Over 70 per cent of young people who were either studying or combining study and work before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced school closures, and not all were able to transition into online and distance learning, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has said.

According to a report on youth and COVID-19, the ILO said that COVID-19 has left one in eight young people (13 per cent) without any access to courses, teaching or training.

Social Watch Philippines-Alternative Budget Initiative in Health (SWP-ABI Health) is launching the "Mercy Fabros Learning Session Series.”

Social Watch Philippines-Alternative Budget Initiative in Health (SWP-ABI Health) invites you to the first episode tackling a timely public health discourse, “An Urgent Call: A People's Vaccine Against COVID-19" on August 5, Wednesday, (via Zoom).

The pandemic is changing our lives and economies in profound ways. So massive has been the wastage of lives and the devastation caused by COVID-19 to health systems everywhere that humanity's survival has become a top priority concern.

“The world is going through a public health crisis which is turning into a global economic and social crisis. The HLPF is one of the first major intergovernmental meetings with universal participation and broad stakeholder engagement since the onset of the crisis.

“It is critical that the United Nations send a strong message to all people demonstrating that we can forge consensus and give a multilateral response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that we are committed to rebuilding better after the pandemic, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as our roadmap. Countries, societies, youth and the media will all be looking to the United Nations for its guidance.”

Five years ago, as part of the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, all UN member states ratified the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2017, the government of the Czech Republic ratified the strategic document “Czech Republic 2030” whose goal was to improve the quality of life across all the regions and to put Czechia on a path to development which would be sustainable in its social, economic and environmental impacts.

On 16 July, this year's virtual UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development came to an end. The HLPF is the premier UN body to monitor the annual progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) worldwide. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated inequalities and further endangered development gains already at risk prior to the global pandemic.