Evaluation Office

Decent work results and effectiveness of ILO operations in 2024

A meta-analysis of 47 independent ILO project evaluations conducted in 2024, assessing the effectiveness of development cooperation in advancing decent work. It examines relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact, highlighting performance trends, lessons learned and areas for improving future ILO interventions.

What is this meta-analysis of decent work results about?

This report brings together the findings of 47 independent project evaluations carried out in 2024 to understand the extent to which the ILO is advancing decent work and effectiveness of its operations around the world. By reviewing the results side-by-side, the meta-analysis helps the ILO learn what is working well and where improvements are needed.

The meta-analysis looks at key questions, such as:

Is ILO's work relevant to needs and national priorities?
Is the ILO achieving results?
Will results last after projects end?
How are projects addressing cross-cutting issues?

For more than ten years, the ILO's Evaluation Office has carried out these annual assessments to better understand how its projects contribute to decent work, social justice, and how the organization and improve its operations.

The meta-analysis is based on an assessment of 47 final independent project evaluations conducted in 2024. Information on their performance is based on 29 key performance indicators related to relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact.

Methodology -Decent work results and effectiveness of ILO operations 2025 - Web version-.pdf - PDF 156.37 KB

Impact in action: How the ILO shaped policies, delivered strategic results and ensured sustainability through development cooperation?

An analysis of high-performing projects led to six insights that illustrate how progress toward sustainable impact is driven through policy influence, strategic delivery, and institutional integration. Together, these insights reinforce one another, forming a cohesive framework for maximizing impact. They emphasize the importance of embedded partnerships, strategic alignment, and coordinated action to advance decent work and achieve lasting development outcomes.

By focusing on the core ILO values of tripartism, social dialogue, and the promotion of International Labour
Standards (ILS), the organization can achieve lasting change and meaningful impact.

ILO’s core values, including social dialogue, tripartism and the application of ILS are not only guiding principles. When integrated into institutional systems and service delivery, evidence pointed at increased ILO policy relevance, influence and likelihood of sustained impact.
From stakeholder engagement to partnership as a driver of sustained policy influence.

Projects that involved tripartite constituents strategically from the outset demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of influencing policy, achieving strategic relevance, and sustaining results and prospective impact over time.
Multi-level engagement and regional coherence strengthen policy impact.

Projects that engaged at local, national, and regional levels, rather than at a single level, translated operational learning into policy relevance. The links between grassroots practice and high-level decision-making enhanced legitimacy, adaptation, and long-term influence.
Enabling long-term ownership and enhanced sustainability through early exit planning and structured capacity development is a prerequiste for sustainability.

Sustainability was strongest in projects that planned early for institutional ownership and structured capacity development, combining exit strategies with deep integration into national systems and learning processes, enabling national partners to manage and scale results beyond the project timeframe.

Trust is the foundation of effective social dialogue. Without it, mechanisms often fall short. Building trust requires ongoing transparency, shared decision-making, and consistent follow-through (i-eval Insights on ILO’s efforts to drive change through social dialogue)

Performance over time

A comparison with previous meta-analyses shows a broadly stable trend across most performance areas in projects.

Strategic relevance and sustainability have remained consistently strong.
While effectiveness showed slight gains in 2024, efficiency continues to be the least well-performing criterion.
Good progress made in integrating cross-cutting priorities such as gender equality and normative outcomes.
More needs to be done to embed disability and environmental concerns.

Overall, continued investment in quality design, stakeholder ownership, and adaptive delivery approaches is needed. These efforts will lead to improvements on how projects are planned, delivered, and measured to achieve lasting, inclusive and sustainable decent work outcomes.

Key highlights by P&B policy outcomes

Performance varied across Policy Outcomes in 2022-23 and 2024, shaped by thematic focus, implementation context, and the strength of institutional capacities and engagement. While many interventions achieved strong results in selected areas, performance was often uneven across criteria and regions.

Policy outcomes with high data coverage These outcomes showed generally positive performance, particularly in operational support, capacity development, and policy influence. However, performance varied across contexts and criteria.	Policy outcomes with moderate data coverage Across both outcomes, results were stronger where tripartite engagement, policy alignment, and evidence-based tools were well integrated.
Outcome 3: Effective support in several regions	Outcome 2: Positive performance, especially in Africa and Europe and Central Asia
Outcome 4: Strongest performance in Europe and Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean	Outcome 7: Positive and moderate performance in Africa
Outcome 6: Strongest performance in Africa and Asia and the Pacific

*Performance patterns for the remaining policy outcomes are not covered in this narrative due to limited evaluation data, reducing the representativeness and reliability of available evidence

Way forward

Click below to learn about areas of action can help enhance the relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of ILO development cooperation going forward.

Strengthen design by allocating sufficient time for context analysis, stakeholder validation, and integration of sustainability and exit strategies.

Reinforce ILO’s comparative advantage by systematically promoting social dialogue, tripartism, and international labour standards.

Link delivery to policy cycles by aligning capacity-building and knowledge products with national priorities and institutional reforms.

Integrate disability and environmental sustainability through dedicated strategies, indicators, and partnerships.

Foster multi-level and cross-country collaboration to increase policy coherence, sustainability, and visibility of results.

Improve internal systems, including recruitment and financial procedures, to ensure timely delivery and responsiveness.

Embed robust results frameworks and monitoring systems to support adaptive management and outcome tracking.

Enhance resource mobilization by planning for co-financing and leveraging partnerships from the outset.