Jobs and livelihoods at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

ILO Concept Note on the post-2015 development agenda

“Development happens through jobs.” This simple statement sums up the enduring reality that work is the way out of poverty for poor households and that the expansion of productive and decent employment is the way economies grow and diversify. For coun- tries at all levels of development, an adequate supply of jobs is the foundation of sustained and growing prosperity, inclusion and social cohesion. Where jobs are scarce or available livelihoods leave households in poverty there is less growth, less security and less human and economic development.

In the current weak and turbulent international eco- nomic environment, job creation is the most pressing global development priority. As the United Nations and the global community debate the development agenda for the coming decades, jobs should take centre stage.
The desire for employment and livelihoods with ris- ing incomes, dignity and respect is a development goal that speaks directly to people all over the globe. Work by the ILO and others over recent years dem- onstrates that policy decisions can have real impact on its achievement and that it is a goal that can be measured.

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