A Human-Centred Recovery and the Future of Work in LDCs

Friday, 29 April 2022 - 10:00am

The social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt deeply, especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

This is in large part due to their structural vulnerabilities, inadequate social protection systems, and limited fiscal capacity to foster a human-centred recovery. The uneven recovery from COVID-19 risks to further entrench these global inequalities.

At the same time, digitalisation is rapidly changing the nature of work around the world, including in LDCs. The adoption and adaptation of digital technologies can be a powerful component of productive transformation that can benefit almost all sectors of the economy and generate widespread productivity and employment growth.

The LDC population is young and access to education and skills development is on the rise, which means the potential for harnessing digital technologies remains high. Digital technologies can potentially deliver large benefits to LDCs provided that significant investments are made in capital and in people to ensure technologies help drive productive and inclusive growth and support decent work outcomes.

The Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031 addresses many of these challenges and emphasizes the importance of promoting productive transformation and decent work opportunities in LDCs to achieve sustainable development. 

This meeting, co-organised by OHRLLS, will launch a new ILO Report entitled, “Present and Future of Work in the LDCs” and discuss the ambition and implementation of the Doha Programme of Action for LDCs in order to promote a human-centred recovery. 

The aim is to highlight good practices and opportunities to help countries prioritize policies in national development plans.

Specific topics will include:

  • the use of comprehensive employment and enterprise development policies
  • the role of just transition for a sustainable and inclusive economic transformation, fostering productivity growth and productive capacities
  • the expansion of social protection systems
  • the application of labour standards.

The discussion will also look at opportunities for international and regional cooperation including the engagement of the private sector to support job-rich growth and inclusive development in LDCs.

Read the report HERE.