The Chamber Academy and the International Labour Organization (ILO) will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday (29^th) from 10am to 11:45am, on the global picture and social protection measures that are needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the region. The session will be hosted by Ms. Sara Elder, Head of the Regional Economic and Social Analysis Unit of the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and Mr. Xavier Estupinan, Wage Specialist at ILO Decent Work Team New Delhi.

COVID-19 rapidly transformed from a public health emergency into an economic and employment crisis too. Across Asia, it has particularly hit apparel manufacturing and tourism and hospitality, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In Sri Lanka, in addition to domestic difficulties of enterprises, threats to job security, loss of income of daily-waged labourers, there is the imminent return of large numbers of low-skilled, low paid migrant workers, adding to the number out of work and out of income. The effects of the pandemic have exposed the lack of social protection for informal economy workers.

Urgent, large-scale and coordinated actions are needed to address these and other issues, beginning with government, employers’ and workers’ representatives but extending to multilateral agencies, development partners and agencies. Immediate measures are necessary to protect enterprises, livelihoods and lives. Meanwhile, policy responses cannot afford to be short-term and must be designed around building back the economy, labour market, health and social protection systems, better.

 The webinar will discuss:

• COVID19’s impact on the World of Work
• ILO’s Human-Centred and Global Solidarity Approach
• Social Protection Responses across the world

Email events@chamber.lk to register.