Post-Corona Starts Now!

Times of Corona are times of change. Hence, post-Corona is not only a crisis, but also a moment to explore new pathways for our societies towards greater equity, environmental sustainability and democratic participation.

This FREE online course brings together academics, trade unionists, human and labour rights advocates and policy makers from around the world to discuss policy solutions to the most pressing issues exposed by Covid-19. It also offers the opportunity to discuss an agenda for change.

Chapter 1: Course introduction

Here, the course participants will be introduced to the online platform and its interactive features. They will get a general overview of the key challenges exposed by Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on workers and their families.

Chapter 2: Resilient health systems: Responding to pandemics and beyond

The focus of Chapter 2 is on the health systems – which have been at the center of debates during the pandemic. After a discussion on some of the main weaknesses of health systems exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the chapter sums up the main lessons of the pandemic and puts forward some key policy proposals to strengthen health systems and make them more resilient. Special focus is given to the critical issue of health workers who are critical to achieving universal health care.

Chapter 3: Income support and social protection for all workers

In this chapter, the emphasis is on another immediate policy issue, that of income security and social protection systems. The arguments about income insecurity and weak social protection exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is complemented with a discussion on the impact on two major groups of workers – self-employed informal workers and (formal and informal) workers in global supply chains. This is followed by lectures on existing and potential policy responses to address the dire situation of these workers through building comprehensive and resilient social protection systems as well as strengthening wage systems. The chapter concludes by emphasising the need for a gender perspective in all the policies related to social protection and wage-determination systems.

Chapter 4: Securing emergency funding and financing recovery

This chapter looks at the main challenges for countries in the global North and global South to finance the pandemic emergency and the economic recovery. This is followed by a discussion on the role of international financial institutions and policies such as debt cancellation to increase the financial space in the Global South. This discussion is complemented with a debate on debt cancellation for sustainable development as well as possible policy measures for countries in the South to strengthen the policy space to respond to the pandemic. Finally, the case of South Africa is used to illustrate some of these challenges and policy measures

Chapter 5: Redirecting the economy towards a socially and environmentally sustainable future

The final chapter discusses the way forward by emphasising the importance of reorienting the economy and society towards greater equity, environmental sustainability and democratic participation. The example of a green transformation for the transport industry is used to illustrate the challenges as well as the policy implications of reorienting the economy. This includes issues of long-term financing for such transformations, solidarity and coalition building coalitions within and across nations.