HIGHLIGHTS-ILO summit on COVID-19 and the world of work

World leaders spoke at a conference on Wednesday organised by the International Labour Organization on COVID-19 and the world of work.

Here are highlights: GUY RYDER, ILO HEAD

"The world of work ... has been plunged into unprecedented crisis." UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES

"It's not a choice between health or jobs and the economy. They are interlinked: we will either win on all fronts or fail on all fronts." ANTONIO COSTA, PRIME MINISTER OF PORTUGAL

"Whether the countries are in the north or the south, whether they are richer or poorer, we either come out of this all together or we all die together." "We have to do this so we have a strong, joint response from the EU all together."

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND MANAGING DIRECTOR KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA "Looking ahead, policies should lay the foundation for a low-carbon, resilient recovery that would create millions of jobs while helping address the climate crisis."

"We are especially concerned that the crisis will jeopardise the important development gains of the last years." WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR-GENERAL ROBERTO AZEVEDO

"Keeping markets open to trade will play an important role to foster our recovery. In the short run, raising trade barriers would threaten access to food and medical supplies." SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN

"The COVID-19 pandemic struck the world like a massive earthquake and just like a tsunami that comes in its aftermath, 'employment shock' has already hit upon us." SANGITA REDDY, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF INDIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY:

"It is time for us to swing into action to make sure there is no loss of life due to starvation." REINER HOFFMAN, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

"The consequences of the last 20 or 30 years, the hard work to fight abject poverty, is now being undermined." PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN

"It's very important that all of us here have some sort of combined strategy to deal with this vulnerable sector of society: labour." SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

"We have an immense task before us: to rebuild our shattered lives and economies ... The long-term impact of the pandemic on Africa will be quite severe." ​ JOSAIA VOREQE BAINIMARAMA, PRIME MINISTER OF FIJI:

"Tourism has come to a halt. Many jobs have still not come back and many never will ... You cannot work from home when you work as a scuba instructor."

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