16 May 2012: The first thematic global consultation on the post-2015 development agenda aimed at fostering dialogue among experts on issues related to growth, structural change, productive capacities, and employment, in light of their impact on the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the potential post-2015 development agenda.
The consultation, which was held in Tokyo, Japan, from 15-16 May 2012, focused on employment as one of the critical means to achieve sustainable development. Participants addressed the issue of employment creation within new growth patterns and structure, including the need to move to a low carbon economy and increasing use of technologies.
The consultation addressed questions such as: whether the world economy can create the needed jobs, which are productive and decent; the type of ‘new industrial policy’ needed to provide the right incentives for building productive capacity in employment-intensive sectors; the type of policy options to create an incentive for boosting agricultural productivity and small-scale enterprises, which will affect the job market; the new education skills required for the ‘knowledge economy,’ and how to involve those in the informal economy; how to manage the labor market transition to ‘de-carbonized’ economies of the future; how will the emerging economies be a new source of the sustained global demand necessary to reverse the employment crisis; and in what way the goals of inclusion, equity and inequalities, can be achieved by global and domestic policy responses.
Participants recognized that global long-term trends present a challenge for employment generation, with changing demographics and the need to transition to energy-efficient and low-carbon growth. Participants noted that the recent experience of Asian countries in transforming the structure of their economies, while generating millions of jobs may offer useful lessons for other countries. However, they underscored that any new global development agenda post-2015 should stop short of prescribing policies to countries that are very different in terms of their levels of development and growth dynamics. They further emphasized the need for the vision for development to balance social and environmental goals with economic ones.
The meeting was jointly organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), on behalf of the UN Development Group (UNDG), and hosted by the Government of Japan. The meeting brought together about 70 experts from research and academia, civil society, governments, trade unions, private sector and international organizations. [UNDP Press Release] [ILO Event Website]