ILO/Sida Partnership on Employment 2020-2021

Improved conditions for productive employment and decent work: Supporting comprehensive employment policy frameworks



Taking into account the profound transformations in the world of work, the ILO’s Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) reaffirms the need for a human-centred approach and puts a particular emphasis on investing in people, institutions and strategic sectors, as a way to achieve full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all.

Towards this end, and in line with relevant ILO and Sweden’s development cooperation objectives, the 2020-21 phase of the ILO/Sida partnership programme on employment promotes and supports an integrated approach to job creation through a new generation of gender-responsive employment policies. This approach includes stronger focus on demand side policy measures (macroeconomic and sectoral policies) along with skills development and lifelong learning on the supply side. Special attention is given to the needs of youth and women as well as to securing labour market inclusion of those likely to be left behind.

The partnership programme endeavours to help countries in achieving job-rich, inclusive structural transformation through strategic interventions, with a focus on key growth and tradable sectors and value chains. It complements existing ILO and other partners’ interventions with a view to addressing gaps or deficits whose resolution could lead to more transformative changes on labour markets, at national, sectoral or regional levels.

The programme relies on multi-stakeholder involvement and consensus building, fostering social dialogue between Government, social partners, and other development actors. National capacity building is a central element of the programme which draws on the normative framework of the ILO and its vast knowledge and experience in the employment area.

The partnership programme implements activities at both the global and country levels. The global component makes available expertise, information and tools (knowledge, technical guides, and training modules) to be conveniently adapted and used in different regional and national contexts. Country projects are undergoing in Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Vietnam, while the partnership is also providing ad-hoc support services to other countries.