In a statement issued on Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for accelerated action on jobs and social protection to avoid an uneven global recovery and prevent future crises.

Worried about the situation and to avoid further loss of jobs, the UN chief will convene leaders today to mobilise action.

“An estimated 8.8 per cent of total working hours – equivalent to the hours worked in one year by 255 million full-time workers – were lost in 2020,” he said.

“Because of the pandemic, there are an estimated 75 million fewer jobs in 2021 than there were before the crisis, and 23 million fewer projected in 2022. This corresponds to a loss of US$3.3 trillion in labour income before government support.”

To achieve a job-rich recovery and a just transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy, Guterres called for a “global accelerator for jobs and social protection that would create at least 400 million jobs and extend social protection to 4 billion women, men and children currently without coverage.”

“To achieve this goal, the policy brief entitled “Investing in Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Eradication and a Sustainable Recovery” recommends several actions:

“Develop integrated national and inclusive recovery strategies for decent job creation, especially in the care and green sectors, universal social protection, and a just transition, and ensure they are aligned with macro-economic and fiscal policies and underpinned by sound data.

“Expand investment in Social Protection Floors as a percentage of GDP in national budgets. Design policy measures to extend social protection to workers in the informal economy, and to foster the progressive formalization of enterprises and employment, including in the care economy”, The statement added.

See the full statement issued by the United Nations below:

UN Secretary-General calls for accelerated action on jobs and social protection to avoid an uneven global recovery and prevent future crises.

Investing in job-rich growth, social protection and a just transition to a net-zero emissions future, particularly in low -and middle-income countries, could prevent a further deepening of the inequalities between developed and developing economies that have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in a policy brief issued today.

At least US$982 billion in fiscal stimulus measures is needed to respond to the immediate labour market shocks of the crisis and to support a just transition, as well as US$ 1.2 trillion annually for social protection floors in low- and middle-income countries. No advanced economy has achieved economic and social progress without investing in social protection systems and quality public services that provide people with the necessary support to navigate the vicissitudes of their lives.

While the wealth of billionaires increased by over US$ 3.9 trillion between March and December 2020, the impact of the pandemic on the world of work, among other factors, increased the number of extremely poor by between 119 and 224 million people—the first increase in poverty in over 21 years.

An estimated 8.8 per cent of total working hours – equivalent to the hours worked in one year by 255 million full-time workers – were lost in 2020.

This corresponds to a loss of US$3.3 trillion in labour income before government support.

Because of the pandemic, there are an estimated 75 million fewer jobs in 2021 than there were before the crisis, and 23 million fewer projected in 2022.

The Secretary-General’s brief calls for urgent investments in a job-rich, sustainable and socially inclusive recovery. The public and private sectors should leverage finance to significantly ramp up such investments to get the world back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to address ever-increasing risks from climate change and environmental degradation that could jeopardize 1.2 billion jobs—equivalent to 40 per cent of the global labour force.

A human-centred recovery from the pandemic needs employment and social protection policies to work in tandem, not only to improve people’s living standards but also to help them navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world of work and the transition towards the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Accelerating job creation

To achieve a job-rich recovery and a just transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy, the Secretary-General is calling for a Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection that would create at least 400 million jobs and extend social protection to 4 billion women, men and children currently without coverage.

To achieve this Goal, the Policy Brief entitled “Investing in Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Eradication and a Sustainable Recovery” recommends several actions:

Develop integrated national and inclusive recovery strategies for decent job creation, especially in the care and green sectors, universal social protection, and a just transition, and ensure they are aligned with macro-economic and fiscal policies and underpinned by sound data.

Expand investment in Social Protection Floors as a percentage of GDP in national budgets.

Design policy measures to extend social protection to workers in the informal economy, and to foster the progressive formalization of enterprises and employment, including in the care economy.

Create active labour market policies to help workers upskill and re-skill to keep or change their job, adapt to the green and digital transitions.

Develop a sound financial architecture to mobilize investments for decent jobs, social protection, and a just transition, including by channelling SDRs to support national recovery strategies to countries in need.

Strengthen collaboration with the private sector to scale up investments in strategic sectors to promote entrepreneurship, effectively reaching women and women-owned enterprises, in particular, to close the skills gap

Align strategies with the Paris Climate Accords, so that they support enterprises and workers, while also ensuring that vulnerable populations are not left behind in the transition to net-zero carbon emissions economies.

High-level Event on Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Eradication.

• Source: channels tv

The first-ever joint assessment by the UN’s health and labour agencies of the global disease and injury burden linked to jobs stretches from 2000 to 2016, so does not include the dramatic shifts in working conditions brought on by the Covid-19 crisis.

Some 1.9 million deaths worldwide were officially linked to work-related causes in 2016, up slightly from 1.7 million at the turn of the century, according to the report, which cautioned these were almost certainly underestimates.

Long working hours “are the single deadliest occupational risk factor” World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in a video statement.

Exposure to long working hours, defined as working 55 hours a week or more, was deemed responsible for some 750,000 deaths in 2016, the report said.

In all, the study examines 19 occupational risk factors, including exposure to carcinogens like asbestos, ergonomic factors like prolonged sitting and manual handling of loads.

After long working hours, workplace exposure to gases, fumes and other air pollution was seen as the top risk, responsible for some 450,000 deaths in 2016.

“It’s shocking to see so many people literally being killed by their jobs,” Tedros said, describing the report as “a wake-up call to countries and businesses to improve and protect the health and safety of workers.”

The report found that non-communicational diseases accounted for a full 82 percent of work-related deaths in 2016, with the greatest cause of death being chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which killed 415,000 people that year.

That was followed by strokes, at 400,000, and ischaemic heart disease at 350,000.

Occupational injuries were responsible for 18 percent of all work-related deaths, and were estimated to have killed 360,000 people in 2016.

“All of these deaths are preventable,” International Labour Organization chief Guy Ryder said in a video message.

“We can and we must ensure safe and healthy workplaces for all workers.”

On a positive note, the global death rate from work-related causes shrank by 14 percent over the 16-year-period covered in the report, although a growing global population meant the number of deaths remained about the same.

The decrease from 39.9 to 34.3 deaths per 100,000 working age people was possibly a reflection of improvements in workplace safety measures, the report said.

But while there was a sharp drop in the number of deaths caused by occupational injuries, deaths linked to long working hours surged over the same period.

The death rate from heart disease associated with exposure to long working hours ballooned by 41 percent, while stroke deaths brought on by excessive work rose 19 percent, the report showed.

While the report did not look at the pandemic impact, the UN agencies have previously warned the crisis appeared to be feeding the trend towards increased working hours, with teleworking blurring the lines between work and home life.

Friday’s report did not provide estimates of deaths from contagious diseases contracted at work, but the WHO said that aspect might be included in future studies to capture the Covid impact.

“We need more epidemiological studies that clearly identify the increased risk for death from Covid as a result of working,” Frank Pega, the WHO’s technical lead on the report, told reporters.

AFP

Ojeifo said this while giving the opening statement at the three-day 14th United Nations Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held online on Tuesday.

“I have the privilege to speak before you today,” she said. “I carry their stories, mine and the more than 1 billion people living with a disability—many of whom have been stripped of their dignity and agency—because we can no longer wait for what seems like a favour. These are our rights.”

She stated that since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into effect, and ratified by member states, the world has not moved nearly fast enough for people with disabilities.

“In many countries around the world, people with disabilities, like me, are yet to be given full and equal recognition before the law,” she lamented. However, she added that “we are working to change this.”

She noted that with the support of the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund, her organisation, SWW, has documented cases of medical and mental health practitioners violating people with disabilities and stripping them of free and informed consent as well as forcing detention on them.

“Together with Human Rights Watch, She Writes Woman investigated cases of people with psychosocial disabilities being subjected to inhuman conditions—including shackling and forced treatment—in my country, Nigeria,” she said. “The horrific abuse of human chaining is not limited to Nigeria only. This practice has been documented in at least 60 countries across the world.”

She stated that some UN member states and governments are complicit in these atrocities and that many countries are still endorsing institutionalization and building more facilities that further isolate and violate people with disabilities rather than investing in community-based supports for them.

“We demand meaningful participation, in the true spirit of nothing about us without us,” she said. “Today, you distinguished delegates must take responsibility for all the harm done to us and renew your commitment to working with us, people with disabilities, to realize our rights.”

To connect and educate people with mental health challenges and psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria, Ojeifo’s organisation handles Nigeria’s first 24/7 toll-free mental health support helpline where Nigerians can call to get free mental health support.

Source: Nigerian Tribune