Making the United Nations Relevant to all People– As delivered –
Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly
15 July 2019
Your Excellency, Mr Francisco Antonio Duarte Lopes, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the UN,
Mr Satya Rodrigo, Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN,
Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
Mr Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization,
Ms Ana Maria Menéndez, Under-Secretary-General and Representative of the UN Secretary-General,
Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth,
Excellencies, distinguished speakers, ladies and gentlemen,
I am so grateful to the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka, the Office of the Envoy on Youth, UNESCO and the ILO for organizing this event on “Learning to Learn for Life and Work”.
Few other issues lie at the sharp end of the major shifts we are seeing in climate, demography, technology, mobility and industry. Few are so central to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – which I hope will be one of the key messages to emerge from this High-Level Political Forum and the review of Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8, 10 and 16.
Last month, I took part in the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth in Lisbon – and I must commend again Portugal’s leadership on youth engagement and empowerment.
At that meeting, I – along with the Envoy on Youth – had the opportunity to meet young leaders from around the world. And decent work – current and future – was a major theme.
Young people already account for a third of those unemployed globally. Over the next decade, we will need to create 40 million jobs per year just to keep pace with the growing population – let alone accommodate developments such as automation, which, according to some estimates, could eliminate a staggering two-thirds of jobs in the developing world.
And this is not solely a youth issue, of course. It affects all of us. Women, for instance, who continue to battle against lower wages – and bear the brunt of domestic, care and family business work that is often unseen, uncounted and undervalued.
The over-60s, who already make up about a tenth of the global population and who will – by 2050 – outnumber children and young people. Those with disabilities, from minority or indigenous communities, or living in rural areas – who face multiple barriers to gainful employment. The 300 million classified as “working poor”. The two billion working in the informal sector.
Clearly, these challenges affect the whole of society, in all countries. Managing them will require effective, far-sighted cooperation across regions, sectors and generations – as we seek to put in place education, labour and social protection frameworks that can accommodate these transitions, as well as the economic and societal transformations required to address the climate crisis.
Lifelong learning must be at the heart of these efforts. This is vital if we are to ensure that work actually pays, and contributes to greater wellbeing, equality and social cohesion. It is vital if we are to make the switch to a greener economy and unlock the 24 million new jobs – and 26 trillion dollars – this could generate by 2030.
Young people already account for a third of those unemployed globally. Over the next decade, we will need to create 40 million jobs per year just to keep pace with the growing population – let alone accommodate developments such as automation, which, according to some estimates, could eliminate a staggering two-thirds of jobs in the developing world.
Putting it into practice, however, will require significant changes in attitude and policy – in terms of how we see youth and old age, for example; how we design places of learning and work; how we support entrepreneurship; how we legislate to tackle discrimination; and how we approach greater mobility within sectors, countries and regions. Indeed, there is much for policy-makers to learn.
So I commend the organizers once again for this timely event. We should use it as a platform to highlight the need for political leadership around the need for learning to learn for life and work. As the pushback against globalization and by extension, multilateralism shows, the cost of failing to prepare all segments of society for life and work in a rapidly changing world can be high- for all of us. This issue must be at the heart of the new social compact we need, if we are to address inequality, sustain our multilateral system and meet the global challenges that confront us.
Excellencies, Friends,
This is an issue of crucial importance to the United Nations. It is also central to a number of my priorities for this session of the General Assembly, so I will be closely following the debate as it unfolds, ready to support you, and be part of you call of action.
Thank you.
