Arab countries lost 90.5% of working hours in 2Q 2020 due to COVID-19: ILO Director

  • Date: 01-Oct-2020
  • Source: Ahram
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:GCC
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Arab countries lost 90.5% of working hours in 2Q 2020 due to COVID-19: ILO Director

Working hours shrank globally by 70.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020, while 90.5 percent of working hours were lost in the Arab region in the same quarter due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder revealed.

Ryder made the comments during a high-level panel held on Wednesday organised by the G20 Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on enhancing access to opportunities in Arab countries.

Ryder also revealed that income levels in Arab countries declined by 11 percent, which is a significant decline compared to the global levels, adding that the labour gap in developing countries is worth $1 billion.

He asserted that the situation in the Arab region can be addressed by adopting policies targeting formalisation of