Rapid transformations - from artificial intelligence and digital technologies to renewable energy and demographic shifts - are reshaping economies worldwide, creating new opportunities but also threatening to deepen socio-economic inequalities, a new UN report warned on Thursday.
Benefiting from these changes often requires specialised skills and access to the latest technologies, putting disadvantaged groups at risk of being left behind.
Women, young people, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, Indigenous Peoples and low-income communities are particularly vulnerable, the report stresses, outlining recommendations for governments to ensure these transformations benefit everyone.
Inclusion is a priority
Social inclusion is a moral imperative, but it is also an economic necessity, the report from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) underlined.
It found that expanding opportunities to marginalised groups enlarges the productive workforce, strengthens human capital, increases innovation and entrepreneurship, improves labour allocation and spreads productivity gains more widely.
"Inclusive societies are more productive, resilient, and prosperous," Secretary-General António Guterres summarised in a video message for the launch of the report.
Measures towards social inclusion should also be taken urgently, as those left outside key systems face steeper barriers to catching up later, the report emphasised.
What to do
As artificial intelligence transforms labour markets, the report urges governments to invest in continuous training and reskilling for workers whose jobs may be replaced or transformed, rather than focusing solely on creating new jobs.
Similarly, the shift to renewable energy must include support for workers and communities reliant on fossil fuels, through retraining, alternative employment opportunities and social assistance.
To bridge the digital divide, governments should also expand affordable access to the internet, digital infrastructure and technology training - particularly in disadvantaged communities.
One last major recommendation is to stop relying mainly on GDP to evaluate growth, and to also assess progress through poverty reduction, access to education and healthcare, employment security, inequality and environmental protection.
Economic growth that benefits only a small share of the population, it argues, cannot be considered genuinely inclusive.
Funding these investments
Importantly, these investments require resources and many developing countries are facing financial constraints that could hamper the transition.
Nearly half of the world's poorest countries are either in or at high risk of debt distress, with interest payments relative to revenue at their highest levels in a generation, the UN Secretary-General warned.
He called on leaders to live up to the commitments made through last year's Doha Political Declaration on Social Development and the Sevilla Commitment on financing for development.
He also pushed for reform of international financial institutions to better represent and serve developing countries.
"Transformations are inevitable. Inequality and exclusion are not," the UN Secretary-General said.
"Let's work together to ensure that the profound transformations reshaping our world help build societies rooted in justice, dignity and opportunity for all."
