Bangkok:The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched two significant global initiatives aimed at attracting investment and expanding employment opportunities. This move comes with a warning that 800 million young people could face unemployment over the next 15 years if decisive action is not taken by countries.
According to Qatar News Agency, the announcement was made by UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo during the IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings. The initiatives, named the Investment Accelerator and the Jobs for Prosperity Facility, are designed to assist developing economies in mobilizing investment, enhancing business environments, and generating more job opportunities.
The Investment Accelerator will aid governments in reinforcing investment policies and legal frameworks, developing pipelines of investment-ready projects, and progressing these projects from preparation to implementation. Meanwhile, the Jobs for Prosperity Facility will help countries identify sectors with high potential for job creation, match workforce skills with employer needs, and overcome barriers to business investment and hiring.
De Croo highlighted the significant employment challenge, noting that in the next 15 years, 1.2 billion young people will enter the labor market, but only 400 million of them will find jobs. He stressed that the gap would not close on its own and emphasized the importance of active labor-market policies, identifying promising industries, and mobilizing necessary financing for job creation.
He also mentioned the uneven resilience of the global economy, noting that while some countries benefit from strong fundamentals and productivity gains from artificial intelligence, many developing economies are challenged by high energy costs, the El Nino phenomenon, and elevated borrowing costs.
De Croo referred to a recent UNDP report, "No Time to Recover Mounting Crises, Eroding Fiscal Buffers and the Implications for Developing Economies," which highlights the financial strain on developing countries. The report revealed that the median developing country spends 9.5 percent of its total government revenue on interest payments. Additionally, findings from the Multidimensional Poverty Index show an increase in global multidimensional poverty for the first time since 2010, which De Croo described as a wake-up call.