This article addresses one of the most debated aspects of immigration namely the question – does welcoming migrants and refugees affect positively or negatively the national dynamics of employment? It offers a policy analysis of the effects of migration and labour market conditions and policies in host countries and discusses opportunities for migrants to enter a host countries’ labour markets. The reasons for high migration are known and linked to violence, persecution, human rights violations and persistently high level of poverty in many parts of the world reaching very high levels over the last three years and resulting in millions of refugees and migrants crossing international borders with thousands of lives lost during the dangerous passing of borders and seas. On the other hand, in many European countries, a growing number of economic sectors are being affected by the potential threat of a shortage of semi-and low skilled workers. Taking Switzerland as an example, fewer young people attend professional schools thereby reducing the potential supply of a semi-skilled work force. The future short fall of semi-skilled and low-skilled work force will further increase due to the ageing of the Swiss population which in turn will impact the demand for semi-skilled and low skilled workers. Refugees and migrants could potentially find jobs in segments of the Swiss labour market thereby providing mutually beneficial solutions for all parties concerned that is a) for refugees and migrants seeking employment and asylum, b) for the aging population of host countries requiring care delivered by a low and semi-skilled work force and c) for public and private sector enterprises finding labour for economic sectors in need of qualified and motivated labour force.
Referring to the 2030 Agenda terminology, this paper offers an analysis of the cross-sector relevance of SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and how decent work, employment and economic growth had a positive or less effective impact on other sectors such as Health- using 2030 Agenda terminology – (SDG 3), Education (SDG 4); Rural Development and poverty reduction (SDG 1 & 2), Trade (SDG 17); environment (SDGs 6,13,14,15) and governance (SDG 16). Looking back at what was successful or less successful in regard to intersectoral application of Decent Work to the PRSPs this article provides lessons learnt which is very relevant for the current question of how to implement the SDGs. Most of the SDGs are interdependent and need to be made interactive and the International Organizations holding respective sectoral mandates need to engage in meaningful collaboration rather than continue with old habits of defensive hording of territory.
Saner, R.; Grimm, J, (2011); “Umweltkonflikte und Nachhaltigkeit in Lateinamerika: Verhandlungen zwischen Unternehmen, NGOs und Regierungsstellen” (Environmental conflicts and sustainable development in Latin America: Negotiations between enterprises, NGOs and Governments); Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften SHV; Saarbrücken, (283 pp).
As our world is globalizing by the day, so are the threats to security. The methodology for mutual cooperation suggested in the Helsinki Final Act is no longer enough and does not bring many of the existing conflicts to an end. The good faith of Helsinki that expected the countries to”…equally endeavour, in developing their cooperation, to improve the well-being of peoples and contribute to the fulfilment of their aspirations through, inter alia, the benefits resulting from increased mutual knowledge and from progress and achievement in the economic, scientific, technological, social, cultural and humanitarian fields”. What needs to be taken into consideration are the challenges when countries do not fulfil these expectations. This paper will look into the reasons for such non-compliant behaviours and offer ideas for possibilities to change such practices of non-compliance.
It is widely accepted that the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda) for the benefit of least developed countries will require boundary spanning by United Nations agencies, G20 countries and leading development nongovernmental organizations. Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals also requires cross-sector cooperation and crossinstitutional cooperation among international organizations mandated by G20 members to implement their own development strategies for the poor.
However, international organizations are not sufficiently equipped to deal with the cross-sector and cross-institutional cooperation needed to achieve the goals, commonly known as the SDGs. They also are often not at ease in cooperating with leading nongovernmental and philanthropic organizations – even when operating in the same policy space.
“The 2030 Agenda: no poverty reduction without policy coherence” G20 Germany 2017, Think 20 Dialogue, DIE Bonn, 28 March 2017
G20 member countries play a crucial role in international organisations by the collective size of their economies and combined political weight, both of which are needed to make the policies of international organisations as coherent as possible to reduce poverty in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
“Participation of Civil Society Organisations in the United Nations and in the Aid Effectiveness Discourse and Related Standard-Setting Negotiations”, in Göymen, K; Lewis, R (eds), “Public Policymaking in a Globalized World”; Istanbul Policy Center, Istanbul; (2015); pp 149-185.
This paper consists of two parts. The first part analyses the involvement of non-state actors in the United Nations (UN) and its agencies. The engagement of non-state actors, particularly of the international non-governmental organisations (I-NGOs) and the various national civil society organisations (CSOs) dates back to the founding of the United Nations in 1945 and the analyses show a growing participation of NGOs from developed and developing countries. The second part describes the role and participation of the I-NGOs in the deliberations and negotiations on global public policymaking and standard setting negotiations of aid effectiveness.
Greening the World Trade Organization by Raymond Saner Environmental and Climate Change Economics
The research programme on “Climate Change and Sustainable Development” addresses the two inter-related issues of climate change and sustainable development and a corollary of key topics in the field of environmental economics. The programme builds upon over twenty years of successful FEEM research in the field. In the specific area of climate change, FEEM has achieved a leading position in the international research community, as a result of the in-house development and application of several methodologies for the economic analysis of climate and energy policies. FEEM models address world-wide vulnerability to changes in climatic conditions, and investigate the economics of mitigation and adaptation to these changes. In the specific area of sustainable development, FEEM research covers a variety of issues: sustainable management of natural resources, the economics of natural hazards and extreme events, and the use of indicators to measure sustainability and growth beyond GDP. FEEM can also rely on a strong research team of applied economists who investigate the economic performance of various environmental and climate policy instruments. The twofold goal of this research programme is to contribute to science while guiding policies and informing the public debate.
Even though the COP21 meeting in Paris concluded on a positive note, the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures remains based on non-binding proposals and promises made by the countries who took part in COP21. In addition, the solutions discussed so far are based on the assumption and hope that new technologies will be developed that can help generate the needed abatement of Green House Gases (GHG) and that such new technology could be developed, sold and used based on “business as usual” in regard to protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs). This publication proposes instead an alternative way to halt climate warming. The author suggests that the treaty power of the WTO could be used to create the incentive system needed to transform “business as usual- IPR” to a “green oriented trade and development system” turning green high technology into a common resource that could give low-income developing countries access to green high technology goods and services which would enable them to contribute to the effort of stopping global warming at a global level. Finally, this publication proposes three green agreements within the WTO agreement framework that could generate the green investments and green production needed to successfully implement climate change mitigation and adaptation at global level and in the public interest.
ISBN Number 9788894170108
FEEM Press, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Series, 2/2016
Raymond Saner and Lichia Yiu, 2017, Matlin S. & Kickbusch I. (eds.) “Pathways to Global Health: Case Studies in Global Health Diplomacy (Volume 2)”, Global Health Diplomacy, vol. 5, p.171-210.
The goal of this chapter is to describe and analyse the multi-stakeholder negotiation process which unfolded during the negotiation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco (FCTC), including the influencing and negotiation behaviour of the different stakeholder groups and how their disputes resulted in the completion of the FCTC, the initiation of negotiations and agreement on a protocol for FCTC Article 15 (the illicit trade in tobacco products), and the unfinished negotiations towards a protocol for FCTC Article 13 (tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship).
