THE very rich are getting richer, and the assets of the world's 358 billionaires exceed the combined annual incomes of almost half of the world's people, the UNDP report states.
Economic growth does not automatically create jobs, it says. A study spanning the last decade found that only 27 of 46 countries with such growth experienced increased employment. Some 19 of these actually saw unemployment rise, including India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
International intervention is necessary if globalisation of trade is not to widen the gap between the haves and have nots, the report says. For example, the Uruguay Round of trade talks will produce 5200 billion a year in global benefits, but the poorest countries of Africa will lose $8 million annually in exports.
Reflecting the widening gap between rich and poor, the report says the Gross Domestic Product of industrial countries was $18 trillion in 1993, out of a world total of $23 trillion. Although developing countries have nearly 80 per cent of the world's people, they had a GDP of only $5 trillion.
Employment can rise even when per capita income is declining, the report says. Jamaica and Mexico are examples of countries where low wage, low productivity jobs can multiply.
Women face obstacles that men do not, it says. Some 70 per cent of the world's poor are female, and average earnings are 75 per cent of men's. Three quarters of women's time is spent in unpaid home and community work.
Young people are suffering most from unemployment, but particularly in the cities of the developing world. In Kenya, urban youth unemployment is 29 per cent, and 21 per cent in Algeria. Among industrial nations, Ireland and Italy record 25 per cent, and France 20 per cent.
AIDS is the leading cause of death for adults aged under 45 in Europe and North America, the report says, and HIV infections are occurring every 15 seconds. Some 2.5 million people have died of AIDS, and it will cut life expectancy in Africa from 62 to 47 years by 2000.
Emphasising the need for a political commitment to employment and sustained investment in people's health and skills, the report says Japan and Sweden maintained low unemployment rates over the past decade through a commitment by government, unions, employers and politicians.
China reversed its policy of investment in capital intensive industry, favouring labour intensive production, particularly for the export market, and expansion of rural industry and small scale farming. However, countries like Pakistan pursued policies which actively discouraged employment creation, by promoting capital intensive industry and steering investment away from small scale and rural industries.
Both Malaysia and the Republic of Korea invested heavily in education and health - at $150 and $ 160 a person - and both showed high growth and employment.
Encouragement of the "informal" sector - known in Ireland as the "black economy" - is the "employment godsend" of many developing countries, it says - generating 80 per cent of all jobs in an area like Ibadan, Nigeria.
In Latin America, 59 per cent of the urban poor derived their income from this sector over the past 10 years.
Access to social services is an absolute necessity for employment and productivity, the UNDP report says. The Republic of Korea is a prime example of this, it says, but more than 70 per cent of the population in Afghanistan, Angola, Ben in, Mali and Niger cannot reach a health facility within one hour by local transport.
