The classification of specific health services as “non-essential” during states of emergency should be non-discriminatory. Ensure that women can exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health services by classifying such treatment as “essential” or by restructuring how medical services can be accessed. In emergency measures, include provisions and accommodations to ensure that women in situations of vulnerability have equal access to medical services in practice and that they receive continuity of healthcare before, during and after emergencies. CLOSURE OF “NON-ESSENTIAL” WORKPLACES Across the OSCE region, emergency measures to ensure social distancing have resulted in large-scale disruptions to working life. In some OSCE participating States, workplace closures were recommended, and employers have been required to permit employees to work remotely or to take strict measures to ensure safety and health if they remained open. In other cases, workplaces have been required to close. The overall result has been much the same across the region. During the strictest periods of lockdown, only “essential” businesses (food shops, pharmacies) have remained open, and different sectors of the economy have been allowed to re-open in stages. Globally, 94 per cent of the world’s workers live in countries in which emergency measures have included some form of workplace closure, and the estimated drop in aggregate working hours reached 13 percent across Europe and Central Asia (comparing 2019 to 2020).174 According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), virtually all of the countries in Europe and Central Asia have adopted social protection measures in response to the pandemic, most of which concern special allowances or grants for low-income or vulnerable people and the protection of workers (wage subsidies, furlough schemes, the introduction of part-time work, prohibitions of lay-offs, benefits for the self-employed, etc.).175 Right to work The right to work is essential for realizing other human rights. The right to work includes equal opportunities to employment and the rights to freely chose work, not to be deprived of work and to decent, safe, secure and paid work.176 Core (non-derogable) obligations that are applicable even 174 UN, “Policy Brief: The World of Work and COVID-19”, June 2020, <https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/ the_world_of_work_and_covid-19.pdf>. 175 See: ILO, “Social Protection Responses to COVID-19 Crisis around the World”, updated 22 September 2020 <https:// www.social-protection.org/gimi/ShowWiki.action?id=3417>. 176 ICESCR, op. cit., note 16, Arts. 6 and 7. 50