UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS
E
Economic and Social Council
Distr.
LIMITED
E/CN.5/1997/L.13/Add.1
5 March 1997
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Thirty-fifth session
25 February-6 March 1997
Item 3 of the provisional agenda*
PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
Draft resolution 35/---
* E/CN.5/1997/1.
97-05977 (E) 050397 /...
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20. Increased international [macroeconomic/economic and social] cooperation is
essential [if the potential benefits of greater economic openness are to be
realized]. Growth of trade and increased financial flows offer opportunities
for expansion of employment in many countries, [and should stimulate/provided
increased integration is accompanied by] mutually reinforcing economic growth
for all countries concerned. The Commission urges countries to strengthen their
coordination mechanisms so that markets expand and are equally accessible to all
countries.
[20 bis. The Governments of all countries should strengthen international
cooperation and should establish a fair and equitable international economic
order, which is important to the expansion of productive employment and
sustainable livelihood. The interest of the people of the developing countries
which make up the majority of the world population should be given full
consideration. Developed countries and the international community at large
should provide developing countries with necessary assistance to improve the
ability and the competitive capacity to participate in global economic
development and alleviate unemployment.]
[20 bis bis. Relevant international organizations and developed countries are
urged to provide support, especially through technical cooperation and financial
assistance, to developing countries, particularly in African and the least
developed countries, as well as the land-locked and small island developing
countries, on their efforts to reduce unemployment and ensure productive
employment and sustainable livelihoods.]
[20 ter. Stresses the priority need for Governments and relevant international
institutions or organizations to continue examining how the rapid globalization
of the world economy and the increased liberalization of trade is affecting the
ability of States to design and implement effective strategies for full
employment and to provide a stable legal framework that creates an enabling
environment to achieve social development and to meet the basic human needs of
all, in order to prevent greater inequality between different sectors of
society.]
[20 quater. Calls upon the international community to seek to mobilize new and
additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and
mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources and
use all available funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral,
bilateral and private sources, including, as mutually agreed, on concessional
and grant terms.]
[20 Quinquiem. Invites all relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and
related organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods
institutions, to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes, strategies
and policies, as appropriate, with a view to achieving the overall goal of full
employment for all, through inter alia, financial and technical support to
developing countries in their efforts to translate all measures, recommendations
and commitments into operational and concrete programmes, projects and
activities.]
/...
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[20 Sixfold. Calls upon all States to contribute substantially to the Trust
Fund for the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development.]
[20 Septuple. Requests that the Bureau of the Commission at the moment of
selecting experts for panels, continues taking into account the expertise and
possible contribution of panellists in cross-sectoral themes identified in
paragraph 15 of ECOSOC resolution 1996/7.]
[20 Eightfold. Requests the Secretary-General to give special consideration to
the aforementioned cross-sectoral themes while preparing the annual analytical
report on the thematic issues before the Commission.]
[20 Ninefold. Transfer of technology to and acceleration of industrialization
in developing countries is crucial for economic growth, employment and enhancing
the competitive capacity of developing countries in this age of globalization
and liberalization, the international community, particularly, the international
financial institutions and donor countries are urged to participate actively
towards the attainment of these two goals through multilateral organizations and
bilaterally.]
[20 Tenfold. While reiterating the importance of international cooperation and
the political will for the implementation of agreements reached at Copenhagen,
it should be emphasized that, should the objectives envisaged in the outcome of
Copenhagen and this agreed conclusions be achieved, international cooperation,
particularly through the provision of adequate and timely financial resources on
an assured basis, the transfer of technologies and know-how, as well as exchange
of information could be an imperative.]
VI. National economic and social policies
21. Within national economic and social strategies in which full employment is
the central goal, countries should:
(a) Apply a balanced and credible macroeconomic policy-mix over the medium
term in order to ensure both price stability and lower interest rates [and
sustainable growth, productive investment and employment.] [In some countries
this implies budgetary consolidation to make room for productive investment in
line with rising demand. In this context it is worth noting that there is no
[automatic] conflict between sound macroeconomic and budget policies on the one
hand and strong and sustainable growth in output and employment on the other,
thanks to the impact of sounder fiscal prospects on the policy-mix stance and
market behaviour.]
(b) Implement a stability-oriented policy to promote growth and employment
based on an appropriate mix of macroeconomic [and structural] policies. This
should include a restructuring of public expenditure, and [establishing
appropriate social safety mechanism to minimize the adverse effect of structural
adjustment, and globalization on the workforce] [reforming social protection
systems where appropriate to make them more employment-friendly, investment in
human resources, encouraging voluntary worker mobility and more active labour
market policies.]
/...
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[(c) Recognize that economic and social policies are mutually reinforcing:
social policy should be considered as a productive factor which can have a
positive impact on social cohesion. Important in this regard are: upgrading
the levels of skills and providing security in a context of changing patterns of
work and increasing the trust and the motivation of workers.]
[(d) Concentrate public outlays where they will maximize the quality and
accessibility of services. Expansion of labour intensive human services, such
as education and health, can improve the well-being of the population and
increase employment.]
[(e) Taxation and social protection systems should be made more employmentfriendly
by providing clear incentives for job seekers to take jobs or
participate in other employment enhancing activities and for employers to hire
more workers.]
[(f) Increase resource flows to developing countries in order to increase
investment and improve human services. The Commission strongly urges donor
countries to fulfil the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product
for overall official development assistance and to rapidly implement debt
reduction and/or cancellation programmes.]
[(g) Strengthen the legal and institutional framework of emerging financial
markets so as to increase their attractiveness for foreign investors, and also
the value of foreign investments to recipient countries. Measures to reduce the
volatility of international financial markets also warrant serious
consideration.]
[(h) Promote productive employment with fair wages and working conditions
as an important objective of development cooperation policies.]
[(i) As part of the poverty eradication strategies increased support for
basic social services is needed in view of the positive effects on enhancing the
quality of the labour force, and in line with the continuing work between
interested developing and developed countries as a result of the 20/20
initiative.]
[(j) Promote investment in the developing countries, both foreign direct
and domestic, taking into account the comparative advantages of these countries
and directed at a balanced growth pattern between the modern and the rural and
informal sectors, and within the framework of sustainable development.]
[(j bis.) Also promotes investment in countries with economies in
transition, taking into account the specific features of their economic and
social development.]
[(k) [Urgent] attention should be given to improve the enabling environment
for small and micro [enterprises, cooperatives and] informal [activities]
[enterprises in the urban as well as the rural sector], which can make a
significant contribution to the reduction in underemployment and unemployment
[in urban as well as rural areas. This should include the development of
appropriate legal, management and financial structure to enable the sector to
/...
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develop in a sustained and organized way, and to initiate and strengthen
financing mechanism that enhance equal access to credit and other financial
services and reduce the cost of providing and acquiring these services.]
[(l) Promote, in ways which are suitable to national institutional
structures, prices and incomes policy, and consensual, equitable approaches to
income determination as an effective means of moderating both unemployment and
inflation.]
[(l bis.) It is important to note that the service sector is an important
source of future employment growth since many service activities are labour
intensive and include high productivity activities which support the growth of
the modern sector.]
[(m) Develop tripartite forms of social dialogue among Governments, workers
and employer’s organizations in support of employment generation as a priority
item on the national policy agenda and promote labour management cooperation
which contributes to productivity enhancement and job creation.]]
VII. Education, training, labour market policies
and patterns of work
22. With a view to creating and expanding employment and improving its quality,
countries at all levels of development should have policies and programmes to
improve education, training and the functioning of the labour market. The
Commission encourages Governments to:
(a) promote investment in and universal equal and non-discriminatory
access to basic education;
(b) promote lifelong learning, beginning with basic education and
continuing with opportunities for further education, training and skills
development, including through opportunities combined with employment.
[Lifelong learning should be supported by incentives for job seekers to take
jobs or participate in other employment enhancing activities and for employers
to hire more workers, as well as by establishing a better link between education
and training systems and the business world;]
(c) improve and strengthen vocational training and adapt training systems
to improve the supply response to skill requirements and to meet the training
needs of the self-employed;
(d) engage in integrated policy-making that highlights and fosters the
linkages between education and training polices on the one hand and labour
market policies on the other;
(e) implement labour market policies that facilitate worker adjustment,
provide a safety net to those adversely affected by economic change and promote
skill development and increased employability. Efforts should aim to promote
"employability and livelihood security" by ensuring that workers have the skills
and abilities they need and the opportunities to continually maintain and
/...
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upgrade them in order to move efficiently from job to job and the self-employed
have a work-friendly and an enabling environment to freely engage in any form of
productive and socially useful work;
(g) combine worker protection and security with the need for appropriate
labour market flexibility, establishing a new balance between flexibility and
security.
23. There is a need to intensify efforts to achieve a broader recognition and
understanding of work, employment and different patterns of work.
Therefore the Commission recommends:
(a) giving due attention to socially productive activities, including
unremunerated work, a relatively large part of which is done by women;
(b) also giving due attention to the work done in the informal sector;
(c) adopting policies to stimulate flexible working time arrangements,
such as job sharing, part-time work, etc., in order to promote equitable access
to work and ensure that each individual is given the opportunity to combine paid
employment, training and education, unpaid caring tasks and volunteer activity;
(d) adopting policies to enable workers to combine work and family
responsibilities and better share paid employment and unpaid caring tasks
between women and men through the enhanced availability of facilities like child
care and flexible working conditions.
IX. Child labour
25. The continued prevalence of child labour, often in inhumane and
exploitative conditions, blights the future of the children involved and
represents a short-sighted sacrifice by society. The elimination of child
labour requires:
(a) Governments to translate into concrete action their commitment to the
progressive and effective elimination of child labour and to implement,
[inter alia], national action plans [which would incorporate, inter alia, the
recommendation contained in] the resolution on the elimination of child labour
adopted by the ILO at its 83rd Session (June 1996), as well as other relevant
resolutions on the subject adopted at the General Assembly and the Commission on
Human Rights;
[Additional 25 (a): all States that have not done so, to sign and ratify the
Convention of the Rights of the Child, and furthermore, encourage States to
promote and implement the provisions of the Convention;
(b) the elimination of child labour has to be achieved as part of a larger
programme in which society provides alternative assistance or economic
opportunity; the ILO, in close cooperation with UNICEF and other United Nations
agencies, supports national efforts to eliminate child labour. Continued
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financial support from the donor community for the ILO's International Programme
for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is particularly important;
(c) the ILO to pursue its normative work on child labour by promoting the
ratification and implementation of the Convention, No. 138;
(d) Governments to support ILO work on the drafting of a new ILO
Convention on the elimination of the most intolerable forms of child labour.
X. Groups with special needs
26. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action identified necessary
requirements for improvements in the design of policies and programmes to
enhance employment opportunities for groups with special needs and to combat
exclusion from the labour market. To achieve this end requires:
(a) developing and implementing policies designed to ensure that all those
with special needs, have the opportunity to be productive participants in the
workforce, and are given access to credit, technologies and training on a
non-discriminatory basis;
(b) intensifying efforts to integrate young people in the world of work by
providing them with opportunities to acquire sufficient basic education and
adequate vocational qualifications and by focusing training and work experience
on their specific needs. Particular efforts are necessary to help young people,
especially school leavers who have virtually no qualifications, by offering them
either employment or training. In this regard, the offer of the Government of
Portugal to host in August 1998 a World Conference of Ministers responsible for
Youth, in cooperation with the United Nations which will deal, inter alia with
the issue of youth employment, is warmly welcomed. Calls upon all Member
States, the programmes and agencies of the United Nations system and youth
non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations to support that
session of the World Conference of Ministers for Youth;
(c) taking appropriate measures, in collaboration with employers’ and
workers’ organizations, to combat the unemployment of older workers, by ensuring
to the maximum extent possible, that older workers can continue to work under
satisfactory conditions, have the opportunity to update their knowledge and
skills and to enjoy security of employment;
(d) facilitating the opportunity for those who retire early and wish to do
so, to take up socially productive activities (socially useful services),
remunerated or not, part-time or casual, as appropriate, and to create the
conditions for this broader recognition of work and employment;
(e) widening the range of employment opportunities for persons with
disabilities by: (1) ensuring that regulations and public policy do not
discriminate against persons with disabilities and that they have equal access
to education and training; (2) encouraging and assisting disabled persons to
obtain employment in the "open market" to the extent possible, and when this is
not practical, emphasizing appropriate adjustment in the workplace to
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accommodate persons with disabilities as well as alternative forms of
employment. Government agencies, workers' organizations and employers should
cooperate with organizations of disabled persons to create training and
employment opportunities, as well as rehabilitation services. Access to viable
self-employment and possibilities to set up businesses should be facilitated;
[calling upon Governments and civil society to work together to formulate and
implement policies and strategies in order to realize equal job opportunities
for persons with disabilities. Disabled workers should be integrated in the
mainstream of labour market policy-making, in order to achieve similar activity
rates as for the labour force in general;]
(e) bis encouraging and facilitating the creation and development of
various forms of cooperatives, especially among people living in poverty and/or
belonging to vulnerable groups through providing them with greater access to
microcredits and productive resources.
[(f) establishing a well functioning public employment service or
strengthening the capacity of public and private employment services to offer
training, individual job search counselling and adequate social protection.
Efforts should be targeted on groups with particular labour market difficulties
as well as aim to prevent long-term unemployment.]
[XI. Additional specific follow-up actions]
[27. Improve statistical data bases and data collection at national (with the
aid of the United Nations funds, programmes and agencies if necessary) and
international level (the data reporting to International Labour Organization
should be more regular, updated and complete. In the United Nations the
Administrative Committee on Coordination should have an increased role of
coordination in that matter) on the key social indicators in least developed
countries, including employment indicators.]
[28. Enhance coordination of United Nations system efforts, at the country
level, in support of developing country programmes for employment creation and
sustainable livelihoods and stress, in this context, the importance of common
guidelines for the resident coordinator system as recommended by the ACC Task
Force.]
[29. Request the Secretary-General, in the framework of United Nations systemwide
coordination, to assist the Commission on Social Development and ECOSOC to
broaden and deepen the policy debate on employment issues, inter alia by -
within existing resources - :
(a) reviewing existing international databases, indicators and indices and
work towards improving their reliability, consistency and international
comparability;
(b) commissioning studies and holding international expert group meetings
on specific aspects of the employment questions where special attention is
warranted.]
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[30. The Commission urges all countries to strengthen and sustain their efforts
towards implementation of the Commitments and Programme of Action of the Social
Summit especially in the context of this meeting those in Chapter 3 on expansion
of productive employment and reduction of unemployment. The Commission restates
its strong commitment to the goals and programmes so effectively and
authoritatively articulated at the Copenhagen meeting.]
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