agricultural and industrial development, industrialization and the provision of adequate services, including social protection.
Economic growth should be inclusive, pro-people, pro-planet and employment generating. Strong support needs to be extended to micro-and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Innovative programs such as employment guarantee schemes can provide poor workers with a minimum employment floor. Introduction of a basic set of essential social transfers and services as well as access to credit and finance plus education for all can assist in achieving full employment and decent work for all.
Mr. President, it is needless to mention that special and particular importance to the LDCs is imperative if we would like to achieve this goal. We are well aware of the current alarming poverty scenario in LDCs. This might get worse by the projected high population growth in LDCs, which is expected to nearly double by 2050 and will account for almost 40% of the global population growth during the next forty years. An ILO study suggests that LDCs need a rate of employment growth of 7 per cent to achieve MDG 1, against the growth of 2.9 per cent per annum over the years 2000–09.
In this context, it is imperative to link international cooperation in assisting LDCs to realize full employment and decent work. Investments in skill-based training, vocational education, promotion of business opportunities and duty-free-quota-free access to markets are key ingredients for employment generation in the LDCs. Also flexible migration policies are extremely important for achieving poverty eradication through full employment and decent work for the ever growing workforce. Mr. Chair, such linkages must be meaningfully integrated into the post 2015 development agenda in order to achieve the overarching goal of poverty eradication.
I thank you.