'Agreed conclusions on employment.' - agreement adopted during the UN Commission for Social Development's 35th session

UN Chronicle, Summer, 1997

The agreed conclusions on productive employment and sustainable livelihoods, adopted at the thirty-fifth session of the Commission for Social Development, are meant to provide input to the high-level segment of the 1997 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, which will discuss "Fostering an enabling environment for development - financial flows, including capital flows; investment; trade".

Higher rates of growth of productive employment are essential to secure people's participation in economic and social life, for eradicating poverty, ensuring equity and preserving social cohesion, the agreed conclusions state. Public policy should emphasize strengthening of the capacity of people living in poverty and the need to provide employment opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

The conclusions also call for the removal of unnecessary regulatory impediments to the formation of small enterprises and for alternative, group-based micro-credit schemes. They further call for adequate safety nets for those adversely affected by economic change, enhanced "employability" through skills development, and equal opportunity for men and women.

Globalization offered opportunities, challenges and risks, the conclusions state, stressing the value of an open and rule-based international system, characterized by a freer flow of trade and foreign investment and increased financial flows. National economic reform and international cooperation should incorporate a strong concern for the social implications of that phenomenon in order to minimize its negative effects.

Countries should adopt economic strategies that include a balanced and credible macroeconomic policy mix in order to ensure price stability and lower interest rates, according to the conclusions, which also call for implementation of stability-oriented policies to promote growth and employment based on a mix of macroeconomic policies, including the restructuring of public expenditure.

Governments should promote investment in, and access to, non-discriminatory basic education. They should promote lifelong learning, including basic education, training and skills development. They should also implement labour-market policies, which facilitate worker adjustment and provide a salty net to those affected by economic change, the conclusions state.

Child labour continued in inhumane and exploitative conditions, according to the text. The elimination of child labour requires that: Governments translate their commitments into action; child labour be eliminated as part of a larger effort to provide alternative economic opportunity; and Governments support the work of the International Labour Organization on drafting a new convention on the elimination of the most intolerable forms of child labour.

The agreed conclusions also note that the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, which came out of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, identified the need for new policies aimed at groups with special needs. Policies which ensure that those persons have access to credit and training, as well as to opportunities to acquire sufficient basic education, are called for. There is also a call for action to combat unemployment of older workers, for facilitating voluntary early retirement and for increased employment opportunities for disabled persons.