Virtual Summit

ILO Global Summit on COVID-19 and the World of Work - Building a better future of work

From the 1st to the 9th of July, the ILO hosted the largest ever online summit of workers, employers and government representatives to address the impact of COVID-19 on the world of work, and how to build a better future of work after the pandemic. You can replay the discussions online.

Programme of the Global Summit

Replay of all the summit's sessions and addresses here

Regional events, 1–2 July

► 1 July 7h00-10h30 GMT Arab States
  12h00-15h30 GMT Europe
► 2 July 4h00-7h00 GMT Asia and the Pacific
  9h00-12h30 GMT Africa
  15h00-18h30 GMT Americas

Global events, 7–9 July

7 July    Regional Day
Highlights from all five regional events, in a mix of live and recorded segments along with interviews with each ILO regional director and videos of ILO responses to COVID-19.

8 July    Global Leaders’ Day
Addresses from Heads of State and Government, and prominent global employer and trade union leaders on the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic in the world of work.


9 July    ILO Constituents’ Day
Ministers, and workers’ and employers’ leaders from member States reflected on the previous days’ events and discussed the implementation of the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work in the context of the pandemic. The focus was on the urgent and immediate challenges of the early phase of the pandemic in the world of work and on the responses that were proving effective, as well as the process for building back better.

The discussion was guided by the following questions:
  1. COVID-19 responses to support full and productive employment and decent work for all

    How will COVID-19 responses promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all? How can they be designed to lift the global economy quickly out of recession and put it on a course to navigate the challenges of just digital, demographic and environmental transition?

    Do we want to accelerate the use of technologies to enable new ways of working in the light of the experience of pandemic? If so how should such work be regulated?

  2. COVID-19 – the first shock: Tackling informality and gaps in social protection

    What needs to be done to address the massive vulnerabilities in the world of work made evident by the pandemic? How do we scale up the task of formalizing the informal economy and to move decisively towards universal social protection coverage?

  3. COVID-19: Spotlight on most impacted sectors of economic activity and vulnerable populations

    What are the sectors of economic activity and categories of worker who require particular support and attention? Can the recovery process embody a transformative agenda for gender equality and a platform for the advancement of young people in the world of work?

  4. COVID-19: Working together to build back better

    How can the reduction and elimination of poverty and imperatives of rights and social justice be placed as central objectives of the recovery process.

    At a time when multilateral cooperation is more than ever indispensable, but facing unprecedented challenges, how can the international community come together with real common purpose and rededicate itself to the delivery of the UN 2030 Agenda?
The Director-General opened the discussion and representatives of each of the three constituent groups was invited to provide the group’s perspective on the role of the ILO during the pandemic and in the recovery phase. Similarly, at the end of the thematic discussions, representatives from the three groups had the opportunity to deliver their concluding remarks on the information shared during the Summit and the lessons learned.

Contributions from heads of international organizations were also featured in the course of the Global Summit.