KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 1
ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, has welcomed the affirmation by leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) nations that they will adopt human-centred policy approaches in their COVID-19 pandemic recovery plans.
The G-20 Declaration, agreed at the end of a weekend of talks in Rome, echoed the ILO's Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery, adopted by its 187 member states last June.
Noting the inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic , the G-20 Declaration underlined the leaders' commitment to ensuring safe and healthy working conditions, decent work for all, social justice and social dialogue.
Social protection systems will be strengthened, the declaration stated, in order to reduce inequalities, eradicate poverty, support worker transitions and reintegration in labour markets and to promote inclusive and sustainable growth.
In remarks to G-20 leaders, International Labour Organisation director-general pointed to stalled global labour market recovery and 'great divergence' between higher and lower income countries, as highlighted in latest ILO Monitor report on COVID-19 and the world of work.
"Prospects for labour market recovery remain uneven and uncertain in the face of supply chain disruptions, energy price spikes, inflation worries and debt distress. Recovery depends very much on each country's capacities to administer the right fiscal stimulus, and on the availability of vaccines," Ryder said.
"So as the world looks to G-20 to intensify its efforts, we need global solutions to the global challenges we face, and we need to include working people and labour markets in that response. We need a humancentred recovery that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient."
Social protection and a just transition to greener economies were also key issues highlighted by Ryder in a G-20 session on sustainable development.
He called on countries to support the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection, launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN General Assembly in September.
"We need combined efforts at local, national and international levels to close the global social investment gap," Ryder said. "We further need a just transition to ensure that overall, the employment dividend of preventing climate change is fully met, and more jobs are created overall than are destroyed."
With the global focus turning to the COP26 climate summit, which opens on 31 October, a large part of the G-20 Declaration focused on the environment, climate change and energy, as well as financing for sustainable development.
The leaders' declaration reaffirmed countries' commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment, including a commitment to implement G-20 Roadmap Towards and Beyond the Brisbane Goal, and to rapidly enhance the quantity and quality of women's employment, with particular focus on closing the gender pay gap. In addition, eradicating gender-based violence, bridging the digital gender divide, skills development for young people and the inclusion of migrants and refugees in the response to the pandemic, were prioritised.
The declaration calls on the ILO, in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to continue monitoring progress towards the Antalya Youth Goal - the commitment made by G-20 nations to reduce the share of young people who are most at risk of being permanently left behind in the labour market by 15 per cent by 2025.
In addition, the declaration notes 2021 Annual International Migration and Forced Displacement Trends and Policies report to G-20, prepared by OECD in cooperation with ILO, the International Organisation for Migration and UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 02, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
