Closer ties with the UN family

Efforts over the past decade towards One United Nations and system-wide coherence have resulted in an increasing level of collaboration with UN programmes and funds in development cooperation. A desk review of a sample of 43 countries with active UNDAFs from five regions over the period January 2013 to March 2015 was prepared by the ILO to assess the mainstreaming of the Decent Work Agenda in UNDAFs and One Programmes. The review showed how efforts in joint programming are successfully aligned and reflected in the activities and results of 95 decent work components implemented by the ILO through 15 joint programmes.

The ILO now partners with 36 different UN entities, including joint programmes with UNDP and UNICEF, followed by UNFPA, FAO and UN Women. Joint programming has for the ILO meant harmonizing programme processes aimed at mainstreaming and operationalizing the four strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda and those aimed at strengthening system-wide coherence. The ILO benefits in particular from this mechanism in countries where it has little or no presence, where the UNDAFs include decent work activities related to its mandate with a direct impact on ILO constituents. The ILO’s experience of joint programming enables it to play a more active role in formulating integrated programmes with greater results in terms of scale and outreach.

Teaming up for countries, in countries: Domestic partnerships

Domestic partnerships are an increasingly important way of working in development cooperation. ILO’s domestic funding increased from USD 18.7 million in 2012-2013 to USD 23,256 million in 2014-15, in areas as such as social protection, employment and employment policy, child labour and skills.

Public-private partnerships

2014 and 2015 were record-breaking years for public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the ILO, with 92 new partnerships signed. Funding by PPPs reached USD 27,536,293 in 2014–15, or 6 per cent of all ILO extra-budgetary resources (XBTC) — compared to USD 17,840,862 in 2012–13 (3.5 per cent). This made PPPs the fifth largest contributor to the ILO’s extra-budgetary funding in the period. See link on right for further details.