UN labor agency says 'urgent support' needed for workers in Türkiye, Syria after quakes

UN labor agency says 'urgent support' needed for workers in Türkiye, Syria after quakes

‘Workers, enterprises urgently need help to rebuild livelihoods and prevent poverty, informality and exploitation,’ says International Labor Organization

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The International Labor Organization (ILO) on Tuesday called for “urgent support” for hundreds of thousands of workers who lost their livelihoods in Türkiye and Syria after last month’s earthquakes.

"Workers and enterprises urgently need help to rebuild livelihoods and prevent poverty, informality and exploitation," the ILO said in a press release on its new assessment of the impact of the disaster on the labor market.

"Without urgent and dedicated support, poverty, informality and child labour are expected to increase," it said.

ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said: "People can only begin to rebuild their lives if they have rebuilt their livelihoods.

"We owe it to those who have lost so much in the earthquake to ensure that the principles of social justice and decent work are firmly embedded in the recovery and reconstruction process."

Initial data from Türkiye suggest the earthquake left more than 658,000 workers unable to earn their living, it said and added that the government says that more than 150,000 workplaces are unusable.

The ILO estimated that these affected workers face average income losses of more than $230 per month each for as long as the disruption continues.

The affected provinces in Türkiye are home to more than 4 million workers, most of whom work in agriculture, manufacturing, trade or other low-value-added services, it added.

The assessment also warned about increased risks to occupational safety and health, as well as child labor in Türkiye.

- Situation in Syria

The assessment determines that approximately 170,000 workers have lost their jobs as a result of the earthquakes in Syria, where 12 years of civil war had already taken a huge toll on the economy and labor market.

“This has directly affected around 154,000 households and more than 725,000 people. Around 35,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have also been affected,” the ILO said.

According to the assessment, total labor income losses as a result of this temporary "disemployment" amount to at least $5.7 million per month.

Aleppo, Hama, Idlib, Latakia, and Tartous were the five Syrian districts worst hit, and they were also home to an estimated 42.4% of the nation's total population, the ILO said and added that around 7.1 million people of working age were included in this.

The ILO underlined that both estimates for Türkiye and Syria are preliminary, include extrapolations from pre-earthquake data and are evolving.

Kaynak:Source of News

This news has been read 101 times in total

ADD A COMMENT to TO THE NEWS
UYARI: Küfür, hakaret, rencide edici cümleler veya imalar, inançlara saldırı içeren, imla kuralları ile yazılmamış,
Türkçe karakter kullanılmayan ve büyük harflerle yazılmış yorumlar onaylanmamaktadır.
Previous and Next News