Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said yesterday during his speech at the Virtual World Summit of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that “The workers and work were among the first victims of the COVID-19 pandemic that Palestine and the world are undergoing”.
“In Palestine, however, workers’ issues overlapped with the HIV and occupation pandemics in a very difficult way, It has had profound effects on workers and the Palestinian people in general”, added Shtayyeh in the same statement.
Shtayyeh also said that “Our work in the face of the pandemic struck a balance between what protects a person’s life and what ensures his livelihood, in economic conditions governed by the reality of Israeli colonialism that depletes our natural resources and human potential, and is paralleled by a financial blockade imposed by the United States on UNRWA and the authority as well as the decline of donor funds”.
“Our experience in Palestine and the world confirmed that an early warning system for crises should be established and sponsored by the United Nations, in order to avoid such crises and disasters in the future. It must be said that social dialogue and true partnership is the best tool to deal with crises and challenges”, Shtayyeh noted before the ILO summit.
Shtayyeh also stressed the urgent need to build and develop comprehensive social protection systems, at the heart of which are social security programs that would be established to develop and complete work on in Palestine, noting that “the future of work is changing very quickly and there is a need for more agreements and regulations for flexible work and remote work”.
“It is necessary to rebuild and direct decent work programs so that occupational safety and health issues in the work environment and in light of pandemics are one of their most important priorities”, Shtayyeh finally added.
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