Submitted by Jacky Foo and Ashok Natarajan

1.1 The Problem

The current global economic recession has increased unemployment rates in both the developed and developing countries and thereby has added to the hardships of the people. It has made the task of accelerating job growth an even more urgent proposition than before. The collapse of communism and decrease in social security benefits has made employment the only meaningful option for providing a decent living to the billion people living below the poverty line in developing countries and for fulfilling the aspirations of an equal number of people to rise to middle class level in those same countries. The very quick spread of globalization and the formation of many regional economic associations have made it very difficult to protect national economics from the adverse effects of global recession. The accelerated growth of international trade and new job outsourcing policies have led to job reduction in many sectors and thereby fueled public resentment towards globalization and intensified demands for quick remedial action on the home front. People’s expectation about rising income and better living standards have led to dissatisfaction with present stagnant living conditions and thereby has fostered fundamentalist and extremist movements. In such a context India’s efforts to provide guaranteed employment to millions of rural workers is a welcome step that shows that this nation is alert to the problem.  India’s response is to be magnified on the global scale by developing globally viable strategies if global security and political stability and economic development are to continue in an undisturbed manner.

Each new era on the global scene generates new opportunities and challenges which demand new perspectives and approaches if they are to be properly met. The history of the 20^th century is replete with instances of the failure of meeting new situations with old outmoded policies and the consequent calamities that follow. Imperialistic ambitions led to two devastating world wars and the cold war between the Soviet and NATO blocks posed a risk to global security for 5 decades or more. The post cold war era requires new visionary perspectives that will allow a sound reexamination of the root causes of many global afflictions. The prospects for full employment in an era of fast spreading globalization and economic integration are one such issue. Piecemeal adjustments will not deliver the results at a time when radical new approaches are required. The World Academy is an ideal institution for coming up with the required visionary and comprehensive new approaches that will help meet the changed conditions of the world.

Around 51 per cent of the combined population of developing and least developed countries is below the age of 25 (World Youth Report, 2005). About 76.6% of the youth (15-24 year old) in the world live in Asia and Africa and around 515 million of them are living on less than US$ 2 a day. Youth unemployment (ILO, 2003) was highest in Western Asia and North Africa (25.6 per cent) and sub-Saharan Africa (21 per cent) and lowest in East Asia (7 per cent) and the industrialized countries (13.4 per cent). We urgently need to be more creative and provide youths with information on the many ways to make a living and how to earn a livelihood. Formal education is traditionally advocated as the way out of poverty in many poor countries but isn’t providing an immediate answer to current problems in the cities. More than 50 % of the world population lives in cities now and by 2050 it will be 80 %. There will be greater competition for salaried jobs. Already many countries face the problem of insufficient jobs for university graduates and unemployed professionals. While the ability to read and write is essential, there are many ways where youths with primary education can create their own livelihoods through self-employment.

Employment (unemployment and underemployment) is a problem everywhere and has worsened in recent years because of the global recession. As a result, the percentage and number of poor people in the world will increase and many of them will risk joining the "less than 2 US$ a day" category.

1.2 BackGround

Over the past 15 years the Academy has examined various aspects and issues of the global employment challenge. 

1. At the Minneapolis General Assembly in 1994, it discussed the findings and recommendations of the International Commission on Peace and Food regarding the factors and process responsible for the generation of employment opportunities and the prospects for achieving global full employment.
2. This was followed by a seminar on the Future of Work
3. A workshop at the Vancouver General Assembly
4. An international conference in New Delhi in 2004
5. A plenary session at the Zagreb General Assembly in 2005

1.3 Scope and Proposal

This proposal combines and integrates both theoretical and practical aspects of the global employment issue. It will be an interdisciplinary dialogue to explore the demographic, economic, political, psychological and legal dimensions relevant to global employment and   practical strategies and methods for generating employment so that the magnitude of the impact of the current adversity can be properly assessed and suitable remedial measures can be developed. Activities will be based on a common internet platform utilizing electronic forum software to invite theoretical and practical contributions from within the Academy, other experts and organizations as well as the global general public.

The methodology proposed will :

(i)             Establish an internet forum for Employment with defined topics for exploration.  

(ii)              Identify Fellows to moderate the discussion on each topic.

(iii)            Nominate Junior and/or Associate Fellows to assist in the management of each forum

(iv)            Invite eminent thinkers drawn from within and outside the academy to contribute thoughtful preliminary statements on various aspects of the issue.

(v)              Open the forum to discussion and further contributions by all Fellows.

(vi)            Invite other individuals and organizations -- educational, research, governmental and commercial – to participate and contribute.

(vii)          define a set of core issues for further discussion with the help of the moderators once a considerable body of thought has accumulated,

(viii)        Organize live workshops can be held of active participants to refine the issues and enrich the discussion.

(ix)             Publish articles in WAAS or submitted to leading journals to stimulate wider discussion of this issue. 

The following may be suitable as topics for e-conferencing : 

(i)                Impact of the international financial crisis on global employment prospects, employment in transition economies, the role of money in the global economy

(ii)              Employment trends, strategies and opportunities for Youth in developing countries

(iii)            Historical trends in global employment generation, impact of demographic trends on the future of employment, trends toward self-employment in developing and economically advanced nations

(iv)            Entrepreneurship and employment generation

(v)              Relationship between Unemployment & Terrorism (to be linked to the topic is being addressed by the project on Revolution in Human Affairs and  linkages with underemployment, rising expectations, social instability)

(vi)            Employment in Eastern Europe –  focus on the problems in transition countries as well as the impact of the recent financial crisis

(vii)          Impact of technological development of job growth, e.g. impacts of the Internet on global employment and self-employment opportunities

(viii)        Employment in OECD countries – impact of demographic trends on shortage of workers

(ix)             Implications for an aging population that is living and working longer

(x)               Guaranteed Employment – India’s recent experience with guaranteed employment among the rural poor raises important questions of relevance to other countries.

(xi)             Implications for an aging population that is living and working longer

(xii)           Implications of India’s national rural employment guarantee scheme & similar programs

(xiii)         Cultural dimensions of employment – especially impacting women

(xiv)         Globalization & the Future of Work – the relationship between employment, globalization and development, global outsourcing

(xv)           An integrated social theory of employment generation, public policy measures 

(xvi)         Practical strategies, methods and new approaches for generating employment

 1.4 Outputs from E-Conferences

(i)       Regular summary statements from the various activities highlighting important questions and insights hosted on the WAAS web site and published in WAAS newsletters.

(ii)      Database of practices in income generation and website on how to make money and create sustainable livelihoods

 1.5 Organizational Structure

(i)      Project Committee: Establish a small committee of interested Fellows & collaborating organizations to direct the project.  Members could include Jacky Foo, Ashok Natarajan, Asim Kurjak,  Mladen Stanicic, Orio Giarini, Eleanor Masini, Lloyd Etheredge, and others. 

(ii)    Moderators for each discussion topic.

a.       Nominate Junior/Associate Fellows

b.       Graduate students from participating organizations

(iii)  Collaborators: Identify one or several institutions to collaborate with the Academy on this project

a.       from OECD  -- e.g. University of Pittsburgh

b.       from Eastern Europe – e.g. Institute for International Relations (IMO) 

c.       developing countries, e.g. The Mother’s Service Society, International Council on Ecopolis Development (IntEcopolis),  

      Various other organizations  (e.g. ILO, UNDP, Youth Entrepreneurship & Sustainability, (http://www.yesweb.org/), Changemakers,  Onebillionminds) may be interested to collaborate too. For example, Onebillionminds is willing to work with us on pro-bono basis to publicize an award contest among universities students in India, Germany and other countries.  It  can attract students  to work on a website and to host the call for ideas. This could be one avenue for putting this project idea into action. 

(i)                E-forum platform and websites – the project needs to combined the use of WAAS website with other internet conferencing/e-forum systems as well as a dedicated website with better database management capabilities. In addition to pro bono services from collaborators, general administrative support for management of forums may be US$50,000 per year.

(ii)             Forum Moderators – initially to be contributed by participating/sponsoring organizations but when funding becomes available, honorariums will be given. 

(iii)            Research and Case Studies – to be contributed by participating/sponsoring organizations and via grants