ILO and the United Nations COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund

ILO a member of the Advisory Committee of the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund established by the UN Secretary-General to help support low- and middle-income programme countries to respond to the pandemic and its impacts, including an unprecedented socio-economic shock. The Fund’s assistance targets those most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption.

For two years (until April 2022), the Fund serves as an essential finance mechanism towards operationalizing the United Nations Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19: Shared responsibility, global solidarity and urgent action for people in need, a roadmap for global social and economic recovery from the pandemic. As such, it is structured around the three objectives of the UN Secretary-General’s Call for Solidarity to (1) Tackle the health emergency; (2) Focus on the social impact, and the economic response and recovery; and (3) Help countries recover better.

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund issued its first call in April 2020. ILO is participating in eight joint UN Programmes developed in response to the first round of proposals – in Belize, Nepal, Sao Tome et Principe, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu as participating UN-agency and as lead agency in Cabo Verde, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste. ILO’s involvement in Joint Programmes includes social protection and support to MSMEs as well as promoting occupational safety and health, including for vulnerable workers, and rapid assessments on the impact of COVID-19 on labour markets. A description of the approved programmes supported by the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund can be found here.