International Labour Organisation (ILO) in June 2020 pronounced a 3-pronged strategy to revive the world economy. ILO, in its policy brief developed with various entities of the United Nations, has suggested the need to come up with interventions built on existing institutions while steering workers and enterprises towards sustainable development for a better and stronger recovery. These have been announced in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis wherein ILO has predicted massive losses in working hours which are equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs for second quarter of 2020 with 38% of the workforce – around 1.25 billion – is employed in high-risk sectors.
What is ILO? The International Labour Organization is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice through setting international labour standards. Founded in 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and oldest specialised agency of the UN.
The 3-strategies are:
(Sources: ilo.org / economictimes.com)
·In short term – provide immediate support to at risk workers, jobs and incomes by focusing on extending social outreach coverage and a gender-responsive, inclusive accessible and targeted measures
·In medium term – comprehensive approach to return to work by focusing on safe and accessible work places and well-designed active labour markets
·In long term – create decent and productive jobs for a green, inclusive and resilient recovery by investing in social protection, transition to formality, investing in climate change and new technologies.
The report further pointed out to the fact that women are disproportionately employed in critically affected sector like service, hospitality, etc. which have been impacted by the shifting of economic activity to the domestic sphere. Besides, the small and medium sized enterprises which are the engines of the global economy have suffered immensely and many may not recover at all. ILO reiterated that policies should ensure that economic activity should take a holistic approach – coordinated global, regional and national efforts to create decent and productive jobs for all.