Additional 108 mn workers pushed into poverty due to COVID, 205 mn could be unemployed in 2022: UN
United Nations, Jun 2: Over 200 million people globally are likely to become unemployed in 2022 and an additional 108 million workers are now categorised as poor or extremely poor as the coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented disruption that will scar the social and employment landscape for years to come if concerted policy actions are not taken, according to a UN report.
The UN labour agency, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in its flagship World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021, released on Wednesday said the labour market crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and employment growth will be insufficient to make up for the losses suffered until at least 2023.
The pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption that absent concerted policy efforts will scar the social and employment landscape for years to come," it said.
The report noted that in 2020, an estimated 8.8 per cent of total working hours were lost the equivalent of the hours worked in one year by 255 million full-time workers.
The report projects the global crisis-induced jobs gap' will reach 75 million in 2021, before falling to 23 million in 2022. The related gap in working-hours, which includes the jobs gap and those on reduced hours, amounts to the equivalent of 100 million full-time jobs in 2021 and 26 million full-time jobs in 2022.
This shortfall in employment and working hours comes on top of persistently high pre-crisis levels of unemployment, labour underutilisation and poor working conditions.
"In consequence, global unemployment is expected to stand at 205 million people in 2022, greatly surpassing the level of 187 million in 2019. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent. Excluding the COVID-19 crisis period, such a rate was last seen in 2013, it said.
The worst affected regions in the first half of 2021 have been Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia. In both, estimated working-hour losses exceeded eight per cent in the first quarter and six per cent in the second quarter, compared to global working-hour losses of 4.8 and 4.4 per cent in the first and second quarter, respectively.
The fall in employment and hours worked has translated into a sharp drop in labour income and a corresponding rise in poverty.
Compared to 2019, an additional 108 million workers worldwide are now categorised as poor or extremely poor," meaning they and their families live on the equivalent of less than USD 3.20 per person per day.
Five years of progress towards the eradication of working poverty have been undone, the report said, adding that this renders the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating poverty by 2030 even more elusive.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said recovery from COVID-19 is not just a health issue and the serious damage to economies and societies needs to be overcome too.
Without a deliberate effort to accelerate the creation of decent jobs, and support the most vulnerable members of society and the recovery of the hardest-hit economic sectors, the lingering effects of the pandemic could be with us for years in the form of lost human and economic potential and higher poverty and inequality, he said.
Ryder underscored the need for a comprehensive and co-ordinated strategy, based on human-centred policies, and backed by action and funding. There can be no real recovery without a recovery of decent jobs, he noted.
Global employment recovery is projected to accelerate in the second half of 2021, provided that there is no worsening in the overall pandemic situation.
However this will be uneven, due to unequal vaccine access and the limited capacity of most developing and emerging economies to support strong fiscal stimulus measures. Furthermore, the quality of newly created jobs is likely to deteriorate in those countries, the report said.
The report noted with concern that the crisis has also hit women disproportionately as their employment declined by 5 per cent in 2020 compared to 3.9 per cent for men. A greater proportion of women also fell out of the labour market, becoming inactive. Additional domestic responsibilities resulting from crisis lockdowns have also created the risk of a re-traditionalisation of gender roles.
Globally, youth employment fell 8.7 per cent in 2020, compared with 3.7 per cent for adults, with the most pronounced fall seen in middle-income countries.
The consequences of this delay and disruption to the early labour market experience of young people could last for years, the report said.
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Have married Pak woman only after getting nod from CRPF headquarters: Dismissed trooper
Jammu (PTI): Hours after being dismissed from service for “concealing” his marriage with a Pakistani woman, CRPF trooper Munir Ahmed on Saturday said he solemnized his marriage nearly a month after getting permission from the force's headquarters last year.
Ahmed, a resident of Gharota area of Jammu who had joined CRPF in April 2017, said he will challenge his dismissal in the court of law. “I am sure of getting justice”.
The Central Reserve Police Force has dismissed Ahmed for "concealing" his marriage with Pakistani woman Minal Khan and knowingly harbouring her beyond the validity of her visa, saying his actions were detrimental to national security.
“I initially came to know about my dismissal through media reports. I shortly received a letter from the CRPF informing me about the dismissal which came as a shock to me and my family as I have sought and received permission for my marriage to a Pakistani woman from the headquarters,” Ahmad told PTI over phone from his house.
Ahmed's marriage with Khan came to light after India asked Pakistani nationals to leave the country as part of diplomatic measures taken in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were killed.
Khan entered India through the Wagah-Attari border on February 28 and her short-term visa ended on March 22. However, her deportation was stayed by the high court and she is presently staying in Ahmed’s Jammu residence.
“I made the first correspondence on December 31, 2022 informing my wish to marry the Pakistani national and I was asked to complete formalities like enclosing copies of passport, marriage card and affidavits.
"I submitted my affidavit and also the affidavits of my parents, sarpanch, and district development council member through proper channels and finally got a go ahead from the headquarters on April 30, 2024,” he said.
The CRPF trooper said he applied for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) but he was told that such a provision is not available and he has already completed the formalities by informing the government about his marriage to a foreign national in accordance with the rules.
“We got married online on May 24 last year through a video call. Subsequently, I submitted marriage pictures, 'Nikkah' papers and marriage certificate to my 72 Battalion where I was posted.
"When she came for the first time on February 28 on a 15-day visa, we applied for Long Term Visa in March itself and completed the necessary formalities including interview,” he said, highlighting that this paved the way for the High Court of J&K and Ladakh to provide relief to them by staying his wife’s deportation at the last moment on Wednesday.
Ahmed said he returned to his duties at the end of his leave period and was asked to report to the battalion headquarters at Sunderbani on March 25 but on March 27, "I was handed over a transfer order and posted with 41st Battalion at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) without providing 15 days mandatory joining period.
“I was given the order copy and relieved immediately, leaving me with no option but to join my duties at Bhopal where I joined on March 29. I faced the interview of the commanding officer and his deputy on reaching there and also completed the documentation process, clearly mentioning my marriage to a Pakistani woman,” he said, adding he has even made the entry in his battalion data record book.
The CRPF trooper said he will be moving the court in the next few days to challenge his dismissal.
“I am hopeful of getting justice from the court of law,” he said.
