In a statement to the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, Mr. Ryder has called on countries to back the Global Accelerator for Jobd and Social Protection launched by the UN Secretary-General, jointly with ILO, during the General Assembly last month.

Ryder said this would ensure a human-centred recovery from the pandemic and empower people to navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world of work, through a program that would increase investments in universal social protection, decent work and a just and green transition.

In a statement to the IMF and World Bank Group annual meetings, Ryder recalled how the pandemic has been particularly devastating for the most vulnerable, especially women, workers in the informal economy and children, and underlined that they face a very different future depending on where they live.

‘The recovery is deeply uneven, spurred by vast differences between advanced and developing economies in access to vaccines, the fiscal capacity and ability of governments to respond, a growing digital divide and the threat of a looming debt crisis. This is creating a great divergence, which puts the recovery itself at risk and undermines trust and solidarity,’ said Ryder.

An estimated 8.8% of total working hours were lost globally in 2020, he said. The equivalent to the hours worked in one year by 255 million full-time workers.

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