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MANILA, Philippines?Governments in Asia, which has not been immune to the effects of the global meltdown, should focus on providing jobs and better social protection, social democrats from Asia said Sunday.
Parliamentarians, trade unions, and leaders of social democratic-oriented political parties and organizations from various Asian countries who just ended their first regional conference here made the call to their respective governments.
The Asian leaders who have banded together in the newly launched Network of Social Democracy in Asia said that as Asia?s predominantly neo-liberal model has failed, an equitable and sustainable paradigm embracing the International Labor Organization?s Decent Work Agenda must be pursued.
In their communiqué, social democrats from Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand drew up the following seven-point agenda for their governments to address the current global economic crisis:
* Stimulate demand by investing in community-based infrastructure, public transportation, low-cost housing, health services, and education to address poverty and generate jobs;
* Provide relief for displaced workers, including overseas migrant workers, through unemployment benefits; and initiate rural employment guarantee schemes that will absorb returning workers;
* Pursue labor policies that will retrain and upgrade the skills of workers;
* Achieve universality of coverage of social protection schemes, such as health insurance and cash-transfers, that mitigate risks, reduce poverty in line with the Millennium Development Goals and enable human development;
* Repudiate odious debts to finance social protection;
* Invest in green technologies to address climate change concerns, contribute to ecological justice, and develop the jobs of the future; and,
* Establish a social dimension in regional integration processes.
Budiman Sudjatmiko, a member of the Indonesian parliament and the one who read the communiqué, said that Asia is ?faced with a severe slowdown in economic activity caused by global recession.?
?It has resulted in losses in jobs, income, and employment opportunities, especially for young people, decrease in overseas remittances and escalating social inequalities. Governments have further cut subsidies for social services and development programs or increased its debt to finance services,? he said.
The communiqué noted that low wages and inequitable income distribution are among the core reasons for the economic imbalances that have led to the crisis. Asian social democrats thus said the appropriate response must be based on social justice.
