Collaborating with the UN system in China: building our way to a new normal under COVID-19

Building our way back to a new and better normal since the arrival of COVID-19 will require efforts across all sectors and parts of society. Key among these will be employers and educators, given the amount of time we spend in workplaces and in schools, and the influence that can have on our health.  WHO China has been working with our partners within the UN system in China to help drive changes within these two sectors towards a resilient and healthy future.

WORKPLACE RISK COMMUNICATIONS

The key to ensuring the safety of our workforce against COVID-19 lies in collective actions required of employees and employers across all sectors. Since the start of the outbreak WHO China was generously supported by our UN partners, who helped to carry personal protection and health messaging to the different sectors they engage.

We kicked off the first phase of workplace risk communications on February 14th with the #KeepWorkingWithSocialDistancing campaign, focused on employees who were largely working from home. UN agencies in China, including UNRC, ILO, UNICEF, UN Women, FAO, WFP, UNHCR, UNAIDS, UNFPA, and UNIDO joined the campaign and helped to broaden campaign coverage to make 3.67 million impressions in three days, and 56 million impressions when we wrapped up on March 17th.

In mid-March, we moved on to the second phase by building on WHO’s official guidance on Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19. At that time and with an increasing number of people steadily going back to work, the focus shifted from employees to employers, highlighting their responsibilities and specific recommendations for different work settings. During this phase, UNDP and UNICEF generously offered amplification support.

• With UNDP, we explored different ways to involve employers to make commitment to follow and adapt WHO safe workplace recommendations. UNDP developed a designated webpage to demonstrate success stories and coordinated with LinkedIn China to promote WHO’s “Employers’ Checklist to Build A Safe Workplace”.  Through that effort LinkedIn China pinned the toolkit to the top all users’ homepage.

• After weeks of work resumption, WHO and UNICEF invited employers to provide feedback on how they adopted and, in some cases, adapted workplace guidance to protect employees against COVID-19. On May 14, WHO and UNICEF jointly hosted a webinar, “Voices from business - Navigating the challenges of COVID-19 through building safe and family-friendly workplaces.” At the event, business leaders discussed how to put staff wellbeing at the center of workplace policies.

BUILDING AN EDUCATION SECTOR FOR A HEALTHIER AND BETTER FUTURE

During a public health crisis, schools are a critical setting to ensure health and safety precautions are taken and personal protective measures are promoted.  Schools also offer a unique setting to teaching such behaviours to children from the earliest ages. 

WHO China has joined UNESCO colleagues in discussions with the Ministry of Education on how to support education sector to improve health literacy and healthy lifestyles among students. This includes working together to develop new health literacy curriculum for students across all levels, and guidelines to improve schools’ preparedness and response to public health emergencies.