E/1999/53
Distr.:General
18 May 1999
Original: English
Substantive
session of 1999
Geneva,
5–30 July 1999
Item 2
of the provisional agenda*
The
role of employment and work in poverty eradication: the empowerment and advancement of
women
*E/1999/100.
The role
of employment and work in poverty eradication: the empowerment and advancement of women
Report of
the Secretary-General
Contents
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Paragraphs |
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Page |
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Introduction............................................................................................................
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1–6 |
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3 |
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I. The linkages
between the changing face of poverty and new forms of employment.... |
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7–26 |
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4 |
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A. The
relationship between employment and poverty………………….. |
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10–14 |
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4 |
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B. Feminization
of poverty.......................................................................... |
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15–21 |
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5 |
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C. Emerging
forms of employment and poverty............................................
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22–24 |
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6 |
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D. The skills
gap...............................................................................................
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25–26 |
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8 |
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II. Policy issues.........................................................................................................
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27–79 |
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9 |
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A. Macroeconomic
policies and poverty alleviation…………………….. |
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28–38 |
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9 |
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1. The
central role of growth................................................................
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29–33 |
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10 |
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2. The
design of policies for employment-intensive growth…… |
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34–36 |
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11 |
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3. Reducing
vulnerability to short-term shocks and mobilization of resources...........................................................................................
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37–38 |
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12 |
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B. Improving
market outcomes......................................................................
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39–45 |
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12 |
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1. Labour
markets: do they include or exclude the poor, especially women?...............................................................................................
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40–42 |
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12 |
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2. Informal
and non-standard employment...........................................
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43–45 |
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13 |
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C. The role of
public policies.....................................................................
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46–62 |
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13 |
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1. The
role of public expenditures on human development in poverty eradication...................................................................................
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47–49 |
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14 |
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2. Gender-sensitive public policies for employment promotion and poverty eradication…………………………………………… |
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50–57 |
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14 |
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3. Extending
social protection through social safety nets……… |
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58–62 |
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16 |
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D. Rights and
voice.............................................................................................
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63–72 |
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17 |
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E. Policies at the international level.......................................................... |
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73–78 |
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19 |
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F. Partnership
with the civil society and the private sector………….……. |
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79 |
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20 |
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III. Poverty
eradication, a one-world problem: an agenda for action…………….. |
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80–89 |
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20 |
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A. The national
context: the need for renewed and specific political commitments. |
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82–85 |
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21 |
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B. The
multilateral system: strengthening national capacities for poverty eradication.....................................................................................................
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86–87 |
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22 |
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C. The
international community: enhanced development cooperation… |
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88–89 |
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23 |
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Introduction
1. In addressing the
theme “The role of employment and work in poverty eradication: the empowerment and
advancement of women”, the present report focuses on the interrelationship between
employment, poverty eradication and gender equality. The report has been prepared by the
International Labour Organization (ILO), with contributions by the Department of Economic
and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
2. There is a wide
consensus on the central role of remunerative employment in poverty reduction, as
reflected by the emphasis placed on it in major international conferences and particularly
in the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen. The Social Summit’s
commitment 3, contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development1
stated that the heads of State and Government committed themselves “to promoting the
goal of full employment as a basic priority of our economic and social policies, and to
enabling all men and women to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods through freely
chosen productive employment and work”.
3. At the Social Summit,
Governments committed themselves to achieving equality and equity between women and men.
The Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995, identified as a priority to
“review, adopt and maintain macroeconomic policies and development strategies that
address the needs and efforts of women in poverty” (Platform for Action, strategic
objective A.1).2 Moreover, it emphasized the need to “develop gender-based
methodologies and conduct research to address the feminization of poverty” (Strategic
objective A.4).3 More recently, the Economic and Social Council itself resolved
to promote a coordinated and coherent policy of gender mainstreaming and urged that
“issues across all areas of (United Nations) activity should be defined in such a
manner that gender differences can be diagnosed”.4 This report attempts to
integrate this approach into its analysis.
4. The relationship
between poverty and employment lies in the extent to which income generated from
employment permits workers and their dependants to obtain goods and services necessary to
meet minimum needs. Poverty reduction thus calls for the creation of regular and
good-quality jobs in the labour market. The interlocking problems of poverty and
employment differ between different groups and particularly between women and men. Even in
the same socio-economic setting, women and men become impoverished through different
processes and face different opportunities and constraints in accessing the labour market.
Therefore, a successful poverty reduction strategy must address both broad socio-economic
and gender-specific policy issues.
5. The lack of economic
opportunities for the poor and inherent economic and societal biases against women have
acquired new urgency with the accelerating pace and impact of globalization and
liberalization. Policies are needed that protect the poor and vulnerable groups from the
volatility of the global economy. Otherwise, the adverse consequences of growing
insecurity can quickly outweigh the potential benefits that new markets and opportunities
afford for world development and human progress. The recurrent and persistent economic
crises of recent years, particularly the Asian experience, serve only to underline the
urgency of the challenge facing national and international policy makers in addressing the
problems of poverty, employment and gender equality.
6. The report aims to
demonstrate the role of employment creation in poverty eradication, taking into account
the processes of impoverishment, the new types of vulnerability and insecurity and the
differential impact of these processes on women and men. In the light of key current
issues in poverty, employment and gender, it proposes policies for employment growth and
poverty reduction, to promote a consensus by the United Nations system on priorities and
an agenda for both national and international action.
I. The linkages between the
changing face of poverty and new forms of employment
7. During the last half
century, humanity has achieved historically unprecedented advances in nutrition, health,
education, life expectation and reduction in material poverty. National experiences differ
and vary over time but advancements have generally benefited people in both developed and
developing countries. People in the developing world have recorded historically
unprecedented economic and social progress between 1950 and 1990.
8. Despite this dramatic
progress, the global challenge of poverty remains. Over 1.5 billion people still live on
less than $1 per day, and the number of absolute poor continues to grow. There are close
to 1 billion adults unable to read or write, most of whom are women. Three quarters of a
billion people have no access to health services. Malnutrition affects over 800 million
people. Many millions lack access to safe water and many millions more have a life
expectancy of less than 40 years. The greatest number of people below the poverty line
live in Asia, but the depth of poverty, which measures how far incomes fall below the
poverty line, is greater in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region
9. Moreover, the face of
poverty is changing: in the next century, a poor person is less likely to be a male
smallholder in rural Asia and more likely to be an unskilled, low-wage female worker in
urban Africa or Latin America. In addition, child labour remains a serious problem in the
poverty agenda today. According to ILO estimates, the number of fully working children
between ages 5 and 14 is at least 120 million, or about 250 million if those for whom work
is a secondary activity are included. A large number of them work in occupations and
industries that are plainly dangerous and hazardous.
A. The relationship between
employment and poverty
10. Employment contributes to poverty
reduction and promotes equality between women and men. It is, however, important to review
at the outset the conditions under which employment has a positive impact on well-being
and equality. First, the rate of growth of overall employment must be sufficient to absorb
new entrants into the labour force in productive and remunerative work, as well as take
care of existing unemployment and underemployment. Second, employment creation should
result in the equitable distribution of jobs between those below and above poverty incomes
for individuals and families. Third, employment, should, apart from being productive, be
linked to a social wage and the enforcement of core labour standards, to ensure adequate
remuneration and social protection and decent working conditions. The above-mentioned
imply the existence of the right type of macro-economic framework; labour-market and
social policies; and efficient labour-market institutions, designed to facilitate equal
access to gainful and decent employment for men and women. There is convincing empirical
evidence across countries and in different regions of the world that employment does have
a direct and positive impact on poverty.
11. In industrialized countries, the
lowering of the rate of unemployment is usually poverty-reducing. The exception would be
in cases where the decline in unemployment comes as a result of an expansion in low-paid
work that does not provide incomes high enough to lift the workers concerned out of
poverty.
12. In developing countries, this
presumption does not necessarily hold since the rate of open unemployment is a poor
indicator of what the level and incidence of poverty are. This is because regular wage
employment is not the dominant mode of employment in developing countries. Instead, the
majority of the employed are in some form of self-employment (smallholder farming, petty
production in the informal sector). There is considerable underutilization of labour and
the returns to work are often insufficient to stave off poverty. For these workers,
economic adversity is absorbed through a fall in income, increased work and increased
underemployment, and not open unemployment. Moreover, in the absence of unemployment
benefits, very few workers, even those in regular wage employment, can afford to remain
unemployed. In all these cases, deterioration in employment conditions and a rise in
poverty will not be captured in the rate of unemployment.
13. In view of the above, from the
standpoint of poverty alleviation, the relevant indicators of changes in employment
conditions should include changes in the degree of underemployment (the number of days of
work that are available and the earnings from such work) and in the extent of disguised
unemployment. Moreover, given that the problem of low-paid wage-employment looms much
larger in developing countries than in industrialized countries, even the expansion of
wage employment need not automatically lead to a reduction in poverty.
14. It follows from the above that
employment growth will be poverty-reducing, only if it is associated with a rapid rate of
increase in wage employment that yields incomes above the poverty line and a
significant reduction in the incidence of underemployment and disguised unemployment. An
example of poverty-reducing employment growth occurred in some East Asian countries in the
decades before the present crisis. A contrary example would be sub-Saharan Africa in the
past two decades where employment growth has been largely in the urban informal sector and
in rural self-employment.
B. Feminization of poverty
15. Generally, the link between
employment and poverty has been weaker for women than men mainly because of discrimination
and disadvantage faced by women in the labour and asset markets. The empowerment and
advancement of women in society would therefore largely depend on whether or not the
gender gap in wage and employment has been closing. Gender differences in poverty analysis
thus merit special attention.
16. Poverty appears to be
disproportionately female, to the point that strategies to combat gender inequalities
would need to be central to successful poverty reduction. Evidence based on some
indicators of the gender gap for different regions shows that for developing countries as
a whole the adult literacy rate is 16 percentage points higher for men than for women;
female school enrolment — even at the primary level — is 13 per cent lower than
male enrolment; and women’s share of earned income is a third of the total.5
Women are more likely to fall into poverty because they continue to encounter
discrimination across the board, in education and training, and in employment and
earnings.
17. Around the world, women on average
earn about two thirds of average male wages. The wage gap is attributable to several
factors: lower human capital, job discrimination and wage discrimination. In general,
about one third of the wage gap is due to differences in education, work experience and
other variables related to qualifications, marital status and hours of work. The remaining
two thirds of the wage gap between women and men cannot be explained or justified by such
differences.
18. Women also remain more likely than
men to do work that is not recognized in the System of National Accounts, 1993,6
principally unpaid housework and caring. Typically, women work 30–40 additional hours
a week doing housework, compared with 5–15 hours for men. If all of women’s work
both in the labour market and in the home were included in national accounts, global gross
national product (GNP) could increase by as much as 25 per cent.
19. Another important factor to be
taken into account is that women’s labour force participation has not only increased,
but also come to dominate labour-force growth in many countries. Women have provided the
bulk of new labour supply in both developed and developing countries over the past two
decades. ILO employment data show that women’s labour-force growth since 1980 has
been substantially higher than that for men for every region of the world except Africa.
Moreover, in most parts of the world, a high share of total labour-force growth is due to
the growth of women’s employment.
20. While this trend would appear to
reflect the closing of the gender gap in employment, the new and enlarged role of women in
the labour market has not always been an entirely positive development for women. They do
not have equal access to better jobs that would give them opportunities for career
advancement. Indeed, the increase in women’s employment has not been matched by
increase in quality of employment available to women. Typically, more women than men are
found in the expansion of the informal sector and precarious forms of employment, such as
dependent home-based work or temporary or casual employment. In export-oriented sectors,
and particularly in the export processing zones (EPZs), employment has been primarily, if
not exclusively, female because of the cheaper wages and the unorganized nature of the
workforce often associated more with female, than with male, labour. Nevertheless, EPZs
have opened up opportunities for wage employment for women, thereby increasing their
employability as well as improving their position in the household.
21. In most countries, women are
perceived to remain more loosely attached to the labour force than men. In order to
accommodate their role in caring for the family, many women work shorter hours than men
and for shorter periods, with greater interruptions in labour force participation.
Furthermore, there are fewer women than men in higher-level and decision-making positions.
Occupational segmentation by sex not only cuts across different levels of economic
development, but is also evident across a wide spectrum of political, social, religious
and cultural groups. This horizontal and vertical segmentation implies an underutilization
of human resources; labour-market rigidity; and male-female wage differentials, hence
lower income levels.
C. Emerging forms of
employment and poverty
22. The informal sector serves as a
buffer against unemployment in times of economic downturn, allowing an increasing share of
the population to earn a livelihood from the sector rather than stay openly unemployed
with no income. The sector has also played a key role in cushioning the adverse impact of
economic crises. During the past two decades, informal sector employment has increased
throughout the developing world, and more women than men have entered the sector. However,
employment in the sector is characterized by low levels of productivity and income, and
jobs could be precarious.
23. Data on earnings in 1996 for a
representative group of countries in Latin America reveal that average earnings of
informal sector workers were half of those of blue-collar and white-collar workers in
modern sector establishments. Furthermore, working hours were longer for informal sector
workers (figures I and II). It is likely, given the large number of women in the informal
sector in this region, that the burden and negative effects of longer working hours
affected women (in addition to the burden of domestic work) more severely than men.
Figure I.
Informal sector workers: weekly hours worked
(Average)
Source:
International Labour Organization, Labour Overview, 1996 (Geneva, 1996).
Figure II.
Remuneration per hour: informal sector/formal sector
(Percentage)
Source:
International Labour Organization, Labour Overview, 1996 (Geneva, 1996).
24. The past two decades have
witnessed the emergence of “non-standard” forms of work in some sectors, which
used to be characterized by regular wage employment. Among these, the most important
numerically have been part-time employment and temporary work. They usually offer lower
levels of social security coverage and of employment rights than regular jobs. Part-time
and temporary work is also usually associated with lower wages and limited training
opportunities or career prospects. Many forms of non-standard jobs expose women and men to
employment and income insecurity, and pose a real risk of marginalization in the labour
market. Though non-standard or sub-standard temporary and casual work is preferred by some
workers because of its flexible hours and greater compatibility with family
responsibility, for many others it may not be compatible with their employment needs and
aspirations.
D. The skills gap
25. The World Bank’s World
Development Report 1998/99: Knowledge for Development7 has highlighted
the role of knowledge in development by comparing the diverging growth paths of two
countries that had similarly low incomes per capita in the 1970s. By 1991, however, one
country’s per capita income was more than seven times that of the other. Much of the
gap cannot be explained by differences in investment rates alone; rather, an important
part of the explanation lies in differences in human capital and other factors related to
knowledge acquisition and innovation between the two countries.
26. Adequate response to the
opportunities created by globalization will largely depend on the distribution of skills
between countries and among groups within the same country and between women and men. As
figure III shows, skills are highly unequally distributed between regions of the world,
with the lowest levels in sub-Saharan Africa. The growing role of technology in the
context of trade liberalization has meant an increasing share of world trade for those
regions with high skill endowments in high technology, high value-added exports (figure
IV).
Figure III.
Tertiary technical enrolment in developing regions
(Percentage population)
Source: S.
Lall, 1998.
Figure IV. Share
of high-tech exports by developing regions
(Percentage)
Source: S.
Lall, 1998.
II. Policy
issues
27. In view of the persistence of
poverty in many developing countries, there is a need for a concerted effort to define an
effective strategy for poverty reduction that also promotes gender equality. Such a
strategy should have four major building blocks. First, in order to reduce poverty through
enhancement of productive employment opportunities, it is necessary to have fast,
sustained, employment-intensive and human-centred growth. This leads to the consideration
of macroeconomic policies at both national and international levels. Second, at the
microlevel, poverty eradication strategies should aim at improving market outcomes for the
poor in general and disadvantaged socio-economic groups in particular. Third, public
policies should provide the enabling environment for the efficient functioning of markets,
and seek to correct market distortions and imperfections, which militate against equity
and social protection. Finally, participation by the poor based on the recognition of
their fundamental rights can accelerate social progress, and in turn reduce poverty
through improved access to employment and socio-economic opportunities for all.
A. Macroeconomic policies
and poverty alleviation
28. Experience has shown that sound
macroeconomic policies provide the function for an appropriate policy mix that would
facilitate increased demand for labour and ensure redistribution in favour of the poor and
vulnerable groups, and thereby be effective in reducing poverty. An appropriate
macroeconomic policy framework for reducing poverty and promoting equality should, inter
alia, meet the following three conditions, that is to say:
(a) Achieve fast, sustainable
and stable growth;
(b) Ensure that growth is
employment-intensive, balanced and gender-sensitive;
(c) Create conditions to reduce
vulnerability to short-term shocks.
1. The central role
of growth
29. Although economic growth is not
the only requirement for poverty reduction, poverty tends to fall with growth in average
income and consumption levels. However, initial distribution of incomes does matter in
determining the share of the poor in rising average incomes; higher initial inequality
tends to reduce the impact of growth on absolute poverty. Economic growth, though a
necessary condition for poverty reduction, is nevertheless an insufficient one.
30. Significantly, gender equality is
likely to enhance economic growth overall. In Africa, gender inequality in employment
opportunities is estimated to have accounted for a reduced annual per capita growth of 0.7
per cent between 1960 and 1992 (see box below). Eliminating gender discrimination in
economic opportunities and pay would increase both women’s income and gross domestic
product (GDP). Thus, the objective should be to mainstream gender equality in
macroeconomic policies and adopt targeted public policies that promote gender equality.
Gender and growth: missed
potential Recent
studies have examined the linkage between gender, growth and poverty reduction in the
context of sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that one of the factors constraining growth
and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa is gender inequality in access to and control
of a diverse range of assets. For example: (a) Burkina Faso: Shifting existing resources
between men and women’s plots within the same household could increase output by
10–20 per cent; (b) Kenya: Giving women farmers the same level of
agricultural inputs as men would increase yields obtained by women by more than 20 per
cent; (c) United Republic of Tanzania: Reducing time
burdens of women could increase household cash incomes for smallholder coffee and banana
growers by 10 per cent, labour productivity by 15 per cent and capital productivity by 44
per cent; (d) Zambia: If women enjoyed the same overall
degree of capital investment in agricultural inputs, including land, as their male
counterparts, output could increase by up to 15 per cent. ____________ Source:
“Gender, growth and poverty reduction”, 1998 report on poverty in sub-Saharan
Africa (World Bank, 1999). |
31. Since the aim is to reduce global
poverty by half by the year 2015, an important element would be high rates of economic
growth. In its 1997 report, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) showed that GNP per capita growth
should double in the poorest countries between 1995 and 2015 to reduce poverty incidence
by half. UNDP has estimated that in order to reduce poverty significantly over the
next two decades, developing countries need to grow at a rate of about 6 per cent per
annum. Thus, a trend rate of growth of 6 per cent per annum for developing countries
may be regarded as the minimum socially necessary rate that would both reduce poverty
significantly and meet the employment needs of a rapidly growing labour force.
32. A substantial increase in real
world demand is a key element in a strategy to increase world employment and production
levels, particularly in the present global experience. Faster economic growth in rich
countries could help those countries as well as the poorer developing countries, through
increased demand for exports, which should lead to faster output growth and employment.
This, however, implies the right types of international and national policy environments.
33. It is important to realize that
increasing the growth of real demand today is not a matter simply of instituting
expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. It involves a much more complex and difficult
task, given the conditions of increased competition in a globalized world economy. Policy
makers must try to ensure that growth is of the right kind; that is to say, it should be
non-inflationary and stable and should create work and benefit the poor, in particular
women. It is therefore necessary to strike a balance between the desire to control
inflation, on the one hand, and the need to correct structural weaknesses and economic
imbalances, as a means of stimulating faster growth, on the other. While countries have
the primary responsibility in formulating and implementing development policies, they can
be helped by an enabling environment, especially on matters pertaining to trade, finance
and debt.
2. The design of
policies for employment-intensive growth
34. For growth to be
employment-augmenting, macroeconomic policies need to be employment-intensive: a good
sectoral mix in investment can help to maximize employment creation. In developed
economies, the predominant employment concern frequently is an increasing rate of open
unemployment. By contrast, in developing countries the problem is often low productivity,
low wage employment or underemployment. Thus, an effective development strategy would need
to take into account the complex interrelationship among growth, employment and
productivity, in light of specific national conditions and levels of development.
35. The productive sectors play a
leading role in determining productivity and employment outcomes. Rapid growth in key
sectors with high employment potential may lead to a situation where overall productivity
growth is positively related to employment generation. While the industrial sector could
be significant in this regard, one must be aware that an important element of a poverty
reduction strategy is the promotion of the agricultural sector (especially non-traditional
agricultural exports), which employs most of the poor. Access to markets and improved
marketing arrangements could promote competition and increase production for export.
Therefore, the targeting of key economic sectors could be a viable strategy for
employment-intensive growth, with reforms of the incentive system (prices, wages, exchange
rates and interest rates) effected in such a way as to shift resources to those sectors
while avoiding cost distortions which could reduce competitiveness.
36. In many developing and transition
economies, strategies for stimulating the development of small and medium-sized
enterprises can encourage employment creation and lead to poverty reduction. These
types of enterprises need an appropriate enabling legal and regulatory framework, a
properly adapted tax regime, and policies to help with access to credit. Entrepreneurial
training, especially among women, should receive appropriate attention.
3. Reducing
vulnerability to short-term shocks and mobilization of resources
37. Economic instability, not to
mention the crisis conditions that have occurred recently in East and South-East Asia,
Brazil and the Russian Federation, has serious short- and long-term repercussions,
particularly for the most disadvantaged groups of the population, including women.8
38. In addition to the need to design
appropriate policy responses, a crucial condition for achieving stability and resumed
growth is the mobilization of resources. Domestic resource mobilization is essential;
however, additional external resource flows would be necessary to achieve these
objectives. While developing countries that have received large foreign direct investment
(FDI) and other capital inflows have achieved high growth, they have also been subject to
extreme downside risks of volatile capital movements. Thus, what developing
countries require for growth and long-term development is improved access to long-term
investment capital. This can be achieved through an appropriate mix of policies designed
to attract investment capital, while regulating volatile short-term capital flows. The
poorest and least developed countries require higher levels of concessional finance,
including official development assistance (ODA), on a sustained long-term basis and a halt
to large reverse transfers occurring through debt servicing, depressed commodity prices
and weak terms of trade. As stated below, a major concern of developing countries
is the restrictiveness, inflexibility and limited scope and coverage of the heavily
indebted poor countries (HIPC) and other recent debt-relief initiatives.
B. Improving market outcomes
39. While the design of a
macroeconomic policy framework that ensures fast, stable, employment-intensive and
gender-balanced growth is indispensable, consistent micro-policies are also essential
components of an anti-poverty strategy. Improving market outcomes for the poor and
vulnerable implies improved access to factor markets for men and women: labour, assets and
credit, as well as increased returns to labour, the major asset of the poor. This is
vitally important in the context of globalization, where skill endowments are crucial for
determining the distribution of income among countries and between different groups within
countries and between women and men.
1. Labour markets:
do they include or exclude the poor, especially women?
40. A major determinant of poverty is
the lack of access by the poor to factor and commodity markets, as well as the terms on
which they access these markets. There are various reasons for such discrimination against
the poor in terms of market outcomes. First, and most important, is the lack of the skill
and knowledge that can enable the poor to participate in economic activity. Second,
labour-market segmentation can discriminate against the poor on the basis of skill, sex or
race. That these are ultimately reflected in low returns to the poor keeps them trapped in
a cycle of poverty.
41. Labour-market outcomes in many
instances discriminate against the poor and against women in particular. An effective
anti-poverty strategy should therefore aim at correcting inequality and gender biases.
Differences in labour-market outcomes and in particular income between men and women can
result, on the one hand, in social inequality and, on the other, in an inefficient labour
market, with underutilization of women’s labour and lower levels of output overall.
42. Improving market outcomes for the
poor would require a multi-strand policy. First, enhancing the capabilities of the
poor, particularly through health, education and skill formation, must become an explicit
objective of public policy. Second, a conscious policy of women’s
empowerment would be a precondition of removing labour-market segmentation.
Furthermore, a proactive gender policy would require increasing girls’
education thus improving their attachment to the labour market; removing wage
differentials both in legislation and in practice; removing gender bias from the tax
system; improving access to training; reforming the legal frameworks that inhibit access
to high-level and decision-making occupations; and strengthening the coverage of social
security and social safety nets for women, particularly those in precarious situations and
in times of crises, especially female heads of households.
2. Informal and
non-standard employment
43. The debate on appropriate policies
towards the informal sector remains inconclusive.9 On the one hand, the
informal sector serves a useful purpose as a “sponge” in absorbing surplus
labour and providing goods and services for lower-income groups; on the other, informal
sector employment is regarded as a survival strategy for the poor for lack of a better
alternative. Policy advice therefore ranges from action to improve productivity and income
levels in the sector so as to support its expansion and upgrading, to the provision of
support through direct resource transfers to the sector. The situation is further
complicated by increased informalization as a result of deregulation.
44. One policy
approach for the informal sector could aim at both increasing effective demand for
informal sector goods and services and raising productivity and income levels in the
sector. This will include measures aimed at improved access to credit, especially
microfinance (for example, Grameen and Bancosol); linking financial services
to skill development training; and providing extension services, especially on technology
and marketing. The poor, with special attention to women, should be given improved access
to productive resources such as credit, technology and marketing techniques to facilitate
entry into viable self-employment businesses. Furthermore, the stimulation
of effective demand overall could serve to strengthen economic linkages between the
informal and formal sectors of the economy.
45. Given the
increasing share of non-standard forms of work in total employment in many poor developing
countries, a critical policy issue relates to the fact both that this form of employment
is precarious and that it constitutes the sole basis of a livelihood and the possibility
of breaking out of poverty. This is particularly important in the case of women for whom
part-time and flexible forms of work are prevalent. Another policy issue relates to the
implications of these types of employment for equality and job security. Naturally, to
improve conditions of non-standard employment and offer job security would require finance
and incentives, but these should be seen in terms of the ultimate goal of providing social
protection to vulnerable and insecure groups in the labour force.
C. The role of public
policies
46. In addition to
sound macroeconomic management and micro-interventions, there are at least three areas
through which public policies can contribute to poverty reduction. These include:
(a) Reallocation
of public expenditure (human capital formation in education, health and skill formation);
(b) Adoption of
gender-sensitive policies for promoting employment and reaching gender equality;
(c) Extension of
social protection through social safety nets.
1. The role of
public expenditures on human development in poverty eradication
47. Investment in
human capital formation including education, health and skill formation has proved to be a
crucial element in any effective strategy for poverty eradication. The poor, who by
definition are asset-poor, rely on their labour to earn income and participate in the
community. Lower human capital endowments constrain their capability. It has been observed
that, “the significant transformation that has occurred in recent years in giving
greater recognition to the role of ‘human capital’ is helpful for
understanding the relevance of the capability perspective. If a person can become more
productive through better education, better health, and so on, it is not unnatural to
expect that she can also directly achieve more — and have the freedom to achieve more
— in leading her life. Both perspectives put humanity at the centre of
attention”.10 However, for increased social spending to have a positive
impact on poverty, such spending should be consistent with efficiency criteria including
intersectoral distribution.
48. Public expenditure
on human capital formation should be one of the cornerstones of an anti-poverty strategy.
This will have policy implications at both the national and international levels. At the
national level:
· Fiscal policy should avoid compression of
expenditure on health, education and skill formation, even under conditions of budgetary
constraints. In this regard, progress has been made in many developing countries
where public spending on education and health has increased against a background of fiscal
adjustment under IMF-supported programmes.11 At the same time, unproductive
public expenditure, such as excessive military spending, should be avoided or reduced;
· Distribution of such public expenditure
should favour the poor, especially women. Active policies and programmes are needed to
overcome gender discrimination;
· Targeting poor groups, poor regions and
women and girls makes sense according to both efficiency and equity criteria.
49. At the
international level, a main objective of development assistance should be to support
national efforts for sustained human capital formation. In the interested countries, the
20/20 initiative is particularly relevant in this regard.
2. Gender-sensitive
public policies for employment promotion and poverty eradication
50. Human capital
endowments strongly influence labour-market outcomes with respect to employment and income
levels. The household is the locus of decision-making for investment in human capital in
many developing countries: health, nutrition, education, training, work and leisure. Such
decisions are mediated by social norms and conventions, by access to resources and by
perceptions of the market. In most countries of the world, women earn on average one third
less than men, so that household and individual return on investment in girls is less than
for boys. With scarce resources, households tend to favour boys, and this becomes
self-reinforcing: the less the household invests in girls, the lower the returns, and the
less the incentive to invest.
51. What is useful for
the household is not always useful for society, however: investment in the education of
girls has one of the highest returns of any development investment. There is ample
research to show that girls with better education not only strengthen their economic
welfare by improving their employment and income opportunities but also provide a number
of additional benefits for the entire family: fertility declines, and children who are
better fed have better health and lower mortality and are, in turn, more likely to go to
school themselves, and have fewer children. Gains in women’s education lead to
increases in women’s participation in the formal labour force — one extra year
of education increases female labour force participation by three years — and
increases their productivity. This, in turn, reduces discrimination against women (whereby
an employer is less likely to hire or invest in women because most women have a looser
attachment to the labour force), and also strengthens the incentives for households to
invest in girls’ education. The policy implications are clear: poverty
alleviation can be more effective when directed to overcoming the imbalance between public
and private gains through investments in the human capital of girls, in particular
girls’ education.
52. There is a wide
range of other policy measures to address poverty by eliminating gender disparities in the
labour market. Equal pay and non-discrimination often call for legislative intervention.
Protective legislation, originally intended to protect women and their future progeny from
the harmful effects of employment, has increasingly come to be seen as an impediment to
labour efficiency and a restriction on women’s labour-market options. Removing
such restrictions on women’s work in certain professions, for example, mining, or at
certain times, such as on night shifts, can significantly increase women’s
labour-market options. Worker protection is better addressed through health and safety
regulations for both sexes.
53. In the
coordination of family and employment policy, maternity and child-care leave legislation
present a special case. Where employers, rather than social insurance, are paying the bill
for maternity and child-care leave, the effect is a maternity tax on all women. Men become
less costly to hire, and the end result is discrimination against women in the labour
market. Broadening child-care leave to cover either parent, and providing the funds
from social insurance are necessary (but not sufficient) to overcome part of this
discrimination. Specific anti-discrimination legislation needs to accompany these
measures.
54. Equally important
is the availability of day-care facilities while parents work, whether provided by the
public or the private sector. Recent research suggests that subsidizing childcare is
substantially more effective in increasing maternal employment and household welfare than
wage subsidies or family allowances.
55. In facilitating
women’s participation in the labour market, tax legislation can play a significant
role. Lowering marginal tax rates for a second income to the household can provide a
stimulus to married women’s labour-market participation.
56. Women’s
looser attachment to the labour market and their role in household maintenance and
childcare call for special attention to gender in the design of social insurance.
In addition, certain types of female-headed households, mainly those with a single earner
and one or more dependants, are especially vulnerable to poverty on account of lower pay
levels for women, higher dependency ratios and the need for childcare to allow employment.
Unemployment policies and programmes similarly need to address gender specifically,
because women’s unemployment risk and duration differ significantly from those of men
in many countries.
57. Wage differentials
and women’s looser attachment to the labour force ultimately translate into pension
gaps as workers age: women receive lower pensions than men. Elderly, single-female
households have high risks of poverty in both developed and developing countries which may
require attention in respect of designing social assistance programmes.
3. Extending social
protection through social safety nets
58. The best form of
social safety net is provided by full employment. Hence, the primary focus of action
by Governments and international assistance should be on policies to generate full
employment in the first place. However, in the absence of full employment, and in
situations of slow growth, the need for social protection can hardly be overemphasized.
The Asian crisis has shown that countries with inadequate social protection systems tend
to undergo greater social and economic instability, and face greater difficulties in
weathering the adverse social outcomes of crises. It is evident from the experience of the
crisis-affected countries of Asia that even rapid economic growth does not automatically
guarantee equitable distribution or social protection. A social protection system,
in its broad elements, needs to be progressively introduced in the face of increasing job
and income insecurity. Ideally, such systems should be cost-effective and
financially viable, as well as administratively manageable. They should also be targeted
at the poor and vulnerable.
59. The concept of
social protection must be incorporated into a comprehensive employment policy framework,
which should be concerned not only about creating jobs in normal periods of steady
economic growth, but also — and very much — about dealing with the consequences
of rapid job loss during economic crises and periods of restructuring. An important means
of providing income security for workers who lose their jobs is through the introduction
of unemployment benefits. Feasibility studies carried out recently by ILO suggest that a
system of unemployment insurance can be established at a very modest level of payroll
taxes, can be largely self-financing and can provide critical income support after job
losses even during a major economic crisis. In addition to unemployment insurance, it will
be necessary to expand systems of social assistance to provide basic income support for
those on the fringe of the modern sector and the informal sector. Such income support
could include income in kind and subsidies for essential goods as well as improved access
to basic social services. However, for many developing countries, the implementation of
such safety net policies would pose considerable difficulties in terms of resources and
organization. It is in this regard that improved access to international capital flows,
especially investment resources and technical assistance from the United Nations system,
becomes critical.
60. The poor usually
respond to risks from shocks to their income-earning capacity with a series of ingenious
market and non-market mechanisms, but these are not enough. Longer-term solutions must
ensure greater access to productive assets, such as land, livestock and credits. Helping
to build up these assets is a key policy in providing security to the poor. Opening up
trading opportunities, through infrastructure development, for example, can help to
increase the security of the poor through providing avenues for diversification.
Labour-based schemes — public works and unemployment insurance in some combination,
depending on the country — are central to providing security against risks for the
poor. The key to these and other non-labour-based schemes is to design programmes so that
they maintain their function of providing insurance for the poor and are not captured by
others.
61. In addition to
addressing the employment situation of women, there is need in many countries for
improvements in the design of labour-market policies and programmes to enhance employment
opportunities of other vulnerable groups: (a) young people of working age
who continue to face unemployment or limited prospects for engaging in activities that
provide sustainable livelihood; (b) older workers who face obstacles to
continued employment, while at the same time lacking adequate social protection in the
form of social security and pension upon retirement; and (c) persons with
disabilities who may face discrimination in the labour market and negative
stereotyping, and may yet be denied practical assistance to help them obtain employment in
the “open market”, or other alternative form of employment. For these people,
targeted transfers schemes based on community-level monitoring are the best mechanisms.
62. An objective
of social policy should be the setting up of a well-functioning and equitable social
safety net system. There is an urgent need for transfer of experience in the design and
institutionalization of such systems taking into account the specific conditions of
different countries. An important institutional requirement for the efficient
functioning of the labour market encompasses free organizations of workers and employers
which have an important role to play in strengthening democracy and in promoting social
consensus on reform issues. In addition, ministries of labour and social affairs need to
adapt their structures and policies to the requirements of a competitive labour market.
This underpins the importance of developing administrative capacity to design and
implement sound policies in specific national contexts.
D. Rights and voice
63. A sustained
reduction in poverty through growth and employment can occur and continue only if it is
accompanied by social progress. The Constitution of ILO made the point in 1919.12
Since then and most recently, very clear pronouncements have been made and endorsed by a
broad range of countries in an equally broad range of forums, including the World Summit
for Social Development13 and ILO through its new Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work adopted by the International Labour Conference at its
Eighty-sixth Session, Geneva, 18 June 1998.14 These most recent expressions
join an important list of international instruments setting out the same principle: complementary
steps taken to promote social justice can hasten the improvement of the human condition
through the overall generation of wealth. The elimination of poverty and the
improvement of the human condition are also important elements of the overall aims of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see General Assembly
resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex), the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex) and the
1986 Declaration on the Right to Development (General Assembly resolution 41/128, annex).
64. The question
confronting policy makers is how the rights implicit in these various pronouncements and
instruments can be applied to help in accelerating social progress and, in turn, reducing
poverty through employment. First and foremost, the promotion of basic human rights
must serve to empower the very people whose rights are at issue. Participation and
empowerment of the poor, especially women, with respect to development efforts are made
possible by their effective organization. Thus, policies are needed to promote their
freedom of association and their ability to bargain collectively. Improved productivity
and “smart management” become possible only when workers have an effective voice
in the workplace.15
65. From experience in
employment- and income-generation schemes, it is clear that there are tremendous
implications to the denial of these rights. Without the possibility of legal organization,
for example,
· Systematic consultation and negotiation is
difficult if not impossible;
· Possibilities for extending access to credit,
technical assistance and/or training as well as to assets and justice is hindered;
· Involvement in the formulation, implementation and
evaluation of development programmes are constrained.
66. Finally, the
institution of a tripartite structure at the national level would increase social
dialogue, thus facilitating policy-making. The role of women within legal organizations,
including labour unions, should be emphasized to ensure that women’s voices are heard
in the social dialogue.
67. If employment is
to reach the marginalized poor, who are often women, policies aimed at eliminating
all forms of discrimination must be in place and implemented.16
Consequently, one of the ILO’s core labour standards addresses discrimination as
indicated in the recently adopted Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work. Thus, the Declaration states that “the elimination of discrimination in respect
of employment and occupation” must be respected, promoted and realized by all member
States, in order to “ensure equity, social progress and the eradication of
poverty”.
68. The principle of
non-discrimination is reinforced by the far-reaching scope of the standard enunciated in
the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). This
convention states that at least two types of action are required: first, that all
discrimination based on sex, among other things, inhibiting access to employment,
occupation and training, must be progressively eliminated; and second, that positive
actions are to be taken to remedy earlier discrimination against women.
69. International
human rights standards that touch on labour matters — those both of the United
Nations and of ILO — have poverty eradication as an overarching objective; but they
do not, per se, oblige States to eradicate poverty. It follows that the supervision
of international standards does not ask States to demonstrate the eradication of poverty.
Thus, there is no opportunity for international supervisory mechanisms — the ILO
Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women or the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights — to comment upon poverty eradication measures, per se.
70. There are
standards that do, however, oblige ratifying States to undertake what experience has shown
needs to be undertaken so as to develop employment as a means of eradicating poverty. This
includes standards that oblige undertaking action to empower and advance women and other
groups in ways that enhance the poverty eradication impact of employment. By sharply
focusing on such actions, these international standards can be useful in formulating,
sustaining and monitoring poverty-eradicating policies. Moreover, since international
standards do create explicit obligations and an implicit right of citizens to benefit from
their own country’s international undertakings, there is wisdom in making this
linkage. This is what a rights-based approach should be designed to achieve. For example,
the ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), sets out what is known by all
working in the field: without a commitment to an active employment policy based on
national conditions and circumstances, solutions to poverty through employment are
unlikely to be found. Similarly, the ILO Human Resources Development Convention, 1975
(No. 142), requires the ratifying State to adopt and develop comprehensive and
coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training,
closely linked with employment. The collection of accurate and timely labour-market
information needed to understand the structure of national employment is the object of the
ILO Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160).17
71. The examples above
clearly illustrate the potential of the standards to provide a normative framework for
social policy-making.
72. A case has been
made here for international labour standards and human rights declarations to inform
social policy-making. Admittedly, this is a controversial area, as it involves difficult
trade-offs. However, historical experience has shown that, in the long run, respect for
rights is consistent with improved and sustained social progress. A combination of
national and international policies is required to promote the rights-based approach
described above without introducing new conditionalities or using these standards and
norms as a pretext for new protectionism. At the national level, legislation must take
into account the need to apply these standards. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work provides a realistic framework for such a policy. At the
international level, effort is required to enable developing countries in particular to
bridge the gap of “social deficit”. This can only be achieved through a
programme of assistance to develop a promotional approach to the institutionalization of
rights and organizations, especially for the poor and women and men alike.
E. Policies at the
international level
73. The large income
inequalities at the international level are also an impediment to poverty reduction
efforts. It is thus important to sustain progress towards a more open, rules-based, world
economy characterized by free flows of trade and foreign direct investment —
more widely distributed — and increased financial flows. This implies the creation of
an international enabling environment for more balanced and widespread human-centred
growth in the world economy. Imbalances in growth and distortions of markets at the
international level are as much an obstacle to poverty reduction as those at the national
level. Major developed countries whose policies shape the international environment more
than others have the largest responsibility to help reduce such imbalances and
distortions.
74. A more free and
open world economy means that the vast differences in expenditures on human capital
formation in rich and poor countries should be steadily resolved. Increase in the free
movement of capital, goods and services should be accompanied by an equally free movement
of people and the elimination of market-distorting policies should be pursued by all
countries.
75. As regards open
trade, it is now widely recognized that exports have a higher job creation propensity and
that jobs related to exports pay on average higher wages than other jobs. Therefore, the
opening of markets and expanding of exports are of great importance to economic growth and
the creation of productive and remunerative jobs. Less widely recognized is that imports,
too, contribute to economic well-being and, indirectly, to more jobs. Imports linked to
liberalization and expansion of trade can produce benefits for domestic consumers in terms
of lower prices and wider choice. Similarly, domestic producers can benefit from lower
costs and wider choice for imported inputs, thereby enhancing productivity, and increasing
international competitiveness, which results in more jobs and higher wages.
76. However, if
developing countries, particularly the poorest and least developed among them, are to
benefit from a vibrant international trading system, especially in the context of
increased globalization, trade should be not only open but fair. This will require
elimination of barriers to products of export interest to developing countries,
particularly the least developed and low-income countries.
77. For a large number
of the least developed and low-income countries, particularly in Africa, severe debt
burdens represent an obstacle to productive investment in human resources and job
creation. The unsustainable debt positions of these countries need to be addressed and
solved in the context of the economic reform and adjustment. Relief for heavily indebted
poor countries (HIPC) through the World Bank/IMF initiative is a step in the right
direction. In addition, financial support for these countries’ fiscal and social
objectives needs to be increased.
78. Recent financial
crises and increasing turbulence in international capital markets are having a negative
impact on employment. Millions of workers mainly in developing and transition economies
are losing their jobs and being forced into poverty and exclusion. The current efforts to
strengthen and adjust the international financial architecture need to address development
concerns, which go beyond stability in markets, along with greater transparency in
institutions, countries and markets; and better regulation of short-term capital flows.
F. Partnership with the
civil society and the private sector
79. Private sector
corporations and other organizations of civil society already play an immense role in
development, and have a growing contribution to make. Partnership between the United
Nations system and civil society including the business community has been given a boost
more recently by the Secretary-General through specific initiatives and dialogues. In his
address to the business community at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 1999,
the Secretary-General proposed a “global compact” with business based on certain
fundamental values enshrined in the principles and mandates of the United Nations system
and said: “Creating wealth, which is your expertise, and promoting human security in
the broadest sense, the main concern of the United Nations, are mutually reinforcing
goals. Thriving markets and human security go hand in hand; without one, we will not have
the other. A world of hunger, poverty and injustice is one in which markets, peace and
freedom will never take root.” Harnessing the global creative energies of these
enterprises and organizations presents a major development challenge on the threshold of
the new century.
III. Poverty eradication, a one-world problem: an
agenda for action
80. Notwithstanding
the progress made, and the commitments pledged, poverty continues to be the condition of
one third of the world’s population, most of them women. Human poverty and exclusion
continue to deprive citizens of their basic rights to have a decent employment and
participate in social and political life. On the understanding that, in many cases, women
and men become impoverished through different processes and face different opportunities
and constraints in accessing the labour market, it is necessary to focus on concrete
gender-aware policy prescriptions concerning employment creation for poverty eradication.
81. Recent global
conferences have highlighted human-centred economic growth; basic physical
infrastructures; fundamental social services; access to work; land and credit; empowerment
of women; food security; natural resources regeneration; good governance; and vulnerable
groups as the priorities in efforts to achieve the overarching objective to eradicate
poverty. An effective agenda for action would require a concerted effort at three mutually
reinforcing levels: the national level; the multilateral system, in particular the United
Nations and its specialized agencies including the Bretton Woods institutions and the
World Trade Organization; and bilateral donors. The elements of such an agenda build upon
previous commitments and the work undertaken within the United Nations system, especially
the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) statement of commitment for action to
eradicate poverty (22 June 1998)18 and follow-up work undertaken by the
Consultative Committee on Programme and Operational Questions (CCPOQ) in September 1998.19
These elements are outlined below.
A. The national context: the
need for renewed and specific political commitments
82. National
Governments have the primary responsibility for poverty eradication. All the countries of
the world have approved the declarations and programmes of the global United Nations
conferences. A survey by UNDP found that significant progress in laying down the basis for
implementation of the commitments contained therein has been made, but much remains to be
done.20
83. The starting point
for action at the country level is a renewed commitment to specific targets for poverty
reduction and the adoption of policies to achieve such objectives. It is proposed
that all interested Member States embrace the 20/20 initiative and also adopt a set of
concrete targets for poverty reduction by the year 2015, such as those declared by
the Development Assistance Committee of OECD. These targets include a commitment to
reducing extreme poverty by half, but also to achieving universal primary education,
eliminating gender disparity in education by 2005, reducing infant and child mortality by
two thirds, reducing maternal mortality by three fourths and achieving universal access to
reproductive health services. These are all measurable indicators of poverty reduction.
The outcome targets specified in the OECD DAC goals would be very difficult to achieve
unless progress is made towards achieving the input target underlying the 20/20
initiative. However, progress so far in achieving related targets, since they were first
set at the World Summit for Children (1990) and then endorsed at the World Summit for
Social Development, has been too slow.
84. Governments should
commit themselves to implementing the Beijing Platform for Action and to taking steps to
ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and
relevant ILO conventions and their implementation, with the aim of removing legal
obstacles and socio-economic biases to equality, including in employment and work.
85. More specifically,
a people-centred and gender-sensitive development strategy should be put in place, with
emphasis on the following components:
(a) Policies
and institutions should be designed for rapid, sustained, human-centred and sustainable
economic growth;
(b) Countries
should commit themselves to a development strategy that recognizes the centrality of
employment creation for both women and men as the most effective policy instrument of
poverty reduction. The objective of achieving full employment should continue to
guide macro- and microeconomic policies, with particular attention to differential impact
by gender;
(c) Governments
should ensure the creation of equitable systems of social protection and safety nets
to women and men alike, while paying attention to their differential impact. In
particular, they should provide social protection for particularly vulnerable and
marginalized groups of women workers (for example, female immigrant workers, women in
countries with economies in transition and least developed economies, and long-term
unemployed and older women workers);
(d) Governments
should provide employment security for women and men workers who are in part-time,
contract, seasonal, temporary, casual or home-based work, and social assistance in kind
for those engaged outside the formal sectors. As more and more women are obliged
to go into these non-standard forms of work, the challenge is to ensure that such types of
work are not sub-standard in terms of working conditions and social protection;
(e) There
must be the institutional capacity to manage and deliver basic social services effectively
to poor women and men, with full recognition of the important role of private and
non-governmental actors and the participation of both men and women and their communities
in the provision and distribution of such services. In all these actions, a
deliberate effort should be made to promote effective women’s participation;
(f) A
powerful instrument at the disposal of Governments is budgetary allocations. Sufficient
public funds must be directed to enhancing the capability of the poor, and analysing the
impact of such allocations by gender. The provision of services to the poor in
health and education requires particular attention. Increased access to education and
training facilities, including entrepreneurship development training for women and girls,
is necessary to ensure equal access with men to productive and remunerative employment
opportunities;
(g) An
equal employment opportunity policy, based on legislation that outlaws discrimination in
employment and the labour market and ensures equal pay for work of equal value, must be
adopted.
B. The multilateral system:
strengthening national capacities for poverty eradication
86. Recent changes on
the world scene, including globalization, liberalization and recurrent crises, have
created a new framework for international relations. This is a historic opportunity for
the multilateral system — the United Nations and its specialized agencies including
the Bretton Woods institutions — to assist in coping with these changes and
innovatively enabling Member States to maximize their benefits from globalization and
minimize vulnerability to the new types of insecurity that may threaten any potential
progress.
87. Following the ACC
statement of commitment for action to eradicate poverty, the organizations of the United
Nations system should support, individually and through joint action where appropriate,
the national poverty eradication strategy outlined above and help operationalize it.
Specifically, the multilateral system should develop poverty eradication initiatives
that combine the capacities and resources of agencies concerned with civil society and the
private sector. Such initiatives could include the following components:
(a) Providing
precise gender-aware assessment of the poverty situation by country;
(b) Setting
out the broad lines of macroeconomic policies that are consistent with a time-bound
objective of poverty eradication within the context of accelerated human-centred and
gender-sensitive growth. This approach would provide a consensus document to be
used in policy advice to countries to strengthen their capacity for the design and
implementation of macroeconomic policies consistent with employment-intensive growth and
poverty reduction;
(c) Assisting
Member States in establishing poverty eradication and monitoring units;
(d) Helping
Member States to set up cost-effective and equitable systems of social protection and
safety nets, including the transfer of international experience;
(e) Providing
advice on enhancing the voice of, and representation by, the civil society, particularly
women, through respect for human rights and core international labour standards;
(f) Monitoring
progress in poverty eradication and gender equality;
(g) Assisting
Member States in mobilizing resources, national and international, for the implementation
of national poverty eradication strategies.
C. The international
community: enhanced development cooperation
88. The
international community has a key role in poverty eradication by enhancing
development cooperation as follows:
(a) Creating
a coherent and consistent, pragmatic and pro-poor policy framework at the international
level which can provide the basis for a more efficient allocation of resources in the
world economy, and thus higher growth that is pro-poor, and from which all countries can
potentially benefit;
(b) Ensuring
that poorer and marginalized countries on the fringe of the global economy are provided
with international assistance and an enabling environment to facilitate and improve the
conditions of their integration into the world economy. Such assistance could focus on
improvements in education, training, technological research and development, and
institution-building which are crucial for attracting foreign investment;
(c) Recognizing
that debt relief under the HIPC needs to be deeper, faster and broader. Adequate financing
for such relief should be ensured and it should not be at the expense of ODA flows. This
would require that the present decline in ODA flows should be redressed and donor
countries commit themselves to increasing concessional flows to the least developed and
low-income countries with a view to achieving the internationally accepted target of 0.7
per cent of GNP;
(d) Encouraging
longer-term capital flows to a large number of developing countries to support development
objectives with the ultimate goal of the eradication of absolute poverty, mainly through
improved access to productive employment and basic services, and integrating the social
dimensions of development into policy objectives in the new international financial
architecture. Provisions needed for social programmes and safety nets should accompany the
instruments and means for reducing the volatility of financial flows.
89. The time has
come for a major rethinking of the approach to debt forgiveness, both by
international organizations and by bilateral donors, with a view to providing immediate
and full relief to the least developed low-income countries with unsustainable debt
burdens, and strong anti-poverty, sustainable and people-centred development policies.
Notes
1 See Report of the World Summit for Social Development,
Copenhagen, 6–12 March 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.96.IV.8), chap. I, resolution 1, annex I, sect. C.
2 See Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women,
Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II, chap. IV,
sect. A.
3 Ibid.
4 See Official Records of the
General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/52/3/Rev.1),
chap. IV, sect. A, agreed conclusions 1997/2, sect. I.B.
5 UNDP, Human Development
Report, 1997 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1997).
6 United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.94.XVII.4.
7 New York, Oxford University
Press, 1999.
8 Studies of the survival
strategies of low-income households during periods of structural adjustment show that the
women members of these households respond to economic distress by increasing their labour
force participation rate, as well as the hours and intensity of their non-market labouring
activities. This implies that it is mainly the women who adapt their behaviour in an
effort to maintain the real consumption level of the household. Moreover, women lose their
jobs first and families pull their daughters out of school before their sons. The
particular situation of adolescent girls becomes more uncertain when employment
opportunities or further educational programmes are cut off, leading to pressure for early
marriage, exploitation or harsh conditions of work.
9 ILO, The Dilemma of the
Informal Sector.
10 A. K. Sen, “Editorial:
human capital and human capability”, World Development, vol. 25,
No. 12 (1997), pp. 1,959–1,961.
11 See IMF Survey, 8 March
1999, pp. 79–80.
12 Universal and lasting peace
(implying a reduction of impoverishment) “can be established only if it is based upon
social justice” (sect. I of the ILO Constitution).
13 The Copenhagen Declaration on
Social Development called upon States to “reaffirm, promote and strive to ensure the
realization of the rights set out in relevant international instruments and declarations,
such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the Declaration on the Right to Development, including those relating
to education, food, shelter, employment, health and information, particularly in
order to assist people living in poverty” (commitment 1, para. (f)).
14 In the 1998 Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the ILO’s member States (para. 2)
declared that they had an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the
Organization, to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith, the principles
concerning the fundamental rights of freedom of association and the effective recognition
of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of all forms of forced or
compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour, and the elimination of
discrimination in respect of employment and occupation (ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up adopted by the International Labour
Conference at its Eighty-sixth Session, Geneva, 18 June 1998 (Geneva,
International Labour Office, 1998).
15 The ILO Freedom of Association
and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and Right to
Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), are two of the
international standards dealing with these subjects (see ILO, International Labour
Conventions and Recommendations, 1919–1951, vol. I, part I (Geneva,
International Labour Office, 1996).
16 The United Nations Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is a fundamental instrument
in this regard. It is complemented by the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100).
17 ILO, International Labour
Conventions ..., vol. III.
18 See E/1998/73.
19 See ACC/1998/POQ/CRP.17.
20 Almost 80 per cent of countries
have gathered estimates of poverty and about 60 per cent have formulated plans
to address it; but only 30 per cent have set goals for poverty reduction and
eradication.
