The 51st World Economic Forum Annual Meeting has recently opened in Davos, Switzerland, in the form of a teleconference on the theme “The Great Reset”, representing a commitment to jointly and urgently build the foundations of the global economic and social system for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future. The event attracted the participation of a dozen of leaders and tens of thousands of heads of businesses and social organisations.
Along with topics on fostering responsible industrial transformation, strengthening global governance, making progress on carbon neutralisation, shaping new and efficient technology trends, discussions within the framework of the meeting are specifically aimed at a sustainable and equitable economic and social system, creating jobs and building an inclusive society, as well as promoting a new, balanced and appropriate multilateral system suitable for the 21st century.
In the context where the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the world economy into a terrible crisis, eradicating achievements in hunger eradication, poverty reduction and global inequality reduction, and promoting a fair economy and society are topics of interest and priority being discussed at the Davos meeting.
In a report released just before the event, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) stated that the pandemic had pushed the global job market into its worst crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. According to the ILO survey, the total number of working hours globally in 2020 will decrease by 8.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 alone. That is, the world lost 255 million full-time jobs, four times the number in the period of the economic crisis in 2008 - 2009. Thereby, income decreased by 8.3%, or US$3.7 trillion, about 4.4% of global GDP; while unemployment rates increased by 1.1%, bringing the total number of unemployed workers to 220 million.
The ILO also pointed to the uneven impact of the pandemic on labour groups and sectors, with particularly severe impacts on women and young workers, as well as tourism, accommodation and food services. With the rate of 8.7% job loss, the group of workers aged 15 to 24 has been most affected, at risk of becoming a “disoriented generation” due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ILO warned that the high unemployment rate has many consequences for workers, such as loss of skills, talent and energy, causing damage to families and society, etc...
Meanwhile, Oxfam, an international coalition working to eradicate poverty and injustice around the world, has warned of economic inequality that has been aggravated by the pandemic. According to Oxfam, the “economic storm” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has the strongest impact on the poor and vulnerable, in which women and disadvantaged workers are facing the worst risk of unemployment.
It is estimated that 100 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty and it will take more than ten years for the world to bring the number of poor people back to pre-pandemic times. According to Oxfam's calculations, the group of one thousand richest people in the world was able to offset the damage caused by Covid-19 in just nine months. However, it could take the world's poorest people up to 10 years to do this.
The pandemic has exposed economic inequality, but it has also created opportunities and platforms to promote policy transformation. The ILO has called on governments to adopt special support policies for the labour groups and sectors most severely affected by the pandemic. Rich countries need to support poor countries that have few resources to promote job market recovery. Oxfam also asserted that a fairer economy is the key to a quick recovery from a pandemic. The fight against inequality is considered an urgent action to “rescue” and restore the global economy.
