COVID-19 and the world of work

Regional and country impact and policies

The latest regional and country research, assessments, guidelines and policy recommendations relating to COVID-19 and the world of work.
  1. World Social Protection Report 2020–22: Regional companion report for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

    30 November 2021

    This regional companion report for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is intended to complement the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2021–22. Social Protection at the Crossroads – in Pursuit of a Better Future. The regional companion report first gives a global perspective that is taken from the main report and outlines recent developments in social protection systems worldwide. It then highlights key developments, challenges and priorities for social protection in the MENA region.

  2. Macroeconomic policy responses to the COVID crisis in emerging market and developing economies: Current outcomes and evolving challenges

    15 November 2021

    Background paper for the Global Employment Policy Review (GEPR), Second edition (forthcoming).

  3. Angola: Study on the migration from the informal for formal economy

    20 October 2021

    This report produced by the Bureaux for Employers’ Activities (ACT/EMP) of the ILO with the Angolan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIA) is seeking to contribute to design a strategy to enable the gradual transition from the informal to the formal economy in Angola

  4. Public Employment Programmes in the Care Economy - The Case of South Africa

    29 April 2021

    The COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis have increased unemployment levels in the care economy, detrimental effects of which are felt by care workers, the majority of whom are women. The South African experience shows that Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) have contributed to the progressive realisation of decent work where as a first step in the trajectory, they have recognised and renumerated care related labour as work. This case study raises a series of questions for further consideration about the role of PEPs in this context, particularly their efficacy in the provision of direct care services.

  5. Changing Laws and Breaking Barriers for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia

    10 November 2020

    The OECD, ILO and CAWTAR have joined forces– with the support of numerous local, regional and international experts– to produce this study, which captures the potential of a region on the move towards greater economic empowerment of its women citizens.

  6. Labour relations and COVID-19 in Tunisia

    22 October 2020

    How bipartite social dialogue between employers and trade unions was used to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis in Tunisia (temporary wage subsidies).

  7. Containing the epidemic and its impact on jobs and incomes in Ethiopia: Rapid assessment and response plan

    30 April 2020

    This note developed jointly by Ethiopia Jobs Creation Commission and International Labour Organisation in April 2020.

  8. The impact of COVID-19 on the informal economy in Africa and the related policy responses

    14 April 2020

    Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is just beginning to take shape. While the delayed spread of the Coronavirus has given the continent some preparatory head time, the varying economic, social and political contexts are making it harder for the region to draw many relevant lessons from the responses in China, for example, or western countries.

  9. ILO 'Better Work' guidelines for factories in the garment sector

    02 April 2020