Decent Work & Economic Growth

InDepthNews – 1Image: (cropped) Graphic from the 2022 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.

COVID-19, Climate Change, Impunity & Conflicts Aggravating Human Trafficking

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has increased human trafficking using social networks and the Internet as a platform, Lead Author of the UNODC Global Reports on Trafficking in Persons, Fabricio Sarrica, told IDN.

He was highlighting some salient aspects of the 2022 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, the seventh of its kind mandated by the General Assembly through the 2010 United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

: Europe Editor; UN INSIDER; 12 February 2023

Photo: Participants in a Forum in 2022 to explore job possibilities for Sri Lankans in Singapore with the country's High Commissioner Sashikala Premarwardhane in first row centre. Source: High Commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore.

The “Job” Culture Is Changing in The Post-Pandemics Era

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal*

SINGAPORE (IDN) — How many of us can predict continuing to hold the job that we do currently into the future? That is the challenge many policyholders grapple to address to develop strategies to stimulate the stalled economies to grow sustainably.

The concept of a job is disappearing as there is an increasing trend of atomization of work processes with technological infiltration. As such, job security is fading away, and the employability of human talent is gaining prominence.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 14 January 2023

Photo: Beaches of Queensland's Gold Coast during the pandemic. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | INPS-IDN

Australia May Not Like China But Likes Chinese Tourists

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — In April 2020, the then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, which riled the Chinese leadership. China rapidly imposed sanctions on Australian imports, especially on the lucrative barley, wine and wheat trade. They also started looking for new iron ore suppliers, an export to China that has helped Australia’s economic boom in the past three decades.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; COVID-19; 11 January 2023

Photo: Migrant workers dig into a field in Doha, Qatar (© ILO).

Western Hypocrisy Overshadows the Epic Qatar Match

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — The shenanigans were always there, but until FIFA president Infantino Giovanni called them out in his down-to-earth press conference in Qatar, they remained the elephant in the room.

The hint of displeasure goes back 12 years ago when Qatar won the bid, defeating Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. That outcome was unexpected.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 December 2022

Photo: Women in Zambia work inside a greenhouse to increase the production of vegetables for sale at a local market. Credit: ILO/Marcel Crozet.

Three UN Agencies Call for Investments in Rural Employment

Nature-Based Solutions Could Generate 20 million New Jobs

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — A joint report by three UN organisations says that 20 million jobs could be created by further harnessing the power of nature to address the major challenges facing society, such as climate change, disaster risk and food and water insecurity.

According to the report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), investing in policies that support Nature-based Solutions (NbS), would generate significant employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 13 December 2022

Geopolitical Interests Dictate China's Global Aid Exports

By Kiel Institute for the World Economy

BERLIN | KIEL, Germany (IDN) — China has been exporting aid goods worth around USD 835 million annually since 2017. These material resources are distributed by China primarily according to geopolitical interests and increasingly to Asia and Africa. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 meant that China gained political ground worldwide with medical aid supplies—especially face masks and vaccines. Recently, grain shipments to Africa, in particular, have been on the rise.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Economy and Finance; 17 November 2022

Photo: In advance of COP27, public development banks meeting in Abidjan agreed on action points to tackle Africa’s climate finance gap. Source: The African Development Bank Group

Africa Needs A Massive Aid Programme

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Surely a massive infusion of aid into Africa would be to pour money down a rat hole? Isn't this the mistake that was made in the past—enormous generosity by the rich countries only to see it wasted on misconceived projects, bad economic management and, at its worst, siphoned away into war and corruption, as is so evident in, say Zimbabwe, Congo and Somalia right now?

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 November 2022

Sri Lanka Foundation Awards Honour Excellence Among Expatriates

By Nandi Jasentuliyana

The author is a former Deputy Director-General United Nations and Director of the UN Office for Outer space Affairs.

LOS ANGELES, USA (IDN) — An awards ceremony recognizing those in the Sri Lankan expatriate community whose work has had an essential impact on the lives of others has taken place since 2003.

Described as one the most prestigious awards among Sri Lankan expatriates the world over, the awards ceremony makes awardees feel that their work is valued.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 01 November 2022

Photo source: Conservation Namibia. Credit: NACSO.

Overfishing and Environmental Changes Could Leave Thousands Jobless

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — After decades of overfishing combined with environmental changes, Namibia's sardine population has finally collapsed, writes Conservation Namibia, a publication of the Namibian Chamber of Environment. “Falling by 99.5% from an estimated 11 million tonnes in the 1960s to a tiny 50,000 tonnes in 2015, this resource is exhausted.”

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 24 October 2022

Photo source: UNDP. Credit: Shutterstock/Dave Primov | Nablus, Palestine

Palestine Reeling Under COVID-Impact, Enduring Poverty and Unemployment

By Jaya Ramachandran*

GENEVA (IDN) — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has urged the international community to extend sufficient and predictable financial support to the Palestinian people to alleviate suffering and prevent a deep socioeconomic crisis from worsening.

The latest report by UNCTAD on its assistance to the Palestinian people shows that the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory grew by 7.1 per cent in 2021, following an 11.3per cent contraction in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.