2012 Annual Ministerial Review

The 2012 AMR took place during the High-level Segment (HLS) of the substantive session of the ECOSOC in July at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It focused on the theme “Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth at all levels for achieving the MDGs”. Decent work and promoting productive capacity are central to poverty eradication, the achievement of the MDGs and equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. The global economic and financial crisis exacerbated pre-existing challenges to the achievement of full employment and decent work in both developing and developed countries. Therefore, the 2012 AMR provided an important opportunity for ECOSOC to put a spotlight on economic growth models that promote job creation, are sustainable, inclusive and equitable and can be tailored to the particular needs of countries, while promoting also social protection and rights at work.

The 2012 AMR will provide an opportunity for ECOSOC to:

• Foster agreement on the key policies and other requirements for building productive capacity and promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries
• Provide an assessment of progress towards achieving employment-related goals and commitments
• Highlight the positive synergies between employment, poverty reduction and the achievement of other MDGs/IADGs and serving as a catalyst for the realization of employment-related goals and commitments
• Encourage countries to launch initiatives in support of productive capacity building, employment and decent work at the ECOSOC substantive session
• Achieve broad multi-stakeholder engagement from the private and not-for-profit sectors.

The Secretary-General’s Report on the theme of the 2012 AMR provided the basis for the discussion

The AMR session featured keynote addresses on employment-related issues with the participation of Ministers of Labour, Development Cooperation, Economics, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Executive Heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, and representatives of civil society, private sector and academia.

Nine countries - Algeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Kenya, Mauritius, Qatar, Russia, Senegal and Ukraine - made National Voluntary Presentations (NVPs) during the 2012 AMR session. The NVPs focused on progress made at the national level in implementing the Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs), including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Several other activities have taken place at the national, regional and global levels in preparation for the 2012 AMR.

• Background Note for Regional meeting for Western Asia
• Regional Meeting for Latin America and Caribbean, 27 April 2012, Montevideo, Uruguay
• Global Preparatory Meeting, 3 April 2012, New York
• Creating a Sustainable Future: Empowering Youth with Better Job Opportunities
• Breaking New Gorund: Partnerships for more and better Jobs for Young People
• Regional Meeting for Africa on "Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as drivers of productive capacity and job creation", 25 March 2012, Addis Ababa
• e-Discussion on "Jobs, Decent Work and Inclusive Growth", 8 February - 14 March 2012
• Regional Meeting for Asia and the Pacific on “Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work in Asia and the Pacific: a regional approach to sustained, inclusive and equitable growth and achieving the MDGs”, 7 December 2011, Kyoto

The final outcome was a Ministerial Declaration on “Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth at all levels for achieving the MDGs”.

Report

• Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth at all levels for achieving the Millennium Development Goals - Report of the Secretary -General (advanced unedited report)