Project launch and seminar on employment policies and strategies in South-East Asia: Contributing to a human-centred recovery to achieve social justice and decent work

Countries in South-East Asia recognize employment deficits as a constraint on economic performance and their capacity to develop in a sustainable and inclusive way. Some of the main employment challenges include labour market segmentation (informal employment), youth employment, skills mismatch, underemployment, economic structural changes and gender inequalities. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated inequalities and poverty in the ASEAN region, posing additional challenges to policymakers. While some policy measures helped to protect workers and enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic, recovery remains uneven and incomplete. The compounding, ongoing effects from rising food and fuel price inflation, global financial turbulence, high public debt burden and disruption of global supply chains are complicating the recovery. At the same time, long-standing labour market challenges persist in terms of both the quantity and quality of employment.

In order to promote the sharing of good practices and stimulate peer learning among practitioners in ASEAN countries, the ILO will organize a launch event of the Promoting the Global Development Initiative with a Focus on South-South Cooperation in Employment in ASEAN (ProSSCE-ASEAN) project. The ProSSCE-ASEAN project, carried out in partnership with and funded by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China (MOHRSS), leverages knowledge generation and sharing, policy dialogue and capacity development to support policymakers in addressing labour market issues in South-East Asia and promoting employment policies and opportunities for decent work. The project will facilitate the sharing of good practices and lessons learned between Southeast Asian countries and China through a regional knowledge sharing network to promote productive employment and decent work for all.

In addition to the official launch of the project, the ILO will bring together key stakeholders from the region to discuss major employment challenges across the ASEAN region, and how a new generation of employment policies and strategies can contribute to a human-centred recovery, sustainable development and more equitable and just societies.