BRICS Joint Statement made by Ambassador Ajit Kumar, Permanent Representative of India to UN and other International Organizations in Geneva at the  326th Session of ILO Governing Body, 10-24 March 2016

POL Section – Employment & Social Protection Segment

Outcome 1: More and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospects (GB.326/POL/1)

Mr. Chairperson,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the BRICS nations.

1. BRICS nations recognise labour and employment policies as critical to foster strong, sustainable and inclusive growth. We collectively feel that our coordination and cooperation on promotion of quality and inclusive employment, strengthening intra-BRICS dialogue and the exchange of experience and information on labour & employment issues and social inclusion is an important step forward in our long-term cooperation for the benefit of our peoples and the international community.

2. Increasing labour productivity through skills development and introduction of new technologies and extending social protection to its workforce comprises the three pillars of the inclusive, quality and job rich economic growth. BRICS nations have agreed to strive to achieve the balance between these pillars based on integrated and comprehensive policy approaches, sharing experience, development of stakeholders cooperation. In order to provide more and better job opportunities to youth, as well as other vulnerable categories of population, we need to prioritize the relevant programs in national employment policies and make concerted efforts to impart youth with adequate skills required for high productive jobs. Labour and Employment information exchange is another priority and intends to share labour and employment information related to job creation, transition from informality to formality, labour productivity, youth and women employment, etc.

3. The strategy and planned activities under Outcome 1 on “More and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospects” that have been put up by the Office in a cohesive manner assume great significance, especially when complemented by increasing of employability of other population groups such as women, long-term unemployed, and persons with disabilities. These are also relevant when viewed in the global context of weakening, uncertain and uneven economic and labour market prospects in large parts of the world.  Employment must be at the core of the overall growth strategy.  This is now well recognized and has become central to policy deliberations at every national, regional & international policy forum.  We urge the ILO, as an integral part of most of these fora, to continue to leverage its position to promote the concepts of decent work and inclusive development in the overall scheme of economic growth.

4. Poverty, underemployment, and regional imbalance in development are big challenges for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development. The policy response therefore, needs to encourage domestic industry including through that of SMEs and entrepreneurship, attract large-scale global investment, create massive job opportunities leading to balanced regional development, address wage distortions and promote labour mobility.  We urge ILO to work upon and promote labour mobility at the domestic and international levels to enable youth and other groups to have access to the best opportunities across the globe.

5. We acknowledge the contribution that the research by ILO and other international organisations have made to enrich the discussions in BRICS. We believe that informed policy discourse will enable us to identify and strategise for long term objectives more effectively. BRICS represent the changing face of labour market and working on BRICS issues can help ILO to look more closely into this change and realign the policy tools to the emerging economic & labour market needs.

6. Finally, we thank the Director-General for acknowledging in his various interventions that the traditional/conventional employment scenario is changing and our efforts should not be constrained by a rigid understanding.  Therefore, we request ILO to take into account the emerging economic & labour market scenario while working on the policy tools. We support the draft decision and look forward to working closely with ILO and its constituents to shape up the solutions to the challenges in the world of work.

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