SDG 8 and COVID Fallout: AIESEC Seminar
Dhaka. 05 June 2021

Statements by the Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh

Good Evening All – hope all of you are doing well and strictly following all COVID 19 protection measures and keeping your families and communities safe.

At the outset, let me wish you all the very best on World Environment Day.  It is interesting that we are discussing SDG 8 on World Environment Day – perhaps a reminder that we all need ourselves to commit to building a work environment too that is DECENT for ALL.

As I sit here speaking to you, a Zoom-full of recent and aspiring graduates, I can feel an aura of exciting possibilities and immense potential. And these possibilities are not just in your individual futures, but in the collective future of Bangladesh and the Planet. But how does one work towards the future they want, and how can we ensure a positive outcome for this generation and all those that will come after you?

Setting goals is usually a good first step.

In 2015, all United Nations member states including Bangladesh adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that no one gets left behind from peace and prosperity.

Since most of you are or recently have been students, I am sure you know how painful it is to receive a zero in an exam. But with the SDGs, zeroes are the goal. When all countries across the planet are committed to these goals, they commit to fast-track and prioritize progress for those that are furthest behind. We aim to reach the number zero when it comes to hunger, poverty, unemployment, pollution, disease and discrimination.  And in doing so, when we speak about decent work, we must step beyond looking at ‘work’ only as source of income but one that gives us our identity in our families and communities.  And while this is true for every corner of the Planet it is more definitive in our part of the World.

Now, the SDGs are quite specific in what they want to achieve, but a goal requires a strict timeline, or else it is merely a dream with no deadlines. Our deadline for the 17 global goals is 2030.

We have just a little over nine years left to achieve this better Planet for us all.  Nine years may seem enough time to realize these goals but then as are now been struck and struck hard by the unprecedented and completely unanticipated COVID crises.  This has fundamentally changed the world and in many cases set us back.  

For the past two decades or so, we were already living in a VUCA world – a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.  But then the onset of the COVID pandemic took us all by surprise. With the rest of the world, all of us must have watched in disbelief as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold at the beginning of 2020 and changed life as we knew it.  

By end March 2020, more than a third of humanity was in lockdown. By the end of April 2020, 1.6 billion workers stood in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed. In Bangladesh, over 16 million people have become “new poor” -- those who were never classified as being under the poverty line, but they are now struggling to survive and provide for their families day to day.

I learned from a study by the International Labour Organisation and Asian Development Bank that youth are considered particularly vulnerable in the economic disruption of the pandemic. In many cases, young employees are the first victims of any downsizing as they are considered less experienced. Unless we all act quickly, in Bangladesh, youth unemployment is expected to double.  A study by the South Asia Network for Economic Modelling found that at least 6 million youths and adults had already lost their jobs amidst the pandemic.   But then, being an optimist I think post pandemic may change all that as technology savviness your defining trait is what will drive the future of work.

A report by the Centre for Policy Dialogue reveals that about 69 percent of the employed population in urban areas was at high risk of losing their incomes, while small and medium enterprises (SME) may experience major shrinkage and some may have already gone out of business.

There may be people in my audience right now, who have faced or felt the economic effects of the pandemic themselves, and these people are not just statistics. People who were once hardworking members of the labour force are now struggling to put food on the table as their income decreases amid incredibly uncertain times, while SMEs that could previously support families have sustained too many losses to continue doing business.

A large portion of Bangladesh’s GDP, nearly 12 percent, depends on remittances sent by the migrants. Around 64000 migrant workers returned home due to C19 and nearly half of them have no source of income now.

Every year in Bangladesh, some two million youths enter the job market and irrespective of the pandemic especially 2020 would not have been much different.  What does it mean for university students who were looking forward to graduating in 2020? What about those in graduate or post graduate studies right now?  When will you be able to land yourself a decent job must remain a big question at the back of your minds.

In general, both job creation and entrepreneurship lag behind, and a seemingly prosperous nation that has had for several years now impressive growth hides the reality that much of that growth has been job less or in certain cases come at a cost of jobs being cut as certain sectors adopt automation faster than others.

Also having a job, or even a business, does not guarantee an escape from poverty. There are bright, young men and women joining me here today, studying and graduating together. But the gender gap is quite wide in the job market -- especially as young women between 15-24 get left behind.  

I must add here that this pandemic is not just about an economic recession but also about Shecessesion as we are fast losing women in the labour force.  A recent McKinsey Study reports that with the US economy slowly regaining strength, the workforce is becoming more men dominated as women are either losing jobs or are choosing to give up their professional careers as they need to spend more time at home given that schools are shut as it is Mothers who are having to pay the price, not just in terms of incomes, but their identities and in their opportunities to make a difference in terms of building a better Planet. 

The COVID Pandemic has been like an unexpected heavy shower on a leaking roof – the outbreak is helping us see what and where development gaps already exist and making us think how to fix them.   With every crisis comes the opportunity to learn  and Covid is also showing where new economic opportunities lie. And so we need to learn and learn fast from the pandemic and its impacts.

To start with the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of businesses and global supply chains. Many production houses that were dependent on supplies to and from other countries faced significant setbacks initially.  Finished goods could not be exported and raw materials could not be imported.  In the future all businesses will need to be investing to make their supply chains much more disaster resilient.

To that end again, we have learned the criticality and inevitability of embracing artificial intelligence, big data, virtual/augmented reality, and robotics which make businesses more resilient. Therefore, sooner than later technology will have to be embraced by every industry, either on a small or large scale. More investments are required on the one hand to improve access to digital technologies especially the poor and the small who are paying a heavier price because of the growing digital inequality – on the other hand, most in this room who are from a digitally aware and tech savvy generation are already well placed to fit well in the new world.

At the same time, COVID-19 is showing us that while technology can augment and supplement work, it does not replace what is needed from humans. The health crisis gave people a greater appreciation for the fact that humans and technology are more powerful together than either can be on their own.

Consider how telemedicine, manufacturing, education, and even grocery delivery drew on the power of integrated human-machine teams during the crisis.  But then as I was saying that here too, we need to be careful to ensure greater gender parity in the labour market. With many at least in urban areas shopping online, many young people have found jobs delivering goods, but I am yet to see women among them.

Interestingly not only your generation is considered the most entrepreneurial ever in human history, many of the interesting start up that is helping us to better respond to the COVID pandemic are young people.  Bangladesh does have a fair share of young people and we must ensure that we are able to get the best out of these assets. 

Discussions are already happening on how to ease their costs of doing business like improving access to low cost capital, connecting them to markets, providing them access to greener and cleaner technologies etc. and hopefully these discussions will reach the policymakers faster and we may see many positive changes soon.  We also through forums such as AIESEC invest in spreading awareness on the concept of decent work and so those young entrepreneurs will become both environmentally and socially responsible employers.

It is also showing organizations be they public or private that more investments are required on physical, mental, and financial security of employees. The pandemic has put more hours into the working day, creating exhaustion and burnout and simultaneously exposing the stress that many workers face in balancing professional and personal demands, as personal commitments and roles (such as being a parent or caregiver) could no longer be separated from work.

Many workers and especially women are experiencing burnout exacerbated by COVID-19, which makes well-being a top priority for all organization’s return-to-work approach.  If you add up all these features of a healthy, safe, dignified workplace it will be a significant move for jobs becoming more decent.

It is also telling us that as we are more and more getting into workspace that is virtual those will be able to survive are the ones who are self-motivated and can work with minimal supervision.   While women are better than men in normally doing so, they are also the ones who are having to do more work at home in terms of family care. 

It has also shown us that many frontliners who we considered menial are actually the ones who keep us safe and healthy.  I am speaking about those clean the streets and public spaces, carry away the waste and as a generation which learned their importance let us work together to make their work conditions decent too.  We as a society need to recognize and publicly acknowledge their contributions and give them the respect and ‘Identity’ as supreme care giver that they deserve.

During this pandemic, fake news and misrepresentations of data and studies have spiked up. It is important to have access to reliable data and studies to make informed business decisions. Younge people with the ability to objectively evaluate and scrutinize information from diverse sources to determine what is credible will be highly valued.  And so we are actually witnessing the establishment and actions of quite a few excellent youth forums that are helping to raise many critical issues for Bangladesh ranging from youth employment to foreign policy.

As for the UN system and UNDP in particular, we are very interested to invest in and engage with young people.   We therefore welcome such opportunities to meet with you not just to speak to you but listen to you so that we can be more effective in our work.   I will therefore invite all of you to openly voice your views concerns, issues, and opinions also speak up against hate and bullying online, which also makes work places indecent.

For the past several years UNDP is doing several interesting things to not only to help equip youth to give their best to their families and societies but also trying to harness the intelligence and creativity of young people to chart out solutions for new and emerging development challenges.   Recently, we also carried out a study on the Future of Work – now and after the Pandemic.

I have seen the startups that work with UNDP’s Youth Co:Lab, and each and every one of those started as a solution to an existing or emerging  pressing problem. What if we could make fuel out of waste? What if we could bring mental healthcare to all? As youths living in an uncertain time, it can be hard to believe in yourself.

But I assure you that it gets better, and all it takes is a little hope. Even on your toughest days, do not stop believing in your cause. Find simple solutions to problems that affect your community -- the SDGs are not just the responsibility of policymakers. Small actions add up and scale up -- so do not shy away from working towards your cause and involving your community.

You will end up creating decent work opportunities not just for yourself, but for all those around you. You will run into challenges and roadblocks, you may find yourself disheartened. But I speak from the experience of working as a humanitarian for decades -- things get worse before they get better, and UNDP is here to make sure we empower the youth to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

When opportunities do not knock on your door, go out into the world and create opportunities for yourself and your community. I spoke about the devastating effect of the pandemic on the economy, but it also created scope for growth in some rapidly growing fields, such as e-commerce, education technology, healthcare and telemedicine, and pharmaceuticals. We have entered a new normal, and typically the first people to adapt to such drastic changes are young people. I urge you all to explore the knowledge that is now available at our fingertips, thanks to the internet. Learn any and every skill that you find interest in, for no learning ever goes in vain.

And as you learn new things and get better at them, also consciously start embracing values that are fundamental to living in harmony and social progress such as respect, empathy, equality, solidarity and critical thinking. Without these and other ethical principles that define us as human beings, it will be difficult for us to build a better world, or even a better workspace that is a must for decent jobs for all.

In concluding please allow me summarize what you may wish to take away from this session:

Respect diversity at the Workspace and work hard to make it diverse especially get better gender parity.

Three conditions are specially important to make work decent – right levels of compensation, conducive and respectful workspace where people are not exposed to undue occupational hazards.  Make sure you play your bit to ensure them at your workspace.

To be able to have a decent job or be a creator of decent jobs, start by setting goals for yourself; remember any knowledge that you can get will only make you richer, these days digital skills are a must, soft skills are equally important and be self driven.  Imbibe values such as respect, empathy, inclusiveness.

Respect for and public acknowledgment of all jobs – there are no menial jobs.  Critical and essential jobs, are often the biggest jobs.  Please respect them; and finally

As the Mahatma said ‘Be the change you wish to see in this world’ if you wish to see SDG 8 being achieved let it start with you.

Let me conclude by wishing all of you and your ‘near & dear’ ones good mental and physical health and wishing that starting today all of you will open up to the idea of a planet that can only be kept stable, prosperous and healthy only if we come together.