FORUM: Economic and Social Council Sub-Commission 2
QUESTION OF: Cultivating the Employability of Entrants to the Labour Market in Developing Countries
SUBMITTED BY: United States of America
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL SUB-COMMISSION 2,
Recalling its resolution 2007/2 of 17 July 2007 and the theme of the coordination segment of its 2007 substantive session, “The role of the United Nations system in promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all”,
Taking note that about 1.5 billion people, constituting one third of the working-age population worldwide, were either unemployed or underemployed in 2006, about 200 million unemployed, and the remaining 1.3 billion constituted the working poor who are unable to overcome the poverty threshold,
Bearing in mind that the decent-work agenda of the International Labor Organization (ILO) is an important tool for ensuring the full and productive employment of decent work,
Realizing that a people-centred strategy must represent the core of economic and social development,
1. Calls Upon non governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the ILO and governments of willing developing countries to establish and/or extend well-designed social protection floors and labor market institutions to ensure the safety and rights of workers in all classes through means such as, but not limited to:
a) organizing semi-annual international conventions that will take place in different locations determined by a waiting list of registered and willing countries to engage in active problem solving and discussion through:
i. debriefing of the financial situation in regions and subregions in approximately 45-minute presentations by multiple representatives before international panels of experts in the field of labor for better assessment of potential policies best suited for that respective region
ii. encouraging the formation of organized labor unions at national and regional levels under the guidance of certified research associates and directors for policy planning in employment provided by the ILO
iii. reporting on newly implemented policies and whether or not such policies have shown benefits to the labor market
b) developing and expanding social security programs such as retirement funds and paid maternity leave;
2. Urges member nations to recognize and focus on the importance of the empowerment of financially vulnerable groups in order to accommodate an ethical and stabilized labor force, such as immigrants, youths, and domestic women through methods such as, but not limited to:
a) provision of government-subsidized local psychological support and counseling programs, including mentored support groups to safeguard the wellbeing and integration of these people groups into society
b) coordination of quarterly local seminars hosted by NGO representatives for residents and immigrants alike to discuss measures to eliminate harmful social stigmas surrounding minority groups and to foster social equality necessary for sustainable growth
c) cooperation with NGOs such as the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), Youth Advocacy Group (YAG), Teachers Without Borders and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the creation of an enabling environment for children and youth to focus on receiving formal education by:
i. enforcing reasonable minimum age laws on formalized enterprises by instituting monetary, privilege-based, and/or other penalties on contract for failing to abide by such policies
ii. financing local public schools in the purchase of basic technology, textbooks, utensils, and other clean and basic facilities
iii. incentivizing school attendance by providing lunchtime feeding programs, NGO-established scholarship programs, after school activities and clubs;
3. Strongly urges developing countries to increase access in the labor market to decent job opportunities and diversify productive capacity by means such as, but not limited to:
a) enhancing vocational training programs and participation in such programs by:
i. facilitating income transfer programs as incentives for benefits recipients, including those seeking jobs, to receive training and take on suitable work
ii. working with NGOs like the International Vocational Education and Training Association (IVETA) and people of all classes in the labor field to develop a comprehensive curriculum on basic skill sets in the workplace and semi-personalized education based on counseled personal assessment of career paths
iii. re-shaping social attitude through awareness to change the current preference of academic education over vocational training for more of the youth population to be suitable in wider professions
b) promoting facilitation, formalization, and expansion of formal enterprises in nations that lack a stabilized access to the formal job market by:
i. administering regional workshops to provide guidance on the topic, including information on privileges granted through promotional programs upon formalization
ii. working to simplify administrative procedures to ease the transition of an informal enterprise into a formalized state, therefore shifting more companies into the formalized market
c) strengthening investment in the technology sector for economic growth and expansion of productive capacity by:
i. allocating funds to research universities for projects as grants upon approval by the specified national agencies
ii. financing projects of existing STEM-based enterprises that abide by standards of national labor institutions
iii. expanding usage of technology, especially in countries that are lacking, through utilizing social networking systems (SNS) to alert people of job openings, establishing local public facilities to provide micro jobs and develop individual tech skills;
4. Recommends developing member statesto take economic liberalization measures to increase growth and efficiency of enterprises, thus raising market output, through ways including but not limited to:
a) reducing corporate taxes to foster greater investments in additional capital stock
b) stimulating competition among businesses through:
i. penalizing actions of cartels recognized by national agencies
ii. encouraging international companies to set up bases in developing nations in order to increase job availability to the youth of nations
c) encouraging profit- maximizing and higher efficiency to an acceptable level according to each nation’s capability by increasing privatization to increase efficiency and retained profit for more investments and thus more jobs
d) introducing policies to encourage competition by:
i. aiding the establishment of small firms
ii. providing loans for graduate/entrants to set up new businesses
iii. encouraging venture capitalists to generate fresh ideas;
5. Encourages willing nations to work towards a more transparent environment in terms of the labor market and policy reforms, including the publicizing of development opportunities through means such as, but not limited to:
a) recording and publishing national data analysis reports in libraries, online, as pamphlets or as excerpts in newspapers
b) opening up global discussion forums on the issue for dialogue between citizens, representatives, willing policymakers and executives
c) utilizing, or if needed, developing national agencies that will:
i. assess the situation of different regions within the nation and determine which development strategy will fit best with that particular region
ii. collect a designated set of necessary data from citizens in formal enterprises, and employees in informal economy through optional periodical census
iii. encourage dialogue between employers in informal economies and its employees to develop a consensual contract of labor standards including the removal of granted privileges for failing to abide by such standards
d) initiating, with the help of certified volunteers from respective national NGOs, workshops and local Q&A sessions that will:
i. subsidizing low-interest loans for the creation of new SMEs (small and medium enterprises)
ii. separating personal bankruptcy from company financial standings
iii. emphasize, through lectures, gender equality as an integral component of social equality, and the importance of females in the domestic labor force
e) cooperating with Transparency International (TI) to increase transparency in labor markets to provide accurate informationabout labor market working environments in order to give employees a chance to be provided with social protection by conducting biannual checkups aimed towards ensuring transparency in labor market agencies.