Strategic Skills Partnership Initiative (SSPI) for Innovation and Excellence in Vocational Education and Training

An ILO-coordinated initiative empowering policymakers and social partners to advance innovation and excellence in skills development — part of the Towards a Global TVET Agenda (TGTA).

Project details

Duration

1 July 2025 - 31 December 2027

Budget

623 767 USD

Development partner(s)

German Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ)

Reference

GLO/25/07/DEU

Location

Global, Africa

Additional details

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About the initiative

Towards a Global TVET Agenda (TGTA)

"Towards a Global TVET Agenda" (TGTA) is a multilateral initiative to jointly shape the future of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Bringing together the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNESCO-UNEVOC, OECD, and the European Training Foundation (ETF), with initial support from the German Federal Government, TGTA promotes high-quality, relevant and inclusive TVET systems as a strategic driver of economic resilience, decent work, and sustainable development.

During its first phase (2025–2027), TGTA partners collaborate across four focus areas: prototyping TVET data reporting; advancing partnership for excellence in TVET; strengthening global and regional TVET innovation; and mobilising political leadership through knowledge sharing and global fora.

More information on the TGTA initiative.

The Strategic Skills Partnership Initiative (SSPI)

The Strategic Skills Partnership Initiative for Innovation and Excellence in VET (SSPI) is the ILO’s contribution to TGTA. Coordinated by the ILO Skills and Employability Branch and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ), SSPI runs from 2025 to 2027.

The initiative addresses a critical gap: skills systems are not delivering at the pace and scale that economies and workers urgently require. Labour markets are being reshaped by digital technologies, the green transition, demographic shifts, and growing informality — yet the policy frameworks, governance structures, and institutional capacities needed to respond have largely failed to keep pace.

SSPI works at two levels to address these challenges: a global component delivering three flagship products designed to transform how skills policies are built and governed; and a regional component in Africa that strengthens peer learning among VET networks and builds capacity for work-based learning.

What sets SSPI apart is its twin commitment to innovation and tripartism. Employers’ and workers’ organizations, through the IOE and ITUC, are engaged as co-designers and primary beneficiaries at every stage — not as secondary stakeholders. The initiative is anchored in the ILO’s core mandate and reflects commitments made in the ILO Strategy on Skills and Lifelong Learning 2030.

Flagship deliverables

A practical, comprehensive framework synthesising international standards, comparative country evidence, and actionable guidance on skills policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The Guide is structured around six thematic parts, covering core policy

principles, a seven-step policy development process, comparative national analysis, social partner engagement, M&E frameworks, and skills policy for just transitions.
A structured online learning programme translating the Policy Guide’s evidence base into practice-centred capacity building for a global audience. The Academy offers a self-paced open-access track (approximately 7.5 hours, 5 core modules) and a tutor-led, certificate-bearing programme run by ITCILO over 8 weeks.

Target audience: government officials and policymakers, representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, VET practitioners and institutional managers, and staff of international organizations and development partners — with a particular focus on Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
A high-level platform for policy dialogue and knowledge exchange, connecting policymakers, social partners, and technical experts on emerging challenges and innovations in skills development. The Forum will serve as a culminating event for SSPI, convening a global audience to share results and set the agenda for future collaboration.
In parallel with the global component, SSPI supports a regional initiative in Africa aimed at strengthening the resilience, effectiveness and labour market responsiveness of TVET systems and work-based learning networks. The initiative collaborates with regional TVET networks and social partners, including the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa (ATUPA), the Sub-Saharan Africa Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network (SASASNET), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNESCO-UNEVOC), the Network of African Training Funds and Institutions (RAFPRO), the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the International Trade Union Confederation in Africa (ITUC-Africa), to strengthen peer learning, mutual exchange and collaboration on work-based learning approaches.

The regional component responds to key challenges facing TVET systems in Africa, including large informal economies, weak formal VET systems, limited partnerships with employers, skills mismatches and underinvestment in continuous professional development. Through the establishment of a network of master trainers, the initiative supports the co-design and dissemination of high-quality training materials and innovative approaches to work-based learning adapted to African contexts.

The initiative also promotes social dialogue and South-South cooperation by bringing together policymakers, TVET providers, enterprises, employers’ and workers’ organizations, training funds and intermediary organizations to exchange practices and strengthen capacities for inclusive and future-oriented skills systems.

Lead contact for the Africa component: Christine Hofmann, ILO Regional Office for Africa ([email protected]).

Masterclasses and learning resources

The skills bridge

Masterclasses series

The skills bridge

Global Skills Policy Guide

Expected Q1 2027

Global Skills Policy Guide

Skills Policy Academy

Expected Q2 2027

Skills Policy Academy

Events and milestones

An Expert Committee on Skills Policy has been established to provide independent technical guidance to SSPI. Composed of leading international experts, the Committee ensures quality, relevance, and global applicability of the initiative’s flagship products. The Committee includes experts nominated in their individual capacity, with consultation and input from the IOE and ITUC throughout.

Dates: First meeting on 21 April 2026. The next meeting is planned in Q4 2026.

International Labour Organization (ILO)
UNESCO-UNEVOC
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
European Training Foundation (ETF)
Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB)
WorldSkills International

Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth — BMBFSFJ (Germany)
Ministry of Labour (Kenya)
University of Glasgow
Tourism HR Canada
Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training — BIBB (Germany)
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (India)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
UNESCO-UNEVOC
OECD — Centre for Skills
World Bank
European Training Foundation (ETF)
African Union Commission
African Development Bank
European Commission — DG Employment
ILO/Cinterfor
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
SASASNET

Contact

Global Initiative

Project coordinator: Ashwani Aggarwal, [email protected]. Technical Officer: Cecilia Pugliese, [email protected]
Africa Regional Component

Regional lead: Christine Hofmann, [email protected]