Strengthening the Impact on Employment of Sector and Trade Policies (STRENGTHEN)

The STRENGTHEN project was subsequently followed by STRENGTHEN2 , METI and METI II initiatives, which build on its approach.

The STRENGTHEN project was a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). It aimed to strengthen the capabilities of partner countries to analyse and design sectoral and trade policies and programmes that would enhance employment creation —both in terms of quantity and quality.

The project consisted of two components:

• Sector Policies: This component focused on supporting and building capacity among partner countries and development practitioners to enhance the positive impact of sector policies and programmes on employment.
• Trade Policies: This second component focused on assisting developing countries harness international trade and trade-related foreign investment to provide more opportunities for decent work and to increase the number of productively employed workers.

The project's main objectives were:

• To develop global knowledge on how to strengthen the positive impact on employment of sectoral and trade policies, including in the areas of agriculture and rural development, infrastructure and energy with a focus on private sector development in these sectors as well as on existing and relevant methods for the employment impact assessment of those policies in selected sectors.
• To strengthen country-level knowledge on the impact of sectoral and trade policies on productive and decent employment and on measures to optimize the employment effects of selected sectoral and trade policies and related issues such as structural transformation, labour standards, and skills development.
• To build the capabilities of governments, social partners, development practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders in partner countries to identify, measure and assess the employment effects of sectoral and trade policies.
• To provide guidance to development cooperation practitioners in partner countries as well as the European Union on how to address the employment opportunities and challenges resulting from sectoral and trade policies including through public policies, trade and investment programmes and operations in key sectors in developing countries.

The first phase of the project started in 2014 and ran until 2020. It was implemented by the Development and Investment Branch (DEVINVEST) of ILO’s Employment Policy Department in close collaboration with other relevant ILO units and the ILO regional and country offices responsible for the partner countries. 


Learn more about the project’s approach, its focus on capacity building, knowledge sharing initiatives, and tools in this interview.

Employment Impact Assessment of Public Policies in Selected Sectors (EmpIA)

This component of the joint EU-ILO project "Strengthening the Impact on Employment of Sector and Trade Policies (STRENGTHEN)" focuses on building global knowledge and knowledge products as well as supporting and building capacity among partner countries and development practitioners in analysing and designing policies and programmes which would enhance the positive impact and employment of sector policies and programmes. The global products review both methodologies as well as current knowledge about the relationship between employment and investment in different sectors.


The project works on the employment impacts of sector policies in five partner countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras and Rwanda. Ghana and Guatemala are also partner countries for the Trade Policies component of the project. The Sector Policies component works on policies related to Infrastructure, Agriculture, Rural Development and Energy but the (sub) sectors on which the assessments are done have been decided upon together with the partner countries and, generally have a strong focus on public investments and investment-related policies related to these sectors.

Assessing and Addressing the Effects of Trade on Employment – Phase 2 (ETE II)

This component of the joint EU-ILO project "Strengthening the Impact on Employment of Sector and Trade Policies (STRENGTHEN)" will support developing countries in harnessing international trade and trade-related foreign investment towards providing more opportunities for decent work and raising the number of workers who are productively employed. It represents the second phase of the joint EU-ILO project “Assessing and Addressing the Effects of Trade on Employment (ETE)”, which was successfully implemented from 2009 to 2013.

The target groups of ETE II are: policymakers and their advisors from the Ministries of Labour and Employment, Trade (including the Export Promotion agency), Industry, Education and Training, Finance, etc.; trade union representatives; representatives from employers’ organizations and business organizations; staff in statistical offices and research institutions; staff in regional institutions and other organizations.

The main activities of ETE II include:

• increasing global- and country-level knowledge on the impact of trade and trade policies on productive and decent employment in developing countries
• providing capacity building for government officials and the social partners and technical advisory services
• promoting policy dialogue through Policy Working Group (PWG) meetings in each partner country to discuss and design coherent trade, labour, and related policies
• supporting the development of trade-related value chains in employment-rich activities (TRAVERA)

• Benin
• Ghana
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• Philippines
• Rwanda