Geneva: The Workers’ Group welcomed, in the 110th session of the International Labor Conference currently held in Geneva, the State of Qatar’s hosting of the 2023 UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, stressing that this creates a timely opportunity to shape more effective global support.
In a statement, Chairperson of the Workers’ Group Catelene Passchier said, “With Qatar being elected to the position of one of the Vice-Presidents of our Conference this year, we hope that the conclusions of this week’s discussion will inspire the Doha Conference agenda for 2023 on key social and labor issues.”
“Around 60 armed conflicts are costing millions of lives. The war in Ukraine, in addition to being a humanitarian disaster and a threat to the multilateral system, is disrupting supply chains and further pushing up prices while wages and social benefits are not following,” she added.
“The pandemic has destroyed 255 million jobs,” she pointed out. “We now have the terrifying prospect of 860 million people living in extreme poverty by the end of this year, 250 million more than last year; and around 827 million people are expected to be malnourished in 2022.”
“At national level, we have a moral duty and a legal obligation to protect the human, social and economic rights of those who are hit the hardest and those who are most vulnerable,” Passchier stated.
