European Union
1
Meeting of the General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations - New York – 17-19 June 2013
European Union and its Member States - Speaking Points on “Employment and decent work for
all, social protection, youth, education and culture”
[These address the themes of session as well as the issues raised in the background briefs]
The EU and its Member States stress the need to integrate the work on SDGs and on a “post-2015
development agenda”. We promote a single overarching post-2015 framework that is universally
applicable and recognises that poverty eradication and sustainable development are mutually reinforcing
and interlinked. The following are preliminary ideas and we are committed to listen, consider, interact
and assess proposals made by others.
We thank the Technical Support Team (TST) for the issues briefs which provide a good basis for
discussion.
On Employment and decent work for all, social protection, youth
• While great emphasis must be rightly placed on securing the conditions that will create growth and
jobs, decent work and social protection are key elements for ensuring basic living standards and driving
inclusive and sustainable growth. For people all around the world, they are essential to escape from
poverty and they contribute to equality, equity, justice, peace and security. Against this background, we
want to emphasize four key messages today:
1. First, "not all jobs are decent jobs". There should be a thorough reflection on how the promotion of
decent work could best be addressed in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework. In particular, we
need a better understanding and measurement of the quality of work, taking into account pay, working
conditions, safety and exposure to hazardous substances, form of employment and social security
arrangements. We further emphasize the importance of paying wages that allow workers to live in
dignity. We pay special attention to the ongoing ILO processes regarding the Decent Work Agenda and
its work on measuring decent work. Consideration should also be given on how best to incorporate the
respect for the fundamental principles and rights at work. Valuable lessons could be drawn from the
World Bank’s World Development Report (WDR) 2013 on Jobs which looks at decent jobs as key drivers
of development.
2. Second, many countries face worsening youth employment situation. Some 621 million young
people worldwide are estimated to be neither employed, nor in school or training. We need to consider
how best to address this issue. The EU's own response to this problem includes the promotion of youth
guarantee schemes which ensure that all young people receive a good-quality offer of employment,
continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship. While being aware that the right policies depend
on national context, we are ready to share our experiences with all interested parties.
3. Third, we emphasize the critical role that social protection plays. It is an investment in human
development and inclusive sustainable economic growth, when social protection systems successfully
promote higher labour market participation, both through active labour market measures and protection
against vulnerability and social risk, which provide the level of social security that all people need in
order to enhance their livelihoods. We reiterate that everyone has the right to social security, as stated in
2
Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We should implement step by step the ILO
Recommendation No 202 concerning national floor for social protection and consider this, among others
important elements, in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework. We also wish to emphasise the role
and relevance of health systems for social protection and well-being, as well as the commitments made
with respect to universal access to health care.
4. Fourth, ensuring basic living standards for everyone goes hand in hand with addressing
inequalities and ensuring that the benefits of sustainable growth and development are shared by all
members of society. There are several ways of addressing inequalities and their root-causes. Tackling
inequalities is closely related to eradicating poverty and this relation should be reflected in the poverty
lines we define. For example in the EU, we use a three-dimensional poverty concept: 'at risk of poverty
or social exclusion': this includes people living below a certain threshold of the median income (after
social transfers) and/or people severely materially deprived and/or people living in household with very
low work intensity. A related proposal recently presented by the World Bank and IMF focusing on
fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in every country could also serve as
an inspiration. In fact, GDP growth may translate into different household income dynamics in different
segments of society. We must strive to leave no one behind, delivering progress for all social groups and
income quintiles, and secure equality of opportunity. We welcome efforts to complement GDP with a
number of measures including ones than reflect inequalities.
• Finally, it is key to keep in mind some crucial cross-cutting issues regarding the above points:
- We believe that gender equality cuts across all social issues discussed today and ought to be
appropriately reflected in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework.
- The inclusion of people with disabilities should also be appropriately addressed.
- We need to look at poverty, prosperity and well-being within planetary boundaries, from a
multidimensional angle going beyond the monetary income measure alone. We welcome research
undertaken to better reflect this multidimensionality in monitoring.
- Promoting decent work, social protection and addressing inequalities can also help enhancing
global sustainability in its three dimensions, and vice versa. For example, social dialogue and social
protection if properly designed, can also contribute to achieving environmental goals. The promotion of
social protection, decent green jobs and associated skills are central to the transformation to a sustainable
and inclusive economy. This is also important for the agricultural sector worldwide which still provides
approximately 50% of jobs.
- Governance, transparency and participative government methods are also essential for ensuring
that measures met the needs of citizens.
On Education:
• We need to address the challenges to ensure equitable access at all levels of education and quality
learning for all in a lifelong perspective. We must go beyond primary education and promote a
balanced development of the whole education sector, from early childhood interventions to vocational
and tertiary education.
1.
- The elaboration of the post-2015 framework needs to address the unfinished business of the current
MDGs. In education, unfinished business means getting the over 61 million out-of school children to
primary school. This requires particular attention to children from marginalized groups, such as children
in conflict affected areas, ethnic minorities and children and youth with disabilities (equitable access).
- Gender equality must continue to be a priority, with a particular focus on access and completion of
primary and lower-secondary levels, ensuring that school is a safe environment for girls and promoting
educational systems which do not reproduce gender stereotypes.
3
- Education is a fundamental tool to protect children from harm and exploitation, while helping to meet
psychosocial needs of conflict affected and displaced children and restore normality and hope for the
future.
- On quality learning, we are committed to ensuring that by 2030 every child completes at least
basic education and has basic literacy and numeracy skills. Challenges related to teachers need to be
addressed: approximately 8-10 million additional competent and motivated teachers are required to
provide a full quality basic education for all. Teachers training, conditions and management, but also
school leadership and governance are key issues.
2.
- Education must be relevant: providing necessary skills to access the labour market (not just
technical, but also basic and transferrable skills). Quality Vocational Education and Training (VET) with
functioning links to the labour market is an essential element in encouraging inclusive and sustainable
growth and enabling countries to diversify their economies and provide decent work, especially in
regions with a large youth cohort such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Adequate VET together with arrangements
for the validation of non-formal and informal learning should also address the realities of informal
economy in providing young people whose livelihoods depend on the informal economy with the
necessary skills to avoid poverty and benefit from and contribute to sustainable growth.
- Adult literacy and second chance education (including employment-related) should be better
addressed in the future. 775 million adults, two-thirds of whom are women, still lack basic reading and
writing skills. Adult literacy is not only a problem in the developing world, as around 160 million adults
in high income countries have very poor literacy skills, and therefore it needs to be tackled as a universal
challenge. Youth and adults who by 2015 do not have basic reading and neither writing nor solid
technical skills should have an opportunity to continue their education and training.
• There must be proper emphasis on monitoring and development of measurable indicators for learning
both at national and international level (universality principle). All targets and indicators should be
relevant, clear, disaggregated, measurable, simple and easily understood by a broader public.
• Ensuring quality education needs long-term, predictable and sustainable financing based on
domestic resources and sometimes on international resources, and private sector and the business
community can make a substantial contribution. Accountability is also a crucial element in order to
ensure the development of education systems, which work for universal access and quality education.
• Education’s role in sustainable development must be made explicit. The principles of sustainable
development, as well as examples on how to adopt these principles in daily life, should be internalized in
all levels of education to ensure that education strengthens people’s understanding of sustainable
practices.
On Culture and development:
• Cultural sector and actors have an important role to play as a lever for human and social
development as well as for democratic change.
• Strengthening the cultural fabric of a community provides the basis for its social and economic
development, while promoting values such as diversity and freedom of expression. Cultural dynamism
creates an environment that facilitates dialogue between communities in fragile context as well as social
cohesion and inclusion. It is a key element in ensuring effective ownership, empowering youth and
women, and for enabling democratic transition, human rights and social stability as a whole.
• Culture and the creative industries have an economic potential but also contribute to
sustainable development in a fast urban transition in most partner countries, both through heritage and
cultural tourism, participation of local populations but also through environmentally conscious actors in
urban planning and the better life it offers to citizens.
Meeting of the General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations - New York – 17-19 June 2013
European Union and its Member States - Speaking Points on “Employment and decent work for
all, social protection, youth, education and culture”
[These address the themes of session as well as the issues raised in the background briefs]
The EU and its Member States stress the need to integrate the work on SDGs and on a “post-2015
development agenda”. We promote a single overarching post-2015 framework that is universally
applicable and recognises that poverty eradication and sustainable development are mutually reinforcing
and interlinked. The following are preliminary ideas and we are committed to listen, consider, interact
and assess proposals made by others.
We thank the Technical Support Team (TST) for the issues briefs which provide a good basis for
discussion.
On Employment and decent work for all, social protection, youth
• While great emphasis must be rightly placed on securing the conditions that will create growth and
jobs, decent work and social protection are key elements for ensuring basic living standards and driving
inclusive and sustainable growth. For people all around the world, they are essential to escape from
poverty and they contribute to equality, equity, justice, peace and security. Against this background, we
want to emphasize four key messages today:
1. First, "not all jobs are decent jobs". There should be a thorough reflection on how the promotion of
decent work could best be addressed in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework. In particular, we
need a better understanding and measurement of the quality of work, taking into account pay, working
conditions, safety and exposure to hazardous substances, form of employment and social security
arrangements. We further emphasize the importance of paying wages that allow workers to live in
dignity. We pay special attention to the ongoing ILO processes regarding the Decent Work Agenda and
its work on measuring decent work. Consideration should also be given on how best to incorporate the
respect for the fundamental principles and rights at work. Valuable lessons could be drawn from the
World Bank’s World Development Report (WDR) 2013 on Jobs which looks at decent jobs as key drivers
of development.
2. Second, many countries face worsening youth employment situation. Some 621 million young
people worldwide are estimated to be neither employed, nor in school or training. We need to consider
how best to address this issue. The EU's own response to this problem includes the promotion of youth
guarantee schemes which ensure that all young people receive a good-quality offer of employment,
continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship. While being aware that the right policies depend
on national context, we are ready to share our experiences with all interested parties.
3. Third, we emphasize the critical role that social protection plays. It is an investment in human
development and inclusive sustainable economic growth, when social protection systems successfully
promote higher labour market participation, both through active labour market measures and protection
against vulnerability and social risk, which provide the level of social security that all people need in
order to enhance their livelihoods. We reiterate that everyone has the right to social security, as stated in
2
Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We should implement step by step the ILO
Recommendation No 202 concerning national floor for social protection and consider this, among others
important elements, in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework. We also wish to emphasise the role
and relevance of health systems for social protection and well-being, as well as the commitments made
with respect to universal access to health care.
4. Fourth, ensuring basic living standards for everyone goes hand in hand with addressing
inequalities and ensuring that the benefits of sustainable growth and development are shared by all
members of society. There are several ways of addressing inequalities and their root-causes. Tackling
inequalities is closely related to eradicating poverty and this relation should be reflected in the poverty
lines we define. For example in the EU, we use a three-dimensional poverty concept: 'at risk of poverty
or social exclusion': this includes people living below a certain threshold of the median income (after
social transfers) and/or people severely materially deprived and/or people living in household with very
low work intensity. A related proposal recently presented by the World Bank and IMF focusing on
fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in every country could also serve as
an inspiration. In fact, GDP growth may translate into different household income dynamics in different
segments of society. We must strive to leave no one behind, delivering progress for all social groups and
income quintiles, and secure equality of opportunity. We welcome efforts to complement GDP with a
number of measures including ones than reflect inequalities.
• Finally, it is key to keep in mind some crucial cross-cutting issues regarding the above points:
- We believe that gender equality cuts across all social issues discussed today and ought to be
appropriately reflected in the elaboration of the post-2015 framework.
- The inclusion of people with disabilities should also be appropriately addressed.
- We need to look at poverty, prosperity and well-being within planetary boundaries, from a
multidimensional angle going beyond the monetary income measure alone. We welcome research
undertaken to better reflect this multidimensionality in monitoring.
- Promoting decent work, social protection and addressing inequalities can also help enhancing
global sustainability in its three dimensions, and vice versa. For example, social dialogue and social
protection if properly designed, can also contribute to achieving environmental goals. The promotion of
social protection, decent green jobs and associated skills are central to the transformation to a sustainable
and inclusive economy. This is also important for the agricultural sector worldwide which still provides
approximately 50% of jobs.
- Governance, transparency and participative government methods are also essential for ensuring
that measures met the needs of citizens.
On Education:
• We need to address the challenges to ensure equitable access at all levels of education and quality
learning for all in a lifelong perspective. We must go beyond primary education and promote a
balanced development of the whole education sector, from early childhood interventions to vocational
and tertiary education.
1.
- The elaboration of the post-2015 framework needs to address the unfinished business of the current
MDGs. In education, unfinished business means getting the over 61 million out-of school children to
primary school. This requires particular attention to children from marginalized groups, such as children
in conflict affected areas, ethnic minorities and children and youth with disabilities (equitable access).
- Gender equality must continue to be a priority, with a particular focus on access and completion of
primary and lower-secondary levels, ensuring that school is a safe environment for girls and promoting
educational systems which do not reproduce gender stereotypes.
3
- Education is a fundamental tool to protect children from harm and exploitation, while helping to meet
psychosocial needs of conflict affected and displaced children and restore normality and hope for the
future.
- On quality learning, we are committed to ensuring that by 2030 every child completes at least
basic education and has basic literacy and numeracy skills. Challenges related to teachers need to be
addressed: approximately 8-10 million additional competent and motivated teachers are required to
provide a full quality basic education for all. Teachers training, conditions and management, but also
school leadership and governance are key issues.
2.
- Education must be relevant: providing necessary skills to access the labour market (not just
technical, but also basic and transferrable skills). Quality Vocational Education and Training (VET) with
functioning links to the labour market is an essential element in encouraging inclusive and sustainable
growth and enabling countries to diversify their economies and provide decent work, especially in
regions with a large youth cohort such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Adequate VET together with arrangements
for the validation of non-formal and informal learning should also address the realities of informal
economy in providing young people whose livelihoods depend on the informal economy with the
necessary skills to avoid poverty and benefit from and contribute to sustainable growth.
- Adult literacy and second chance education (including employment-related) should be better
addressed in the future. 775 million adults, two-thirds of whom are women, still lack basic reading and
writing skills. Adult literacy is not only a problem in the developing world, as around 160 million adults
in high income countries have very poor literacy skills, and therefore it needs to be tackled as a universal
challenge. Youth and adults who by 2015 do not have basic reading and neither writing nor solid
technical skills should have an opportunity to continue their education and training.
• There must be proper emphasis on monitoring and development of measurable indicators for learning
both at national and international level (universality principle). All targets and indicators should be
relevant, clear, disaggregated, measurable, simple and easily understood by a broader public.
• Ensuring quality education needs long-term, predictable and sustainable financing based on
domestic resources and sometimes on international resources, and private sector and the business
community can make a substantial contribution. Accountability is also a crucial element in order to
ensure the development of education systems, which work for universal access and quality education.
• Education’s role in sustainable development must be made explicit. The principles of sustainable
development, as well as examples on how to adopt these principles in daily life, should be internalized in
all levels of education to ensure that education strengthens people’s understanding of sustainable
practices.
On Culture and development:
• Cultural sector and actors have an important role to play as a lever for human and social
development as well as for democratic change.
• Strengthening the cultural fabric of a community provides the basis for its social and economic
development, while promoting values such as diversity and freedom of expression. Cultural dynamism
creates an environment that facilitates dialogue between communities in fragile context as well as social
cohesion and inclusion. It is a key element in ensuring effective ownership, empowering youth and
women, and for enabling democratic transition, human rights and social stability as a whole.
• Culture and the creative industries have an economic potential but also contribute to
sustainable development in a fast urban transition in most partner countries, both through heritage and
cultural tourism, participation of local populations but also through environmentally conscious actors in
urban planning and the better life it offers to citizens.
Stakeholders