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Around 800 million young people entering the workforce in developing countries over the next 15 years could fail to find jobs unless governments take urgent policy action, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned.
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo raised the alarm on Tuesday while addressing a virtual press briefing at UN headquarters, presenting the agency’s new policy report, No Time to Recover.
He warned that rapid population growth, mounting debt burdens, climate shocks and rising energy prices were creating a difficult outlook for developing economies.
De Croo said the challenge required immediate and targeted policy interventions, stressing that the problem would not resolve itself without changes in government strategies.
He also highlighted growing pressure on public finances, noting that middle-income developing countries were spending 9.5% of government revenues on interest payments — three times the share in high-income countries and the highest level in 25 years.
If the trend continues, an additional 130 million people worldwide could fall into extreme poverty, he warned.
To address the crisis, UNDP has launched two global initiatives — the Investment Accelerator and the Jobs for Prosperity Facility — in partnership with the World Bank Group, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Pilot projects have already begun in Nepal, Yemen, Haiti, Lebanon and Ghana, according to the presentation.
Addressing concerns about artificial intelligence and climate risks, De Croo said labour-intensive sectors such as services, agriculture and tourism could generate substantial employment despite technological changes.
He also called for stronger insurance protection for small and medium-sized enterprises, citing climate-related disasters in Asia in 2015 that caused $65 billion in economic losses, of which only $5 billion was insured.
De Croo concluded by urging international cooperation to create sustainable jobs, describing employment generation as essential to lifting people out of multidimensional poverty.
