Several international finance institutions have renewed their commitment to job creation – but without mentioning details on new funding or partnerships to boost employment around the world.
The International Finance Corp., a World Bank Group member, released a report on Jan. 14 which highlights the need to empower women and the development community’s role in helping the private sector connect with academic institutions to train the next generation of job seekers and leaders.
In a joint communiqué issued on the same day, 25 international finance institutions, including the Inter-American Development Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, promised to cooperate more and leverage their expertise and ties with public, private and other institutions to create up to 600 million jobs by 2020, a target the World Bank set last October in its World Development Report 2013. (At present, the World Bank predicts worldwide unemployment to be around 200 million.)
That report tapped the private sector as the source of 90 percent of all jobs worldwide.
The IFC report, “Assessing Private Sector Contributions to Job Creation,” includes a number of recommendations on how academia, governments, finance institutions and the private sector can help create employment opportunities for women and improve investment climates and infrastructures in developing countries. Few of these recommendations are new, but the focus on partnership may help maximize resources.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
