A high-level advisory council has been established by the World Bank Group to handle the looming employment problem in the Global South, which consists of less developed nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Nigeria encompasses the nations of the Global South, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Mexico, which are the most populous and land-mass biggest states in the South.
This effort aims to develop implementable policies and programs to address this impending problem. It was announced in a press release that was posted on the World Bank’s official website on Monday.
With an emphasis on youth and female job prospects, the World Bank Group’s high-level advisory council is a committed project aimed at turning this difficulty into a chance to propel future development. Today, women’s involvement in the labor force is slightly over 50% worldwide, much lower than that of men in some countries (80%).
An estimated 1.2 billion young people in the Global South are expected to enter the workforce throughout the next ten years.
However, just 420 million jobs are expected to be created in the job market, meaning that about 800 million people would have trouble finding work.
The obstacles will increase when these young people eventually enter the workforce, even though some of them will pursue further education.
The council aims to unite top experts from various sectors, including government, business, civil society, and academia, to provide thought leadership and develop practical strategies for generating large-scale employment opportunities.
These strategies will be assessed within the World Bank Group and piloted in collaboration with countries to test their effectiveness. Successful initiatives will then be expanded in the coming years to address the pressing jobs challenge.
The council will be co-chaired by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, president of the Republic of Singapore and former deputy prime minister, and Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile, who led her country during two separate terms (2006-2010 and 2014-2018).
According to Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank group, one of the best strategies for eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity is to create jobs.
“The most reliable way to fight poverty and increase prosperity is to create jobs,” he declared. For every person, having a job is the ultimate measure of success as it entails pride, dignity, and the capacity to support oneself and one’s family.
“We are launching the Council to set our development strategy on a foundation of creating employment opportunities in all corners of the globe.”
In a similar vein, Shanmugaratnam said, “Good jobs are at the core of aspirations everywhere, but also a growing challenge in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, geoeconomic uncertainty and climate threats,” said Shanmugaratnam.
“New strategies are needed to achieve sustained job and income growth among developing world populations, and the benefits this will bring for the global economy too.
“The challenge is unprecedented in modern history: we must provide meaningful job opportunities for hundreds of millions of young people and women in the Global South,” said Bachelet.
“This High-Level Advisory Council will seek to identify policies that are both effective and can be implemented on the ground, ensuring that economic growth and social justice go hand in hand.”
The Council is set to convene regularly and collaborate closely with Banga and the senior leadership of the World Bank Group. The members of the Council will be revealed shortly, with plans to hold their inaugural meeting during the 2024 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings.
