COVID-19: ILO tasks international community on human-centered recovery policies
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has urged the international community to construct a human-centred recovery policies as the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work is devastating.
The ILO Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder said this in a virtual plenary, while declaring open the 109th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
The conference, which has over 4,300 participants of government workers and employers representatives from 175 members states would be held from June 7 to June 19.
Ryder said that human-centred policies such as those outlined in the ILO Centenary Declaration, were key to a sustainable and inclusive global pandemic response.
He underlined the consequences of the multiple and growing inequalities in societies that the pandemic had exposed and the past failure to address them over time.
“The sum of human suffering caused by the pandemic is all the greater for that collective failure. In this house of social justice, we more than most, need to draw conclusions from this,” he said.
Ryder noted the efforts and commitment of governments to do whatever it took to overcome the health crisis and mitigate its social and economic consequences.
According to him, it is extraordinarily important that this conference takes place as people across the globe hope and reach for a recovery that leads to a resilient, sustainable, fairer and better future.
The ILO D-G said that the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work adopted by the ILC in 2019, gave an agreed and highly-valued roadmap for “constructing a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crises.’’
“The pandemic has highlighted just how inextricably health, social and economic, financial, trade and intellectual property policy is really linked.
“We need to lever that realisation to forge better multilateral system coherence on a permanent basis just as the Centenary Declaration urged us to do.
“The adoption by this conference of an outcome document calling for and shaping, a global response for such a human-centred recovery will be of the very greatest value,” he said.
Mr Guy Parmelin, the President, Swiss Confederation, noted that labour markets were still in shock due to the impact of the pandemic.
Parmelin advised participants at the conference to continue to support economies, jobs and population.
He, however, called upon delegates to “work tirelessly” to implement the ILO’s Centenary Declaration.
“This guides us on the measures to be taken to ensure that the recovery of our economies takes a significant, social and human-centred approach.
“Let us abandon the standstill, fear and fear of innovation to seize the opportunities that any crisis offers us.
“The crisis forcing us to new interdependencies, particularly between health, environment, education, finance, digital, work and social.
“These interdependencies require more cooperation between governments first but also with social partners,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference will debate on COVID-19 outcome document that will provide guidance on policies for a human-centred recovery from the crisis.
The participants will also discuss social protection, a critically important subject at a time when the inadequacies of current systems have been so cruelly exposed by the crisis.
The ILO will further undertake its regular supervision of the application of international labour standards, among others. (NAN)
