G20 Declaration on skills, education and the future of work

The G20 Summit 2023, organized on September 9th and 10th, marked a pivotal moment in global cooperation. Following this summit, the G20 declaration document was released, representing a collective commitment to address pressing economic and social challenges on a global scale.

The G20 declaration, culminating in four important meetings in Chennai, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, and Pune, underscores the global commitment to address critical economic and social challenges. These meetings paved the way for the comprehensive G20 declaration, laying a roadmap for international economic cooperation and development.

Pre-summit events in 4 locations:

• Chennai: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/g20-meet-in-february-skill-gaps-blended-learning-and-more/
• Bhubaneshwar: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/3rd-g20-education-working-group-meeting-to-be-held-in-bhubaneswar/
• Amritsar: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/g20-seminar-on-strengthening-research-and-promoting-innovation-via-richer-collaboration-held-in-amritsar/
• Pune: https://www.g20.org/en/media-resources/press-releases/june-2023/ewg-4p/

In conjunction with this, NSN embarked on a research project to understand Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and skill development in G20 countries. The insights gathered from our research have been showcased in a video presentation, which you can access by following this link.

Now, let’s delve into the G20 declaration, highlighting crucial points and commitments made by global leaders to foster inclusive economic growth, support education and skills development, and empower women globally.

G20 Leaders’ Commitments for a Sustainable Future

We are One Earth, One Family, and we share One Future.

As Leaders of G20, the premier global forum for international economic cooperation, we resolve to act in concrete ways through partnerships. We commit to:

• Accelerate strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth.
• Accelerate the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Promote sustainable, quality, healthy, safe, and gainful employment.

G20 Commitment to Inclusive Education and Skills Training

We are committed to inclusive, equitable, high-quality education and skills training for all, including those in vulnerable situations. We recognize the importance of investment in supporting human capital development. To this end, we:

• Recognize the importance of foundational learning (literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills) as the primary building block for education and employment.
• Reiterate our commitment to harness digital technologies to overcome the digital divides for all learners.
• Extend support to educational institutions and teachers to enable them to keep pace with emerging trends and technological advances, including AI.
• Emphasize expanding access to high-quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
• Reaffirm our commitment to promote open, equitable, and secure scientific collaboration and encourage mobility of students, scholars, researchers, and scientists across research and higher education institutions.
• Emphasize the importance of enabling life-long learning focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, especially for vulnerable groups.

Preparing for the Future of Work

We commit to addressing skill gaps, promoting decent work, and ensuring inclusive social protection policies for all. Towards this aim, we:

• Recognize that well-integrated and adequately skilled workers benefit origin and destination countries alike and commit to working towards ensuring well-managed, regular and skills-based migration pathways.
• Welcome efforts to map global skill gaps and the development of the G20 policy priorities to address skill gaps globally, including through further strengthening our national statistical data, extending the coverage of the ILO and OECD Skills for Jobs Databases to G20 countries, as appropriate. We commit to effectively addressing global skills for sustainable and inclusive economic development.
• Commit to consider the development of an international reference classification of occupations by skill and qualification requirements to facilitate cross-country comparability and mutual recognition of skills and qualifications.
• Welcome the comprehensive toolkit with adaptable frameworks for designing and introducing digital upskilling and reskilling programs.
• Aim to achieve sustainably financed universal social protection coverage and consider portability of social security benefits through bilateral and multilateral agreements.
• Support progress on the implementation of the UN Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions.
• Acknowledge the economic significance and societal value of the cultural and creative sector to support inclusive growth, sustainable development, and decent work.
• Ensure adequate social protection and decent working conditions for gig and platform workers.
• Will increase our efforts for the elimination of child labor and forced labor along global value chains.

Enhancing Economic and Social Empowerment

We encourage women-led development and remain committed to enhancing women’s full, equal, effective, and meaningful participation as decision-makers for addressing global challenges inclusively and in contributing as active participants in all spheres of society, across all sectors and at all levels of the economy, which is not only crucial for achieving gender equality but also for contributing to global GDP growth. To this end,

• Ensure equal access to affordable, inclusive, equitable, safe and quality education from early childhood through higher education to lifelong learning and support the greater enrollment, participation, and leadership of all women and girls, including those with disabilities, in STEM fields and in emerging digital technologies.
• Take steps to promote the full and meaningful participation of women in a transitioning world of work by enabling inclusive access to employment opportunities, with a focus on closing the gender pay gap and ensuring women’s equal access to decent work and quality jobs.
• Promote women’s inclusion into the formal financial system by strengthening their access to economic resources, particularly through digital finance and microfinance.

These commitments from the G20 declaration represent a united effort to address pressing global challenges, foster economic growth, and ensure the well-being of all nations. For a more in-depth understanding of the G20’s objectives and the complete declaration document, click on the following link: G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration – https://www.g20.org/content/dam/gtwenty/gtwenty_new/document/G20-New-Delhi-Leaders-Declaration.pdf