Addis Ababa — "Development is about people, more than about producing commodities and accumulating capital. It is about enabling people's participation and people's choices such as access to education and resources," said Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Mr. Haile Mariam Dessalegn during the launch of the Human Development Report 2015 at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa.
Speaking to delegates from the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa, members of the diplomatic corps, UNDP Representatives and other UN agencies, Mr. Dessalegn declared that with the fast growing population in urban areas, "we need decent jobs and opportunities for our people. The Ethiopian government fully recognises the value of work in poverty reduction."
Themed, Work for Human Development, the report calls for decent work, an increased access, particularly by women, to this work and the improvement of the well-being of workers. The report also alludes to the changed nature of current work; change that is influenced by an aging population and technology.
Mr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, elaborated on these changes in the workplace and their implications. "The changing nature of employment, occupational patterns, phenomena of jobless growth, ageing and demographic shifts and automation and technology developments are creating exceptional levels of complexity and, may I say, anxiety."
Africa has certain advantages such as the greatest renewable energy generation potential of any continent and a young population. Mr. Lopes encouraged African states to "convert this potential into tangible infrastructure by creating an enabling environment and raising its human capital skills.
Changes in the work place have major impacts for human development. Work can bring about equitable growth and reduce poverty. Ms. Helen Clark, the Administrator of UNDP, said: "Work is more than jobs, the report focuses on paid and unpaid work. Decent work does help people escape poverty and can build stronger communities and give people a sense of purposes."
The report highlights the glaring differences in gender and work and found that women are less likely to be paid for their work than men. Women do three out of every four hours of unpaid work. Women are paid globally, on average, 24% less than men and a third of businesses worldwide do not have women in senior positions.
The authors of the report posit there is no automatic link between work and human development. Human beings have to build that link. It also points out that many jobs will need to change if we are to achieve low emissions. The report notes that the digital revolution has brought greater work flexibility but has also heightened insecurity and vulnerability. It calls for a "new social contract" between people, the state and the private sector.
