“Time to Recognize that Human Capital Is as Important as Financial Capital”, UN Realizes

More than 400 Million New Jobs Needed

Noting that since the financial economic crisis began, millions of people have lost jobs and income, Ban stressed that governments must not only address this job loss but also actively seek to create new income sources over the next years.

“Worldwide, more than 400 million new jobs will be needed over the next decade. That means that policy-makers must get serious, now, about generating decent employment,” he said.

Ban emphasized the key role that the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) can play in brining countries together to come up with a coordinated approach to set up goals for the future regarding the economy.

“Growth that is equitable, growth that can be sustained within planetary boundaries, growth that will benefit current and future generations – this is the focus of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development next month in Rio de Janeiro,” he said.

The Eight MDGs

He added that, “At Rio, we need to agree on a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals that build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after 2015 – sustainable development goals that will lay the foundation for dynamic economic growth, respect for the planet and social equity.”

There are a total of eight MDGs, ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. They form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions and have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

‘Give Greater Role to Developing Countries’

In his remarks to the meeting, the President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the debate’s other co-chair, said that a coordinated approach would need to give developing countries a greater role in decision-making and give priority to helping the most vulnerable sectors of society, who are also the ones that have been hit the hardest by the economic crisis.

“Our overarching priority must be to implement an effective and globally coordinated policy that serves to place the world economy on the path of sustained growth and development,” Mr. Al-Nasser said. “Today’s conference provides a timely opportunity to address these issues in an inclusive, candid and responsible manner.”

Following the opening of the event, attendees of Thursday’s debate will break out into four thematic roundtable discussions focusing on various issues, such as youth unemployment, social protection, debt sustainability, trade and investment, and accountability of the financial system.

Among the keynote speakers at the event are the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso; the Nobel Prize Laureate and President of Columbia University, Joseph Stiglitz; and Paul Volcker, the former head of the United States Federal Reserve.

*Mine workers at Greenside Colliery, an Anglo American thermal coal mine in South Africa. UN Photo/The Global Fund.

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