The G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial declaration, approved by the member countries, emphasises on the need for governments to develop and support active inclusion policies aimed at fostering “strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive economic growth”.
It said that creating formal jobs and promoting decent work are the most effective social tools for achieving a “fairer and more equitable” income distribution, a release by the labour ministry said on Saturday.
The final text of the declaration was approved by member countries after the conclusion of the two-day long ‘Labour & Employment Ministers´ meeting’ held on 25-26 July, under the Presidency of Brazil. The Indian delegation was led by Minister of State for Labour & Employment Shobha Karandlaje.
The declaration also urged the governments to have policy measures to formalise jobs, to appropriately respond to platform work, to promote adequate levels of wage floors, to provide access to adequate social protection and the promotion of social dialogue and collective bargaining.
During the two-day meeting, labour ministers made interventions on key focus areas, namely–the creation of quality jobs and the promotion of decent work; to ensure social inclusion and eliminate poverty and hunger; gender equality; the promotion of diversity in the world of work; and the use of technologies as a means of improving everyone´s quality of life.
Karandlaje informed the G20-delegates that India has generated over 80 million employment opportunities from 2017-18 to 2021-22, averaging over 20 million jobs per year and the youth unemployment rate has dropped from 17.8% in 2017-18 to 10% in 2022-23, with increased youth participation in the labour force.