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Employment
Our commitment
The eighth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 is to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. To achieve this goal, AFD supports access to employment and improvement in job quality, promotes Social and Inclusive Business and facilitates job creation through support for the private sector and financial systems.
Our approach
While employment is the primary source of income for individuals and families, people in developing countries are massively confronted with unemployment, underemployment, precarious employment and poor working conditions.
By supporting economic activity and transitions, all AFD interventions, whatever the sector, can have an impact on jobs. In particular, AFD:
- supports policies to access employment and improve the quality of jobs to promote decent work
- promotes Social and Inclusive Business, by supporting all the economic stakeholders at the various stages of development
- facilitates job creation through its sectoral financing (agriculture, energy, etc.), and, in particular, through its support for the private sector and financial systems.
Supporting private actors to promote growth that benefits all
Unemployment, poor working conditions, gender pay gap, etc., are global issues that concern that access to decent work. AFD supports public and private stakeholders in the shaping and implementation of actions aimed at ensuring that as many people as possible have access to decent jobs:
- We support individuals’ career paths, from improving their employability through to their integration into the labor market as employees or via self-employment or the creation of micro-enterprises.
- We also support the transformation of work by improving job quality (status, safety at work, social protection, lifelong learning, etc.).
- We also promote professional equality, and in particular gender equality.
The private sector is the leading job creator in the developing countries and contributes to the provision of goods and services, particularly in infrastructure, health, education and energy. It is a driving force for innovation and technological progress, generating tax revenues that are essential for governments.
Since development cannot depend solely on the public sector, PROPARCO, a private sector subsidiary of AFD group, finances enterprises, banks and private financial institutions whose activities contribute to the creation of decent jobs and incomes, the provision of essential goods and services and also the fight against climate change.
Actors in the financial system play an essential role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in combating climate disruption. AFD Group works alongside financial institutions and regulators in the field to build long-term sustainable economic, social, and environmental trajectories.
Social and Inclusive Business brings together the economic stakeholders (associations, enterprises, etc.) that prioritize social and/or environmental development. AFD group promotes this approach by supporting the entire ecosystem at the various stages of development, from emergence to growth and strengthening of the institutional framework.
Our actions target associations, small and large companies and also technical support structures, financiers and political decision-makers.
On the ground
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Key figures
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2 billion people work in the informal economy (ILO, 2018)
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344 million people will enter the labor market by 2030 (ILO, 2019)