Italy - ILO Cooperation

Italy is a founding member State of the ILO, and a long-standing partner in promoting the Decent Work Agenda. It has ratified 113 Conventions, including the eight Fundamental and the four Governance Conventions. Italy holds a permanent seat on the ILO Governing Body as a State of Chief Industrial Importance.

Italy’s strategic contribution to the ILO

The cooperation between Italy and the ILO is built on the alignment between the Italian cooperation priorities and the ILO’s work in realizing social justice and the universal values of freedom, human dignity, security and non-discrimination in the world of work. Currently, development cooperation with Italy is strongly focused on addressing the challenges related to labour migration and youth employment on the African continent.

Italy funds the ILO through:

  • Assessed contributions to ILO's Regular Budget paid by all ILO member States by virtue of their membership. From 2018-2022, Italy contributed US$ 83.2 million.
  • Voluntary core funding contributions provided by eight ILO funding partners as a pool of un-earmarked, flexible resources allocated by the ILO to strategic areas and emerging priorities. . Between 2018 and 2022, Italy contributed more than US$ 1.4 million.
  • Voluntary, non-core funding contributions earmarked funds for specific themes or projects. Between 2018 and 2022, Italy contributed US$ 14.0 million.
  • Yearly contributions to the ILO’s International Training Centre (ITCILO) totalled US$ 10.8 million between 2018 and 2022.
Italy's financial contributions, 2018-2022 (US$ 109.4 million)


Italy’s support to ILO interventions

The Italy-ILO partnership

While Italy's Ministry of Labour and Social Policiesis the main governmental constituent of the ILO, development cooperation also depends on strong relationships with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and its Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the Ministry of Economic Development.

Established in 1920, the ILO office in Rome is the representation of the Organization to Italy and San Marino. Italy also hosts the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, which was established in 1964 and has since provided cutting-edge training and capacity development services to governments, social partners and UN staff.

Furthermore, the ILO benefits from the skills of young Italian experts thanks to the country’s participation in the Junior Professional Officer programme.

Italy’s development cooperation Priorities

Development cooperation is an integral part of Italy’s foreign policy. According to its Programming and policy planning document,  2017-2019, the priority areas for Italian development cooperation are:
  • Strengthening democratic governance, promoting peace and sustainable development and addressing inequality
  • Tackling the root causes of migration, including through improving labour market conditions and employment opportunities, especially for young people.
  • Achieving food security through rural development and sustainable agriculture
  • Environmental sustainability, fight against climate change and access to energy.
  • Improve health and access to healthcare services
  • Access to quality education, including technical education and vocational training.