Al Hamli: The leadership’s forward-looking vision enabled us to overcome the challenges of the pandemic

His Excellency Nasser bin Thani Al-Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization, said that addressing global challenges requires a consistent national and international response, noting that the UAE has overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic for the future of work and the economy thanks to the wise leadership’s forward-looking vision.

His Excellency stressed that the adaptation of the country to the demands of the new reality resulted from efforts made in innovation, foreseeing the future and the outstanding digital infrastructure that the country uses, as well as the developed legislative frameworks, in addition to a set of policies aimed at strengthening the UAE’s leading position as a preferred destination for living, work and investment. This is in addition to the adoption of a set of economic stimulus measures and the revision of strategic plans in such a way as to ensure the continuation of the country’s development process.

This was stated by Al-Hamli during the of the 109th session of the International Labor Conference, held virtually from June 3 to June 19, with the participation of over 4 thousand people representing government teams, workers and employers in the organization’s member states from 187 countries.

His Excellency Nasser bin Thani Al-Hamli leads the country’s working teams participating in the conference, which includes Saif Al-Suwaidi, Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization Affairs for Labor, Maher Hamad Al-Obed, Assistant Deputy Minister for Inspection, Ahmed Al-Nasser, Assistant Deputy Minister for National Human Resources Development and Abdullah Ali Al-Nuaimi, Assistant Deputy Minister for Communications and International Relations, Khalifa Matar Al Kaabi, Member of the Board of Directors of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the employers' team, Dr. Muhammad Butti al-Shamsi, President of the Association for Coordination among Professional Societies and a number of stakeholders in the ministry and businessmen.

In his speech, His Excellency said that the UAE, in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, has strived to adhere to the principles of ILO in promoting equality and combating discrimination, especially in the framework of providing health services and making vaccines available to all residents of the country, whether citizens and permanent residents, with no discrimination.

The UAE ranks in the top with the highest vaccination rates globally and has launched the “Hope Consortium” Initiative to support global efforts to disseminate corona virus vaccines and collaborate with the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative to guarantee fair and equitable access to vaccines and medicines for all. He added.

He pointed out that the repercussions of pandemic emphasized the importance of concerted efforts of the international community to address the negative effects of this pandemic, noting that the UAE has been keen, through its presidency of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2020 and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue 2021, to make the issues related to the impact of Covid-19 on the future of labor markets and temporary labor migration the focus of the attention of decision-makers and policy makers.

His Excellency Nasser bin Thani al-Hamli said: I add my voice to the Director General of the International Labor Organization that we must not allow this crisis to impose a tough reality on us to choose between protecting lives and securing our livelihoods. We must channel all of our efforts to promote a comprehensive, human-centered global economic recovery.

His Excellency invited conference participants to attend Expo 2020, expressing the hope that this event will be a sign of hope and optimism for all countries in the world towards the restoration of the global economic and cultural movement.

The conference will discuss the WHO Director-General's report on the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as general discussions on skills, lifelong learning and other topics related to labor and development issues.