Introduction

ILO is holding an online global summit on “Covid-19 and the World of Work- Building a Better Future of Work”. This Global Summit will provide a unique platform for government, employer and worker representatives, and other high-level players, to address the economic and social effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the summit will be a forum to discuss the difficulties and responses of countries and regions that are still fighting the epidemic and of those who are in the recovery process. Additionally,  concept note gives further details on the rationale, context, and main topics of discussion on the summit.

Details

Summit type: Event

Time: 1-9 July 2020

Mode: online

Organizer: International Labor Organization (ILO)

Dates of the Summit

Regional events will occur on 1–2 July, and three global events on 7–9 July will take place afterward. Viewers across all time zones shall be able to follow.

Who can participate in this global summit?

• The events will be open to all.

How to join the summit?

ILO issues invitations and instructions on accessing the virtual platforms to all participants.

• Governments will be sent the invitation from the ILO by e-mails of their permanent missions (and their related ministries where their email addresses are available).
• Social partners will receive the invitation via email from the Secretariats of the Employers and Workers groups.
• The invitations would contain the link and password to participate in the event as well as basic instructions for the use of Zoom, including login protocols to facilitate the recognition of participants by group, country, and name.
• Besides, all events will be broadcast live from the Summit’s webpage.

Languages of the events

ILO will provide interpretation services both in Zoom and on the public forums in all seven ILO working languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish) for the universal events, and in the ILO working languages of any region for the regional events as follows:

Africa	(Arabic, English, and French)
Americas	(English and Spanish)
Arab States	(Arabic and English)
Asia and the Pacific	(Chinese and English)
Europe	(English, French, German, Russian and Spanish)

The programme structure of the Global Summit

1. Regional events, 1–2 July

The programme, structure, and main topics of each regional event have been sent to the tripartite constituents of the member countries geographically covered by each of the five ILO regional offices. Also, the scheduling precludes overlap between events and takes into account the time zones prevailing in each region.

► 1 July	7:00-10:30 GMT	Arab Countries
	12:00-15:30 GMT	Europe
► 2 July	4:00-7:00 GMT	Asia and the Pacific Region
	9:00-12:30 GMT	Africa
	15:00-18:30 GMT	American countries

2. Global events, 7–9 July

All global events will be held between 12h00 and 16h00 CET to facilitate participation from all time zones. The specific times and lenght of each event will be finalized on the basis of the number of speakers and will be shared with the Zoom invitation and updated on ILO’s webpage.

The global events consist of three days:

a) 7 July Regional Day
This event will feature talking points from all five regional events, in a mix of live and recorded parts together with interviews with each ILO regional director and videos of ILO responses to COVID-19.

b) 8 July Global Leaders’ Day
This day includes addresses from Heads of State and Government, and prominent global employer and trade union leaders on the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic in the world of work.

c) 9 July ILO Constituents’ Day
This live event connects ministers and workers’ and employers’ leaders from member States to discuss the previous days’ events and discuss the execution of the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work in the context of the pandemic.

Therefore, the emphasis will be on the urgent and imminent challenges of the early phase of the epidemic in the world of work and on the responses that are proving useful, as well as the process for recovery.

The discussion will be instructed by questions that consider this need to address the range of situations – from the urgent needs of the early phase of the crisis to strategies for recovery and building back better. The questions are in the following four axes:

1. COVID-19 responses to support full and productive employment and dignified work for all: how will COVID-19 responses promote enduring, inclusive, and sustainable growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all? How can they be designed to take the global economy swiftly out of recession and put it on a trajectory to navigate the challenges of just digital, demographic, and environmental transition?Do we want to quicken the use of technologies to enable new methods of working in the light of the experience of the pandemic? If so, how should we regulate such work?

2. COVID-19 – the first shock: Dealing with informality and gaps in social protection

What needs to be done to cope with the vast vulnerabilities in the world of work created by the pandemic? How do we augment the task of formalizing the informal economy and to move decisively towards universal social protection coverage?

3. COVID-19: Spotlight on most affected sectors of economic activity and susceptible populations

What are the areas of economic activity and groups of workers who need particular support and attention? Can the recovery process symbolize a transformative agenda for gender equality and a platform for the inclusion of young people in the world of work?

4. COVID-19: Working together to recover better

How can the reduction and eradication of poverty and imperatives of rights and social justice be placed as key objectives of the recovery process?

At a time when multilateral collaboration is more than ever crucial, but facing unprecedented challenges, how can the international community unite with a real common purpose and rededicate itself to the delivery of the UN 2030 Agenda?

How will the summit start?

First, the Director-General will start the discussion, and representatives of each of the three constituent groups will also be invited to share the group’s perspective on the role of the ILO during the pandemic and in the recovery process. Likewise, after the thematic discussions, representatives from the three groups will have the chance to present their concluding remarks on the information shared during the Summit and the lessons learned.

Note: considering the time limitations of a virtual session, the speakers for each theme will be organized through the Government Group Regional Coordinators and group secretariats to ensure an appropriate tripartite and regional balance.

Once selected, the ILO will approach each speaker’s secretariat ahead of the event to check the connectivity and respond to any technical queries that may emerge.

Procedures applicable for the conduct of the Summit

All participants will be urged to respect the parliamentary language and refrain from comments directed against other countries, individuals, or groups. If any nation or group feels targeted by remarks made in the course of the various events of the Summit, they will have permission to reply at the end of the event where the comment was made.

Watch the Global Summit HERE

To read more about the Summit, please refer to the ILO website.

If you have further questions, direct them to GLOBALSUMMIT@ilo.org