Our societies are no strangers to the process of transition. We are now embarking on yet another transition of its kind: transitioning from a pandemic to healthy and revived economies. This endeavor requires the rethinking of the ‘business as usual economic models’ toward economic programs which are designed and built on the principle of ‘building back better’. It is about time we reconsider our traditional approaches and start designing a transition that leads to the kinds of social outcomes we have been talking about for a while.
The IMF World Economic Outlook projects a global economic contraction of -4.9 percent in 2020. The impacts on low-income households are expected to be acute, while threatening a regressive trend in global efforts to reduce extreme poverty and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. In Kosovo, the prospects are no brighter. IMF predicts that the Kosovo economy will contract by 5%.
The economic impact of the pandemic is already vivid and clear. In the month of April 2020 alone, the Employment Agency of Kosovo registered a total of 32,377 new jobseekers, while the number of jobseekers registered for the period January-April 2020 reached a total of 37,392. Almost half of the jobseekers (16,820) were women, while a significant number of 48% of the jobseekers were in the category 15-24 years old. These numbers reinforce further the traditional employment issues in the country in which in 2019 the youth unemployment rate was as high as 49% and the employment rate for women was as low as 14%.
As we seek for most suitable modalities to address the ever-rising socio- economic pressures deriving from the pandemic, whether in Kosovo or on a global level, we have to find the most suitable scenarios to design recovery plans which go hand in hand with gender sensitive, resilient and inclusive, as well as, environmental friendly policies.
While the priority of policy makers is to stabilize economies and save jobs, we must advocate for recovery programs which clarify and clearly communicate the positive correlation that equitable policies have with increased economic productivity.
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a common enemy, but its impact in different groups of people is of a different scale, in many cases deepening long built existing inequalities. In this regard, women are seen as most vulnerable to the virus in the sense that it hits them hardest in the context of the social and economic spectrum.
It is a global case that great numbers of women are working in informal economies, have lower earnings, and as a consequence, lower savings. With the economic activity shutting down, jobs for women are being cut, pushing them away from paid jobs to unpaid home care work, the burden of which has increased significantly during lockdowns. Further on, the pandemic has made women even more vulnerable exposing them to greater violence.
In Kosovo, similar to global developments, gender-based violence saw a vivid increase in the number of cases. According to OSCE Kosovo, in March 2020 36% more domestic violence cases were reported in Kosovo compared to March 2019. In the capital of Kosovo, Prishtina, the increase was from 33 reported cases to 62, a staggering 87%. Ensuring gender equality and protecting women’s rights are vital in our fight against the pandemic. By safeguarding them, we stand a chance for a better, more balanced and a faster recovery. It is therefore that recovery programs have to integrate stimulations and supporting measures targeted at women specifically. On top of various financial support mechanisms, it is crucial we also find suitable models to recognize unpaid work.
At the same time, boosting resilience and advancing inclusiveness should be the foundations of the recovery policies. As warning about the frequency of pandemics in the future become more serious, it is of crucial importance that we invest in building resilience, respectively, preparing our societies to respond better to future similar shocks. Self-reliance of different communities must lay at the foundation of these efforts. We must empower frontline workers, such as health care providers, grocery workers, utility service providers, bus drivers, factory workers, etc. adequately, so we ultimately protect their households and the communities they live in as well. As such, compensations for exposure to risks, ensuring life and health insurance, guaranteeing sick leave, are just some of the few policies that would contribute to enhancing their safety net.
Yet, all of this must be done in an inclusive manner. As referred to before, the pandemic has further emphasized long standing inequalities. It is therefore an imperative that we assure that newly adopted policies reach out to the most vulnerable groups, the ones who struggle to have access to basic services and are at the same time hit hardest by the pandemic. As we build back, we only do it better by leaving no one behind, and we can only do that by providing these communities with the skills and resources to cope with any potential similar threats in the future. In light of highly dynamic developments and facing the prospects of a digital revolution, our countries have to initiate a serious collaboration in the area of the digitalization, especially in the Western Balkans region, and ensure the preparation of the workforce for the challenges and opportunities of this new digital era. It is through sharing of experiences and bilateral and multilateral initiatives that we can all stand a chance to benefit at greater margins and ultimately fight the digital gap prevailing between countries and within societies.
The scenario is complete and sustainable, when we also build back greener. Global discourse after the Paris Agreement has shifted significantly towards the idea of embracing development scenarios which besides ensuring economic growth also go hand in hand with efforts to ensure environmental protection. The European Green Deal is one concrete example of this. The Green Deal sets the pathway for a great transformation of the EU’s economic model with the ultimate aim of dramatically reducing carbon emissions and hence meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. As the EU embarks on this journey, it must find appropriate ways to bring neighboring countries on board.
But beyond this, the green recovery must now become a universally accepted guiding principle. Investments in green technologies, in particular renewable energy technologies, have demonstrated to contribute to self-reliance of communities, enhanced resilience, as well as, boosted economic performance, by contributing as well to the expansion of homegrown jobs. Yet, this must certainly go beyond mere words and public declarations, as estimates suggest that less than 0.2% of trillions of USD committed to COVID-19 recovery by the world’s 50 largest economies have been committed to stimulate greener and low-carbon economies.
Governments and international organizations should ensure that allocated funding is deployed better, since our decisions in terms of how we spend the massive economic stimulus and recovery packages right now will ultimately define our future in the years to come. It is therefore an imperative of this time that we create a momentum for a green recovery, which paves the way for green jobs and green investments that result in more resilient, more economically progressive and inclusive societies.
The costs to cover COVID-19 recovery response are exhausting budgets otherwise used for sustainable development and climate action, humanitarian aid, and disaster management; it is therefore that we have this one chance to decide how these financial resources also ensure social justice, economic equality, and environmental protection.
The pandemic has most certainly highlighted the interlinkage of economic, environmental and social systems, while also bringing forward the fragility of this coexistence, but we can only build back better by finding the right balance between these three pillars, as this way we can sustainably ensure that we can rescue economies and jobs, while sustainably safeguarding our societies from future threats.
And, as we strive to save economies and jobs, we must not forget the close interlinkage between health and economic performance, given that economic growth is directly threatened by the poor health of the citizens. The relationship between the two is strong as evidence suggests that countries with weak health systems find it harder to achieve sustained growth. As such, while aiming to revitalize our economies we must first and foremost craft the necessary framework to guarantee the health of our citizens. Since, economic recovery at the expense of the health of the citizens, is rather a failure and certainly not an accomplishment, and this remains especially an important note for countries with fragile health systems.
The vision for the future must be clear for all of us by now; yet, as we pursue it, it is upon the leaders of countries to be willing to listen to the voices of their communities and learn from the challenges and raised issues during the pandemic, while ultimately having the courage, proper knowledge and audacity to adopt well informed gender balanced, resilient, inclusive and environmentally friendly recovery programs and stimulus packages. Ultimately, in doing so, our commitment to build back better, is only successful, if we build back better together.
This article is an extract taken from the Parliamentary Network publication ‘Just Transitions’. You can download a pdf version of the full document here.