SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION URGED TO RENEW COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING GOAL OF FULL EMPLOYMENT
Press Release
SOC/4417
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION URGED TO RENEW COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING GOAL OF FULL EMPLOYMENT
19970226 'Job Security' Must Be Replaced By Efforts to Promote 'Employability Security', United States SaysThe representative of the United States this afternoon urged the Commission for Social Development to renew at its current session a commitment to take concrete measures to achieve the goal of full employment through the promotion of quality jobs that protected the basic rights and human dignity of all workers, as consideration of the priority theme of "productive employment and sustainable livelihoods" continued.
He also said that the concept of "job security" must be replaced with efforts to promote workers' "employability security", and the ultimate goal should be not only creation of more jobs, but better jobs.
The representative of the Dominican Republic said that it was wasteful and wrong to discard older person as useless. The problem was not the older persons, but the obsolete ideas which governed policies regarding them. The time to train people to be productive citizens later was not when demographics made it imperative, but when they could learn those skills.
She was supported by the German representative, who noted that the present demographic trends represented a unique development in social history. The sharp increase in the number of older persons in the world, and the growing proportion of the population that they represented, were considerable challenges that had to be confronted. Globalization was forcing great economic, cultural and social changes, making it all the more important for the men and women who had to adapt to those changes to find a place of stability in the family.
The representative of Iran suggested an international response to the employment question consisting of dismantling trade barriers, flows of financial resources and investment in developing countries, technology transfer and alleviation of the debt burden. National level policies should concentrate on support for the informal and private sectors, employment promotion, provision of credit to the unemployed, the creation of voluntary
organizations, investment in education and training, and the expansion of labour-intensive economic activities.
Several speaker cited experiences of their countries with the various questions of unemployment and underemployment, and their efforts to cope with them. France's representative suggested that the entire concept of full employment needed to be updated. He told the Commission that such ideas as underemployment and the salary level below which workers could survive needed further analysis.
Statements were also made by the representatives of the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), Argentina, Portugal, Republic of Korea and Ecuador. Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also spoke, as did representatives of the International Council on Social Welfare, International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres, and Business Association for the World Social Summit.
Further this afternoon, the Commission elected Ahmed Abdel Halim (Sudan) as Vice-Chairman.
The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 27 February, to continue its consideration of the follow-up to the Social Summit focusing on the priority theme of "productive employment and sustainable livelihoods".
Commission Work Programme
The Commission for Social Development met this afternoon to continue consideration of the follow-up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, focusing primarily on the priority theme of "productive employment and sustainable livelihoods".
Statements
KOOS RICHELLE (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that high rates of unemployment today constituted a threat to the social development of all countries. Full employment and fair labour conditions were fundamental to maintaining political stability and democracy, he continued, noting that at the Copenhagen Summit heads of State and government had underlined their commitment to the goal of full employment. The same concern was given priority at the European Union's political agenda adopted at the Essen Summit in 1994. In addition, last December in Dublin, the European Council reaffirmed the issue of employment as the first priority for the Union and its member States, and its greatest challenge. He expressed gratitude to the Secretary-General for his report on this year's priority theme; however, an omission was that no attention was paid to finding a
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broader recognition and understanding of the very concepts of work and employment. That question was particularly important from a gender perspective.
Continuing, he highlighted three issues: policy integration at the national and international levels, labour market deficiency, and a people- centred approach. On labour-market policies, he gave examples of policy approaches, including: rapid technological developments that would make it necessary to pay much more attention to training and retraining; stimulating a better sharing of paid employment and unpaid caring tasks between men and women; and the importance of young people acquiring enough basic education and adequate vocational qualifications. He was convinced that not only global discussions, but also exchanges of views at the regional level would be useful, an area in which the United Nations could make a very practical contribution.
CLAUDE VIMONT (France) said that the concept of full employment needed to be updated. Such ideas as underemployment and the salary level below which workers could survive needed further analysis. Further study was also needed on the relation of underemployment and unemployment benefits. The follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit had called for the inclusion of people in economic and social development through socially productive activities. More should be done for poor and disadvantaged workers having a difficult time maintaining their living standards. While most countries acknowledged the right of young girls to be educated, their studies were often interrupted so that they could perform household chores for their families.
JUAN CARLOS BELTRAMINO (Argentina) said that unemployment had always been a concern for social organizations in his country. That problem had been particularly difficult since a recession in 1994. Argentina had enjoyed an extremely stable monetary situation for some six years with substantial annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP). But unemployment last year had reached 18 per cent. Unemployment was particularly felt on the part of immigrants, new workers and those displaced in the course of privatization actions. With economic recovery and the expected inflow of capital to selected industries, it was expected that the unemployment rate would be reduced by a few percentage points. The resolution to be adopted by the Commission concerning employment should clearly acknowledge the dignity and inherent value of the individual worker.
MARIO FRANCO (Portugal) said that the development of international relations concerning youth policy at forums such as the Council of Europe, the European Union, the Ibero-American Youth Organization and the Portuguese- Speaking Countries Permanent Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, was a major priority of his Government. He believed that the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond provided a policy framework and practical guidelines for both national and international action. Pursuant
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to the World Programme of Action, Portugal would convene an international meeting of Ministers responsible for youth to be held from 8 to 12 August 1998.
DAVID HOHMAN (United States) enumerated core elements in the report of the Secretary-General on the priority theme that must be part of any successful strategy on employment. They included: sound fiscal and monetary policies; transparent and accountable governance; an open and stable political, economic and social environment; labour-market policies to facilitate worker adjustment; and policies to safeguard the basic rights of workers. It was noteworthy that the report presented key employment policy issues within an overall framework of economic, social and environmental policy. He agreed that macroeconomic policies that fostered environmentally sound, socially equitable, long-term economic growth, together with open markets and the free flow of goods and services and investment, were necessary to achieve the goal of full employment in each nation. There was also the need to ensure that workers had the skills and abilities to move efficiently from job to job.
The concept of "job security" must be replaced with efforts to promote workers' "employability security", he continued, and the ultimate goal should be not only creation of more jobs, but better jobs. Expressing support for the efforts of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the issue of child labour, he said that his country supported its plans to conclude elaboration of a new international convention on the elimination of the most exploitative forms of child labour in 1999. The promotion of jobs that met basic labour standards was not only appropriate from a moral standpoint, it helped ensure that workers shared fully in the benefits accruing from trade and economic growth. He urged delegates to leave the current session with a renewed commitment to take concrete measures to achieve the goal of full employment through promotion of quality jobs that protected the basic rights and human dignity of all workers.
JULIA TAVAREZ DE ALVAREZ (Dominican Republic) said that it was important to consider that people who may today be considered a social burden, could turn out to make a great contribution to society. That was because the problem was not really the older person, but the obsolete ideas by which policies regarding them may or may not be made. The older person's ability to be productive later on ought to be discussed now, and not when demographics made it imperative. In her country, 5.2 per cent of the population was of older persons, but in the rural areas, that figure rose to 11 per cent as a result of the migration of young people to the urban centres. She cited an International Centre on Ageing in her country that regarded the older person not as a burden, but as an unutilized asset.
The older person needed an income, she continued, but also needed to feel wanted. The programme in her country consisted of recruiting older
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teachers to work with their older counterparts. They were also encouraged to become involved in such small businesses as nurseries, bakeries, and data processing. Money was required to make money, she pointed out, and it was surprising to see how small loans for small projects were going a long way in programmes for the ageing in her country. The Government was currently in the process of setting up a credit facility for the older person that the regular banks were not interested in serving. Micro-credit programmes had been very successful, and it was time to stop talking about them and to see the difference they could make.
CLAUS A. LUTZ (Germany) said that the present demographic trends represented a unique development in social history. The sharp increase in the number of older persons in the world, and the growing proportion of the population that they represented, were considerable challenges that should be addressed during the International Year of Older Persons (1999).
Globalization was forcing great economic, cultural and social changes, he said. That made it all the more important for the men and women who had to adapt to those changes to find a place of stability in the family. Germany had cooperated with over 70 institutions and organizations during the course of the International Year of the Family. In that regard, Germany's Minister of Family Affairs had established a permanent national Family Conference which would meet for the first time in Bonn on 15 May, the International Day of the Family.
SEYED HOSSEIN REZVANI (Iran) said that the heads of State gathered at the World Summit for Social Development had committed themselves to promoting full employment as a basic priority of their economic and social policies. Unemployment and underemployment had become one of the great problems of the present era. That economic problem had social and political implications, as witnessed by the ominous recent rise of poverty, crime, drug abuse, prostitution and social unrest.
According to the ILO, some 30 per cent of the world's 2.8 billion labour force was not productively employed. Some 120 million were unemployed, 700 million were underemployed, and 1.1 billion people could be considered as being among the "absolute poor". At the international level, dismantling trade barriers, flows of financial resources and investment in developing countries, technology transfer and alleviation of the debt burden could play an important role. National level policies should concentrate on support for the informal and private sectors, employment promotion, provision of credit to the unemployed, the creation of voluntary organizations, investment in education and training and the expansion of labour-intensive economic activities.
HAHM MYUNG-CHUL (Republic of Korea) said that the importance of the World Summit for Social Development had been to integrate development
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activities to eradicate poverty, create employment and integrate national and international strategies. As part of its national follow-up to Copenhagen, the Republic of Korea had formulated a Framework for National Welfare for the Twenty-first Century.
The Republic of Korea had adopted an "outward-looking" industrialization policy to provide employment for workers and investment opportunities for the private sector. His country's economic development had been among the most rapid and sustained in world history, due in large measure to the concerted efforts of the Korean people. Quality employment not only provided a way for people to make ends meet, but inspired a sense of self-worth. Today, many developing countries were plagued by rural-to-urban migration, urban unemployment and rural stagnation. Absorbing rapidly growing pools of labour should be a fundamental social goal for development.
SANTIAGO APUNTE FRANCO (Ecuador) said that many employment statistics had not taken into account the activities of the informal sector. His Government had made special legislative efforts aimed at poverty eradication and at the generation of productive employment. Resources had been channelled in such a way as to soften the devastating effects of structural adjustment programmes. Domestic social investment should be complementary with international cooperation.
Ecuador's National Office for Gerontology had been created to stimulate the participation of older persons in national development, he said. His Government had sought to implement the commitments of Copenhagen and had drawn up a national social development plan with the World Bank. Ecuador endorsed the idea of a special session of the General Assembly in the year 2000 to follow-up on the World Summit for Social Development.
ANDERS WIJKMAN, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that enhanced employment policies were essential. In today's competitive job markets, many workers needed two or three jobs to make ends meet. While employment growth was premised on economic growth, all major United Nations conferences had highlighted the unsustainability of current worldwide consumption and production patterns. Growth must be pro-poor, sustainable, and people-centred. Economic growth alone did not result in productive employment.
New technologies had made a number of jobs less secure, he said. A more integrated framework was necessary to complement traditional and sectoral labour market frames. More attention should be paid to the social, environmental and cultural implications of work. Solutions must match the complexity of problems. That was why the development community needed to become more comfortable with multidimensional and cross-sectoral approaches.
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NINA SIBAL, a representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that the final objective of the different country reviews on productive employment and sustainable livelihoods -- carried out by the ILO-led task force of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) of which UNESCO was a part -- was the formulation of new policy initiatives that might be helpful in generating productive employment, poverty-eradication and related issues. On ageing, she noted that UNESCO had in the past encouraged social scientific research on the problems of the aged. A major publication reviewing trends of research on the aged in India was likely to be published this year, support having been provided by her organization.
Regarding youth, she said that it was one of the four priority groups in UNESCO's action implemented through the sub-programme "young people and social development". The common approach of its activities was the empowerment of youth to enable them play the role of actor, not merely a beneficiary group. The UNESCO associated itself with the efforts of the United Nations in the promotion and monitoring of the Standard Rules concerning the disabled; it had in fact contributed substantively to the monitoring exercise and would continue to do so. It viewed disability as a transverse theme that should permeate all programmes and be part of mainstream activities. She pointed out that efforts, whether within the United Nations, the specialized agencies, or in civil society and voluntary groups, could not advance in isolation but must be part of a general development strategy, and indeed, of social and economic plans.
A representative of the International Council on Social Welfare said that the Commission should undertake regional biennial meetings at the Ministerial level. Those meetings had been committed to at Copenhagen, but none had yet taken place. The Commission should also establish standards for defining full employment. That definition should be guided by the notion of sustainable livelihoods and should include the informal sector and marginalized industrial workers. The Commission should address the inadequacies of the international financial system as regards employment creation.
A representative of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres was interested in proposals for new partnership between youth-oriented non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, and in the proposed "Youth Charter". She urged the Commission to encourage the plans of non-governmental organizations and of the United Nations system with regard to the International Year of Older Persons.
A representative of the Business Association for the World Social Summit said that his organization was working on micro-economic programmes in support of local business. His organization believed that business would not be able to absorb the 40 per cent unemployment levels that were contemplated under
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some "shock therapy" programmes of structural adjustment. The globalization of trade, investment and technology was a positive trend because it allowed the creation of jobs in those regions which most needed them. Globalization also stimulated the expansion of local markets, which had beneficial implications for both the national and international economy. His organization was seeking to foster direct cooperation between small family businesses in the North and South.
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