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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Economics Report. |
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A new United Nations report says |
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the world's poorest countries |
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should rethink their economic policies, |
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because they are failing |
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to create jobs for their citizens. |
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The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development |
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is warning that current policies |
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will not do a lot to reduce poverty, |
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because so few jobs are being created. |
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The U.N. report warns of social unrest |
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and growing numbers of emigrants |
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if the employment situation in these countries |
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does not improved. |
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Taffere Tesfachew is with the U.N. Conference |
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on Trade and Development. |
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He says a new way of thinking is needed. |
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He says no one questions |
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the need for economic growth. |
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But that growth needs to create jobs. |
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"We are not questioning growth |
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and growth matters very much, |
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it is absolutely critical. |
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Nobody is changing their views on the need for growth. |
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But I think the question is |
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- perhaps there is a way you grow and create employment, |
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and there is a way you grow you do not create employment. |
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The policies followed by many least developed countries |
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and those especially which did not create employment |
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while there is a need to create employment." |
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The World Bank and International Monetary Fund |
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have called for economic stability |
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and liberalization policies |
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for poor and undeveloped countries. |
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But this policies have failed to create many jobs, |
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even during the period of economic expansion |
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from 2002 to 2008. |
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During that period, |
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many least developed countries grew each year |
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at a rate of eight percent or more. |
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The United Nations has identified |
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49 "least developed countries." |
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Thirty-four are in African, |
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there are nine others in Asia, |
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five in the Pacific and one in the Caribbean. |
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Almost all of these countries face rising numbers |
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of men and women entering the labor market. |
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By 2050, the number of young people seeking jobs |
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is expected to rise to 300 million. |
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Taffere Tesfachew says countries should |
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invest in labor-intensive industries |
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such as manufacturing to create jobs |
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for the millions of unemployed. |
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"We really believe that infrastructural transformation, |
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countries that are moving, |
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jumping from agriculture to services, |
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bypassing manufacturing, |
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I think they will have a problem. |
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The manufacturing sector, the industrial sector, |
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particularly manufacturing, |
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is I think critical for countries with large population." |
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In the U.N. report, a country was considered |
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a least developed when personal income |
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is below $992 on a three-year average. |
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The report also considered |
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the economic problems each nation faced |
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and its rating on the Human Assets Index. |
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The Index measures issues like health, |
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nutrition, school enrollment and literacy rates. |
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And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. |
