Statement by  Ambassador Asoke K. Mukerji, Permanent Representative,
at the High Level Meeting of the General Assembly

‘Achieving poverty eradication through full employment and decent work for all in the post-2015 development agenda on May 23, 2014

 

Mr. President,

Eradication of poverty and promotion of full and productive employment for all are central challenges for the international community in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. As world leaders reaffirmed in the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference, these two challenges are also closely inter-related.

As we set the stage for the Post-2015 Development Agenda in this 68^th session of the UN General Assembly under your leadership, this debate is therefore very timely.

Mr. President,

We have made impressive gains globally in the fight against poverty and deprivation over the past decade. My own country has contributed to this success in no small measure.

Yet, even as we speak, over 1.3 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty many of whom live in India. That amounts to one in every six people in the world.

Clearly, poverty is not only the greatest global challenge facing the world today, it is a problem that needs to be attacked more directly.

Even as we try and address the challenge of sustainable development, we need to be cognizant of the fact that eradication of poverty remains the overarching objective of the international community and attention and resources should not be diverted away from this noble endeavour.

Mr. President,

Full and productive employment is the surest way to eradicate poverty and give people control over their destinies.

Generating employment and decent work is a prerequisite for developing countries to harness their demographic dividend.

Employment is also the bedrock of social inclusion.

Robust and sustained economic growth needs to be accompanied with equitable distribution of the benefits of that growth. This can be done through the creation of new productive job opportunities for the growing labour force.

Unfortunately, the fragile recovery from the global financial crisis and continued structural weaknesses in the economies of developing countries coupled with unfavourable international factors mean that the global employment situation continues to be precarious.

There are millions more people unemployed today than a year ago. The problem of under-employment is also acute in many developing countries.

The last few years have seen the phenomenon of jobless growth. It is imperative to reverse this trend so that more growth translates into more jobs.

Mr. President,

A skilled workforce is a pre-requisite for the achievement of our objective of rapid and inclusive growth. Pursuing policies for vocational training and skill development of workers is a key policy priority and directly linked with improving the productivity, quality and incomes of the labour force. Transfer of empowering technology for development, especially for women, is a major initiative that the post 2015 Development Agenda can undertake.

At the national level, governments need to focus equally on small and medium enterprises, rural industries and informal sectors and put in place conducive policy environment and direct support for the growth of these sectors through technological up-gradation, skill enhancement, credit support and marketing assistance.

Scaled up investments, in the creation of infrastructure, which is a key priority for developing countries, can also translate into substantial job opportunities, in particular for unskilled and semi-skilled labour.

Mr. President,

It is equally important to pursue policies for employment-led growth at the international level.

Trade barriers as well as unfair trading practices in developed countries continue to have deleterious effect on employment growth in developing countries.

The destruction of livelihoods through the inability of many developing countries farmers to compete e.g. as a result of trade-distorting subsidies in the developed world, is well-known.

The need for making globalisation more inclusive is more urgent than ever.

It would be important for the Post-2015 Development Agenda therefore to meaningfully address international systemic issues, in particular the global trade, investment and finance rules to make them more fair and equitable and supportive of the efforts of developing countries in eradicating poverty and promoting full and productive employment.

International labour mobility in high end skills has become an important aspect of global integration across countries. In this context, the Post-2015 Development Agenda must facilitate the movement of skilled workforce from developing to developed countries.

The Post-2015 Development Agenda must also ensure adequate policy space to developing countries to pursue industrialization and inclusive growth taking into account their own national circumstances and challenges.

In conclusion Mr. President, we need to craft an agenda for international cooperation which places central and overarching emphasis on poverty eradication, one that assists developing countries in their efforts to pursue inclusive growth, providing them adequate policy space for economic diversification and industrial development, and at the same time, meaningfully addresses international systemic issues to create a genuinely conducive environment for development.

I thank you, Mr. President.

 

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