Troika (Australia, Netherlands and UK)
Australia, The Netherlands and UK
Open Working Group, June 2013: Employment and Decent Work for All, Social Protection,
Youth, Education and Culture, Health, and Population Dynamics
These topics are all interconnected. Access to health care, education and a job must be
ensured for all – they are prerequisites for people in all corners of the world to secure a
good standard of living. Throughout our discussions, we should pay attention to equality of
opportunity, gender, and disability. The private sector can play a crucial role in achieving
poverty eradication and sustainable development through innovation and assuming
responsibility for the social and environmental effects of its activities.
Health
• To be able to achieve the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right. It
depends on: access to strong health systems, clean water, sanitation, good nutrition,
education, gender equality and a reliable income.
• Universal access to health care can help break the cycle of poverty, ill-health and
unsustainable environments, especially for women, children and youth. All people
irrespective of race, religion, political belief, location, gender, age, disability, sexual
orientation, economic or social condition should have access to quality health information,
education and services.
• Any health goal in the post-2015 agenda should build on the MDGs and the unfinished
agenda on maternal and child health and communicable diseases and should focus on
equity, access, and emerging health issues, e.g. non-communicable diseases. Targets must
be set and met for the poorest quintiles. No one should be left behind.
• Prioritizing sexual and reproductive health and rights is fundamental to the unfinished
agenda. Sexual and reproductive health problems (including HIV-infection and other STI’s,
unwanted and very early pregnancies, unsafe abortions) have huge costs to people’s health
and well-being as well as to economies and public budgets. Providing sexual and
reproductive health rights and education for girls is the most effective and ethical manner to
manage population growth.
• The post-2015 agenda should promote and complement the full and effective
implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the outcomes of their
review conferences.
Population dynamics
• Investments in young people’s education and job opportunities and universal access to
health care, including sexual and reproductive health, and assisting people to meet their
caring responsibilities will enable countries to reap the rewards of the demographic
dividend and permanently exit poverty to prosperity.
• Population dynamics should be determined by individuals’ choices. Meeting the needs of
these adolescent girls and women, through rights based, voluntary family planning services,
would be one of the most effective strategies to contribute sustainable development.
Australia, The Netherlands and UK
Resolving some of the challenges of population trends such as growth and decline requires
individuals and families to be able to fulfill their rights and decide freely if, when, with
whom and how many children to have. They must have access to sexual and reproductive
health information and services, including contraceptives.
Education
A good quality education is also a fundamental right. It is an essential foundation for
sustainable development and poverty reduction. Education directly improves people’s lives
through better health choices and helping to secure good and decent work.
• Access to good quality basic education for all should remain the post-2015 focus, with a
stronger emphasis on equity (including girls and children with disability), learning outcomes
(basic literacy and numeracy and skills like critical thinking and problem-solving) and the
transition to post-primary education and provision of work-relevant skills for young people
(vocational skills should be demand-led, employer-driven).
• But education and vocational training are not just for the young: life-long learning is also
important for continued quality of life. Equally, education is not just essential to build the
skills needed for work, but also to provide a solid basis of life skills.
Jobs – Productive employment and decent work
• Jobs and employment must be a high post-2015 priority. Over 80% of households that have
escaped extreme poverty have done so because the head of household got a job.
• High, sustained and pro-poor economic growth, undertaken in the context of sustainable
development is the most effective way to raise incomes, generate jobs and permanently lift
people out of poverty. Growth must be twinned with economic transformation: shifting
labour into higher productivity and more diversified uses. Quality education is needed to
enable this transformation and move people into more productive jobs.
• Private enterprise provides over 90% of jobs in the developing world so conditions must
right for firms to grow and employ more people productively and sustainably. Businesses
can play a crucial role in poverty eradication and sustainable development through
innovation, technology and taking responsibility for social and environmental impacts.
• But jobs must also be decent: secure, safe and fairly paid. People should have the freedom
to organise and participate in decisions that affect them. Promoting decent work standards
helps formalise jobs in the informal sector.
• Women, youth and people with disabilities are often excluded from or discriminated in
labour markets. Access to employment and career opportunities must be equal for all.
Women should have the same economic rights as men - to inherit property, sign a contract,
register a business and open a bank account. Stigma and discrimination are often the
greatest barriers to people with disability obtaining employment - they should be supported
to obtain and maintain employment. A necessary condition for these rights is an end to all
forms of violence against women and girls.
Australia, The Netherlands and UK
Social Protection
• Social protection can be used as part of a wider strategy for inclusive, sustainable growth to
end poverty. It can guarantee a basic income and reduce barriers to accessing basic and
maternal health care, nutrition, education and a healthy environment.
• Social protection systems must contribute to a government’s wider priorities and
accompany economic transformation. Interventions need to be tailored to the country
context - considering when, why and how to use social protection systems – and we must
promote equality of opportunity, first and foremost.
Youth
• Throughout our work in the OWG, we must keep in mind that young people form the largest
single demographic group in many countries across the world. They are the world’s greatest
asset and vital for shaping and delivering the future development agenda. They bring new
perspectives, fresh solutions and a high capacity for innovation.
• To fulfil their potential, we must make sure they can access education and decent jobs.
There are still millions unemployed or underemployed, and hundreds of millions are still not
completing primary school.
• We would like to thank Ralien Bekkers of Dutch National Youth Council for her statement
on behalf of youth in our three countries and recognise the importance of youth
participation in (inter)national policy-making. We note the work of the 8th Commonwealth
Youth Ministers Meeting held 15-19 April 2013 in Papua New Guinea recognised that young
people should be included as key participants in, and contributors to development.
Open Working Group, June 2013: Employment and Decent Work for All, Social Protection,
Youth, Education and Culture, Health, and Population Dynamics
These topics are all interconnected. Access to health care, education and a job must be
ensured for all – they are prerequisites for people in all corners of the world to secure a
good standard of living. Throughout our discussions, we should pay attention to equality of
opportunity, gender, and disability. The private sector can play a crucial role in achieving
poverty eradication and sustainable development through innovation and assuming
responsibility for the social and environmental effects of its activities.
Health
• To be able to achieve the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right. It
depends on: access to strong health systems, clean water, sanitation, good nutrition,
education, gender equality and a reliable income.
• Universal access to health care can help break the cycle of poverty, ill-health and
unsustainable environments, especially for women, children and youth. All people
irrespective of race, religion, political belief, location, gender, age, disability, sexual
orientation, economic or social condition should have access to quality health information,
education and services.
• Any health goal in the post-2015 agenda should build on the MDGs and the unfinished
agenda on maternal and child health and communicable diseases and should focus on
equity, access, and emerging health issues, e.g. non-communicable diseases. Targets must
be set and met for the poorest quintiles. No one should be left behind.
• Prioritizing sexual and reproductive health and rights is fundamental to the unfinished
agenda. Sexual and reproductive health problems (including HIV-infection and other STI’s,
unwanted and very early pregnancies, unsafe abortions) have huge costs to people’s health
and well-being as well as to economies and public budgets. Providing sexual and
reproductive health rights and education for girls is the most effective and ethical manner to
manage population growth.
• The post-2015 agenda should promote and complement the full and effective
implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the outcomes of their
review conferences.
Population dynamics
• Investments in young people’s education and job opportunities and universal access to
health care, including sexual and reproductive health, and assisting people to meet their
caring responsibilities will enable countries to reap the rewards of the demographic
dividend and permanently exit poverty to prosperity.
• Population dynamics should be determined by individuals’ choices. Meeting the needs of
these adolescent girls and women, through rights based, voluntary family planning services,
would be one of the most effective strategies to contribute sustainable development.
Australia, The Netherlands and UK
Resolving some of the challenges of population trends such as growth and decline requires
individuals and families to be able to fulfill their rights and decide freely if, when, with
whom and how many children to have. They must have access to sexual and reproductive
health information and services, including contraceptives.
Education
A good quality education is also a fundamental right. It is an essential foundation for
sustainable development and poverty reduction. Education directly improves people’s lives
through better health choices and helping to secure good and decent work.
• Access to good quality basic education for all should remain the post-2015 focus, with a
stronger emphasis on equity (including girls and children with disability), learning outcomes
(basic literacy and numeracy and skills like critical thinking and problem-solving) and the
transition to post-primary education and provision of work-relevant skills for young people
(vocational skills should be demand-led, employer-driven).
• But education and vocational training are not just for the young: life-long learning is also
important for continued quality of life. Equally, education is not just essential to build the
skills needed for work, but also to provide a solid basis of life skills.
Jobs – Productive employment and decent work
• Jobs and employment must be a high post-2015 priority. Over 80% of households that have
escaped extreme poverty have done so because the head of household got a job.
• High, sustained and pro-poor economic growth, undertaken in the context of sustainable
development is the most effective way to raise incomes, generate jobs and permanently lift
people out of poverty. Growth must be twinned with economic transformation: shifting
labour into higher productivity and more diversified uses. Quality education is needed to
enable this transformation and move people into more productive jobs.
• Private enterprise provides over 90% of jobs in the developing world so conditions must
right for firms to grow and employ more people productively and sustainably. Businesses
can play a crucial role in poverty eradication and sustainable development through
innovation, technology and taking responsibility for social and environmental impacts.
• But jobs must also be decent: secure, safe and fairly paid. People should have the freedom
to organise and participate in decisions that affect them. Promoting decent work standards
helps formalise jobs in the informal sector.
• Women, youth and people with disabilities are often excluded from or discriminated in
labour markets. Access to employment and career opportunities must be equal for all.
Women should have the same economic rights as men - to inherit property, sign a contract,
register a business and open a bank account. Stigma and discrimination are often the
greatest barriers to people with disability obtaining employment - they should be supported
to obtain and maintain employment. A necessary condition for these rights is an end to all
forms of violence against women and girls.
Australia, The Netherlands and UK
Social Protection
• Social protection can be used as part of a wider strategy for inclusive, sustainable growth to
end poverty. It can guarantee a basic income and reduce barriers to accessing basic and
maternal health care, nutrition, education and a healthy environment.
• Social protection systems must contribute to a government’s wider priorities and
accompany economic transformation. Interventions need to be tailored to the country
context - considering when, why and how to use social protection systems – and we must
promote equality of opportunity, first and foremost.
Youth
• Throughout our work in the OWG, we must keep in mind that young people form the largest
single demographic group in many countries across the world. They are the world’s greatest
asset and vital for shaping and delivering the future development agenda. They bring new
perspectives, fresh solutions and a high capacity for innovation.
• To fulfil their potential, we must make sure they can access education and decent jobs.
There are still millions unemployed or underemployed, and hundreds of millions are still not
completing primary school.
• We would like to thank Ralien Bekkers of Dutch National Youth Council for her statement
on behalf of youth in our three countries and recognise the importance of youth
participation in (inter)national policy-making. We note the work of the 8th Commonwealth
Youth Ministers Meeting held 15-19 April 2013 in Papua New Guinea recognised that young
people should be included as key participants in, and contributors to development.