AIR Spotlight: G20: EWG Meeting

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on the Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting of the G20.

Participants:

1. Rupesh Kumar Thakur – Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment
2. Lalima Aneja Dang – AIR Correspondent

Context – The Employment Working Group under India’s Presidency of G20 will hold its first meeting at Jodhpur from the 2nd to the 4th of February, 2023 with a mandate to address issues concerning labour and employment for strong, sustainable, balanced, and job-rich growth for all.

Introduction –

India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022, from Indonesia and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in the country in 2023. India’s G20 Presidency is a watershed moment for the country and it seeks to play an important role by finding pragmatic global solutions for the well-being of all, and in doing so, manifest the true spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ or ‘World is One Family’. 

• The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
• The G20 was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. It was upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and, in 2009, was designated the “premier forum for international economic cooperation”. 
• The G20 Presidency steers the G20 agenda for one year and hosts the Summit. The G20 consists of two parallel tracks: the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track. Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors lead the Finance Track, while Sherpas lead the Sherpa Track.

G20: Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting

The First Employment Working Group meeting of the G20 summit will be held in Jodhpur in Rajasthan from 2 to 4 February. 

• The Employment Working Group (EWG) under the Indian presidency of G20 has a mandate of addressing priority labour, employment and social issues for strong, sustainable, balanced and job-rich growth for all.
• India is hosting over 73 delegates from 19 countries, the European Union and 9 guest countries and 9 regional and international organisations.

Image source – PIB

• The meetings will take place as follows:

1. 1st EWG Meet – Jodhpur, 2nd – 4th Feb ’23
2. 2nd EWG Guwahati – 3rd – 5th Apr ’23
3. 3rd EWG – Geneva 1st – 2nd  Jun ’23
4. 4th EWG – Indore 19th – 20th July ’23

First EWG Meeting: Thematic Areas

The EWG comes under the Sherpa track. The three thematic areas on which the deliberations will take place include-

1. Addressing Global Skill Gaps 
2. Gig and Platform Economy and Social Protection &
3. Sustainable Financing of Social Security 

Addressing Global Skill gaps

• Due to demographic differences, member countries are facing skill gaps. New technologies are emerging like AI, and machine learning and people are required to upgrade their skills.  There are shortages of skills in various countries. A global skill gap analysis will help in addressing the global skill gaps by identifying requirements of skills and workforce in G20 countries. 
•  A significant outcome of the deliberation would be an ‘International Skill Gap Mapping Portal’ for the assessment of skill demand as well as a framework for skills and qualifications harmonisation with common taxonomies. This would be especially significant for India, which is hoping that its skilling programmes would help its workers get jobs abroad.

Gig and Platform Economy and Social Protection 

• Gig and Platform economy provides the opportunity for workers to transcend the limitations of work-time and work-space, enabling more workers to integrate with the labour market. However, providing social protection to them due to the non-existence of traditional employer-employee relationships remains a challenge.
• The Employment Working Group will bring relevant G20 country experiences to help in formulating a series of recommendations on how to extend social protection coverage to a larger group of workers in the gig and platform economies. This will facilitate the development of tools for monitoring progress on social protection for gig and platform workers. 

Sustainable Financing of Social Protection

• Providing social security to a large population of workers is a major goal. Providing pensions, insurance, medical schemes, etc. continues to be a challenge. It requires exploring alternatives to generate and expand resources involving governments, employees and other stakeholders.
• The EWG meeting will help in sharing the best practices and sustainable financing mechanisms for providing universal social security coverage. It will help in the development of policy options, including social insurance schemes, tax-financed schemes, or a mix of both to ensure sustainable financing of social security. 

Education and skill

Education and skill sectors should not work in silos but synchronously. A joint session between the Employment Working Group and the Education Working Group is planned under India’s G20 presidency so that skilling and education can be synchronised. 

Conclusion – The Employment Working Group under India’s G20 presidency is expected to be inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented, and the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) will take the country a step forward in becoming a ‘Vishwa Guru’.

Read previous AIR Spotlight articles in the link.

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