PRESS CONFERENCE BY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CHAIR

 

There was mounting evidence that economic growth was less effective in reducing poverty than previously thought, said Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran and Chairperson of the Commission for Social Development, at an afternoon press conference at Headquarters today, held in conjunction with the opening of the Commission’s forty-fifth session, which has as its priority theme “Promoting full employment and decent work for all”.

The Commission Chairperson admitted that, until recently, unemployment, and the social exclusion that accompanied it, had received limited attention at the United Nations, outside of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

He explained that, currently, 195 million people throughout the world were unemployed, even as economic output in the past decade stood at a robust 3.8 per cent per year.  Present trends indicated that, with older persons being retained in the global workforce for increasingly longer periods, it had become more difficult for younger people to get a foothold in the labour market, especially those without privilege and wealth.

Meanwhile, the popularity of short-term contract employment and self-employment, which Mr. Danesh-Yazdi called the “casualization of the workforce”, meant many people were taking up less secure positions.  Even in the formal sector, a growing number of workers had begun to receive fewer benefits because of pressure by businesses to economize in the extremely competitive global marketplace.

In addition, as the agricultural sectors of many countries shrank, the service sector had grown larger -- often offering poorly compensated jobs in the informal sector that afforded little social protection, he said, adding: “[A place of] employment is somewhere where it is safe and secure.  We have to create conducive environments for people to work.  We are speaking of decent work.”

He also pointed out that work was becoming increasingly less secure in places where, aided by “unfettered globalization”, labour supply was abundant, and in circumstances where the high mobility of capital -- raw materials and means of production -- meant that factories were moved away from the labourers.

Added to that, as technology improved and productivity increased, unemployment tended to grow because more could be produced with fewer people, said Marion Williams, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, who spoke alongside Mr. Danesh-Yazdi.  Economic growth must, therefore, exceed the growth in productivity, in order to combat unemployment, a development to which both developed and developing countries must pay careful attention.

She said her own region, the Caribbean, had seen major agro-business in the banana and sugar industries scaled back in the face of competition from multinational corporations.  As a result, affected Governments were forced to innovate to keep farmers employed -- Barbados, for instance, has been in contact with Brazilian partners and others to explore the option of producing ethanol from sugar.

Ms. Williams, who was to act as a panellist at the forty-fifth session, said policy makers seeking economic solutions to social insecurity should ask “at what point in time should monetary policy be counter-cyclical?”, referring to the need to offset shocks brought about by regularly recurring slumps in the business cycle.

In an exchange with reporters, questions arose on the relationship between the Commission for Social Development and the Commission for Sustainable Development, also a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, and on whether one had any input on the policy approach employed by the other.  In response, Mr. Danesh-Yazdi said that energy and the environment, which fell under the purview of the Commission for Sustainable Development and were important policy areas for developed countries in particular, and “if rightly and properly handled… would create some jobs and address the question of employment”.

But, he insisted that the two bodies were complementary, not competing.  “Particularly since I come from Iran and from the developing part of the world, we attach great importance to the Commission for Social Development.  The three major issues on the agenda of the Commission -- poverty eradication, employment, social integration -- are extremely important for many, if not all, developing countries.”

Ms. Williams said the hands-off attitude taken by the developed world towards social development issues that might have been apparent in the past could soon change, given the rate at which those issues were affecting all countries across the board.  “It will be politically expedient to have these problems addressed in developed countries, and I think, therefore, the resources will be put in place in order to address them.”

For instance, Mr. Danesh-Yazdi pointed out that migration had been a major focus of the General Assembly in 2005.  But, he also added that the Commission saw a difference between “mobility of labour” and “migration”, with the latter having legal dimensions, and which might trigger sensitivities if the term was used.

He explained that labour mobility, youth and families, along with macroeconomic policy and good practices for promoting employment and decent work were the three themes that would be taken up at separate panel discussions, to be held alongside the session’s twenty-five side events.  The Commission also planned to discuss emerging issues, such as youth unemployment and its relationship to community violence, and to review the five-year old Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.

Correspondents were told that the Commission’s current session, which would take place from 7 to 16 February, would produce no negotiated text, since 2007 had been designated a review year.  Only at its policy session in 2008 did the Commission hope to spur policy makers to take “bold” steps to tackle the issues currently being discussed.

Mr. Danesh-Yazdi said: “Next year will be a crucial year for setting policies for the work of the Commission, for the future -- next year will be a hectic year.”

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For information media • not an official record