Jobless Growth Hinders Sustainable Development in LDCs, UNCT D !

arns By Brendan Pastor High economic growth rates do not necessarily correspond to higher standards of living, or even increases in employment. This is particularly clear for the Least Developed Countries the 49 poorest and most vulnera le mem ers of the international community. The launch of the !nited "ations Conference on Trade and Development#s $%&' report on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) signaled the need to change the view on the relationship etween economic and employment growth. *This is a parado+,, -ussie Delelegn, the .fficer/in/Charge of the !"CT0D office in "ew 1or2, told the press during the report#s launching. *The report shows how LDCs have een reaching high levels of economic growth 3 percent on average over the last five years. 4ut what we see is that a 3 percent growth rate is not generating the 2ind of 5o s growth it was supposed to,, Delelegn said. 6hile LDCs are some of the fastest growing economies in the world y 7D8 rate, there is a wide gap etween the increase in economic growth and increases in employment. .n average, employment has only grown y a meagre ' percent far less than the amount needed to eradicate poverty y creating decent 5o s for youth, women and men. *During oom periods, where there is economic growth, we don#t see poverty reductions in LDCs. 6e have een investigating why growth is not having an impact on poverty reduction, and why it is not generating employment with higher wages,, Delelegn mused. 0ccording to the report, the reasons for this discrepancy in growth varies from country to country, ut certain factors remain 2ey. 4roadly spea2ing, there has not een a conducive international environment for the economies of LDCs. 6ea2 international demand, and over/dependence on primary commodities, and volatilities in prices of 2ey e+ports results in diminished a ility to achieve employment growth. 0dditional causes of the growth disparity can e credited to an enormous population u le that has developed over the past '% years. 9n $%&&, the total population of the LDCs was over :;: million, or &$ percent of the total glo al population. -eanwhile, LDC economies only account for $ percent of glo al 7D8. The *demographic e+plosion,, as !"CT0D and other development agencies have egun to call it, has dou led the population of LDCs since the &9:%s, with a further dou ling y $%;%. The challenges of creating decent 5o s for such an enormous population growth are enormous even during the est of times. <inally, structural changes in LDC economies contri ute to shifting alances of economic power. LDCs are agriculture powerhouses, though this trend is changing. 0griculture is a decreasing area of wor2, leading many young people to move into ur an areas see2ing newer 5o s. 4ut Delelegn reserved specific criticisms for previous economic paradigms that had once promised to help LDCs grow sustaina ly.

=tructural ad5ustment programs enacted y the 9nternational -onetary <und in the &9:%s, and 8overty >eduction =trategy 8apers in the &99%s, all of which attempted to eliminate poverty in developing countries through large/scale re alancing of pu lic authority and into the hands of mar2et forces, were some of the 2ey areas ena ling the ine?uita le growth of economies and employment. The !"CT0D report suggests that the est way forward it a 5o /focused growth strategy guided y a strong national authority, encapsulated in a transparent and democratic national government. There is a role for the private sector to play, Delelegn notes. *4ut government should ta2e the lead. 8rivate sector is 5ust too little and too small to address the magnitude of the pro lem that we have seen. 4ut we see in the future the growth and e+pansion of private sector generating larger employment and economic enefits,, he concludes.