Advancing rights, action and justice for women through employment-intensive investments

This year’s International Women’s Day theme “Rights. Action. Justice. For all women and girls.” highlights the importance of translating commitments to gender equality into concrete change in workplaces, communities and economies.

Employment-intensive investment programmes contribute to this agenda by promoting women’s rights at work and expanding access to decent employment. Central to this effort are the principles of equal pay and non-discrimination, reflected in ILO Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration and Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation, which are among the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Through gender-responsive approaches to project design, recruitment and procurement, EIIP initiatives help ensure that women have equal opportunities to access jobs, skills development and career advancement as well as fair and equal pay.

Ensuring that these opportunities are safe and dignified is equally essential. Since 2022, a safe and healthy working environment has been recognized as a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work, and addressing violence and harassment — whether physical, psychological, sexual or economic — is critical to protecting workers’ safety and dignity. In line with the principles of ILO Convention No. 190, EIIP initiatives support the prevention of violence and harassment in infrastructure workplaces and related environments, including accommodation, transport and community interfaces.

Achieving equality in the world of work also requires addressing structural barriers such as unpaid care responsibilities, which disproportionately affect women and limit their participation in the labour market. Employment-intensive investments can contribute to addressing these constraints by supporting childcare measures, investing in care infrastructure and promoting decent work in the care sector. In doing so, EIIP initiatives help advance the commitments of the ILO resolution on the care economy and the principles of Convention No. 183 on Maternity Protection.

Through these efforts, employment-intensive investments help translate the call for rights, action and justice into practical measures that expand women’s access to decent work, strengthen workplace protections, and promote more inclusive and equitable development.

Resources

To support gender-responsive employment-intensive investment programmes, the ILO has developed a range of tools and knowledge products, including:

• Policy brief: Employment-intensive investments for advancing decent work in the care economy
• Policy brief: Building a gender-equitable future through employment intensive investment programmes
• Gender country briefs: Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Nepal, Tanzania and Tunisia
• Working paper: Public works programmes: A strategy for poverty alleviation - The gender dimension revisited in Employment-Intensive Investment Programmes in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean
• Illustrated guidelines for gender-responsive employment intensive investment programmes
• Guide on gender-responsive procurement for Employment-Intensive Investment Programmes (EIIPs), Creating decent jobs and generating equal labour and business opportunities for women and men
• Training modules on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
• Guidance note on preventing and addressing violence and harassment in EIIP projects (forthcoming)