Jobs and human development
English
Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.
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Research papers
Working papers, reports, and other publications from international organizations, academic institutions and bilateral agencies. Research findings to stimulate informed debate on skills, employment and productivity issues.
Jobs are taking center stage in discussions on international development. The reasons go beyond immediate political events, and, as outlined in the World Bank's 2013 world development report on jobs, are multi-faceted and deeply linked to the very process of development. For the majority of people, their livelihoods depend on the jobs they have, and work-related events are the most frequent reason for families to fall into or escape from poverty. Economic growth and development occurs through jobs; economies produce more when people become more productive in their jobs, and when they move from farms to firms or from villages to towns to urban centers. Jobs affect people's physical and mental health and well-being. Jobs also influence how people interact and can shape people's expectations and aspirations, including their sense of belonging in society. All countries, regardless of income, face challenges creating and sustaining adequate job opportunities for their citizens. Over the next 20 years, for instance, the South Asia region will need to add at least one million additional jobs each month to accommodate an expected 350 million people entering the working age population. Often, the issue is not the quantity of jobs, but the fact that most workers are engaged in menial or low-productivity activities as subsistence farmers or as self-employed or even unpaid workers in small household enterprises, lacking access to proper working conditions and social protection; an estimated two-thirds of the world's labor force works in this type of setting. Another challenge for many countries is to integrate women into the labor market. In the Middle East and North Africa, for instance, less than 30 percent of women are gainfully employed or looking for a job. Jobs, at their core, are about people and the huge developmental benefits from jobs can only be realized if societies and families make the right investments in people.