Decent work: a foundation for lasting peace and preventing conflict

Geneva (ILO News) – Decent work has emerged as one of the most effective pathways to preventing conflict and sustaining peace, according to governments, UN agencies, researchers and international partners who gathered at the International Labour Organization (ILO) during the first-ever UN Peacebuilding Week.

The event, "The Road Ahead: Sustaining Peace through Decent Work," marked the tenth anniversary of the landmark ILO/UNDP/World Bank and PBPSO Joint Statement on Jobs Aid Peace, which has helped shape international thinking on the links between employment, and peacebuilding. It also coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund.

Organized jointly by the ILO, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office (PBPSO) and Switzerland, in partnership with the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform (GPP) and International Security and Development Center (ISDC), the event was moderated by Dr Annyssa Bellal, Director of the GPP - the knowledge hub that connects the critical mass of peacebuilding actors, resources and expertise in Geneva and worldwide.

Participants reflected on how evidence and experience over the past decade have fundamentally changed the conversation. Rather than asking whether jobs contribute to peace, discussions focused on how decent work - underpinned by labour rights, social dialogue, social protection and inclusive institutions - can help address the root causes of conflict and strengthen resilience.

© Alioune Ndiaye @ILO

© Alioune Ndiaye @ILO

Opening the event, Beate Andrees, ILO Assistant Director-General for the Regions and Director of the Office of the Director-General, recalled that the ILO was founded on the principle that universal and lasting peace can only be achieved through social justice. "At this time of growing uncertainty and division, initiatives such as Jobs Aid Peace remind us that peace is built not just through political agreements, but through hope, opportunity and dignity in people's daily lives," she said.

Speaking on behalf of Switzerland, a long-standing supporter of the Jobs Aid Peace initiative, Ambassador Valérie Berset Bircher, Head of International Labour Affairs at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), stressed that today's global challenges, from climate change and displacement to widening inequalities and technological transformation, make the agenda more relevant than ever. "Decent work is not just an economic objective. It is also an investment in prevention and resilience," she said. "Work provides income, but it also offers dignity, a sense of purpose, belonging and hope."

The event highlighted how the evidence base has evolved since the publication of the 2016 research underpinning the Joint Statement. Dr Neil Ferguson, Director of the Peacebuilding Research Programme at the International Security and Development Center (ISDC) and co-author of the original study, noted that substantial progress has been made in understanding what works in fragile settings. Research now shows that interventions combining employment with skills development, access to finance, psychosocial support and community engagement can improve livelihoods while also strengthening trust and social cohesion. However, Ferguson argued that more work is needed to understand what makes a "good" or "decent" job in fragile contexts and how quality employment contributes to long-term peace. "The growth of learning in this field is clear. It's impressive," he said. "But we still need to better understand how decent jobs contribute to social stability and peace-related outcomes."

Building on this evidence, Frank Hagemann, Director of the ILO Partnerships Department, said the last decade had demonstrated that employment programmes are most effective when they address the broader dimensions of decent work. "Jobs alone won't do the job," he said. "The lesson from the last ten years is very simple: jobs matter, but what really matters to build and sustain peace is decent work."

He highlighted ILO programmes supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund in countries including Sri Lanka, where social dialogue mechanisms have helped address grievances during the country's economic crisis; Jordan, Lebanon and Mozambique, where employment programmes have strengthened cooperation between refugees and host communities; and Haiti, where integrated employment initiatives are helping young people in gang-affected communities find alternatives to violence.

The discussion also reinforced the importance of national ownership and inclusive labour market policies. Ambassador Gustavo Gallón Giraldo, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, shared his country's experience of labour reforms designed to strengthen workers' rights, expand social protection and promote social dialogue as part of broader peacebuilding efforts. "Decent work is not only a driver of economic development, but also a fundamental condition for social justice and the consolidation of peace," he said.

Looking ahead, speakers emphasized that peacebuilding requires stronger investment in prevention rather than responding only after crises emerge. Shoko Noda, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Crisis Bureau, argued that economic opportunity is one of the most tangible peace dividends communities can experience. "Economic recovery, including the creation of decent jobs, must be seen as a core pillar of prevention," she said. "We have to align financing with prevention objectives so that people have a sense of hope, dignity and trust."

She called for greater coherence across the humanitarian, development and peace nexus, stronger national leadership and closer collaboration with international financial institutions and the private sector to move from short-term projects towards long-term investments in resilience.

Drawing on lessons from the UN Peacebuilding Fund, Brian Williams, Chief of the Peacebuilding Fund Branch, said employment initiatives should be explicitly designed to achieve peacebuilding outcomes rather than assuming they will do so automatically.

He pointed to projects in Niger, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia, where employment programmes deliberately combined economic opportunities with dialogue, inclusion, psychosocial support and community participation. These integrated approaches have helped reduce tensions, rebuild trust and create stronger foundations for lasting peace. "Programming needs to be intentional about peacebuilding," he said. "Conflict analysis, participatory approaches and inclusion are what make employment programmes more likely to strengthen trust, safety and peacebuilding."

The event also highlighted Geneva's unique role as a hub for advancing this agenda. Andrea Aeby, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland, noted that the city's ecosystem of governments, UN agencies, international financial institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector provides a platform for building partnerships. "Social justice is not separated from peacebuilding. It is one of its foundations," she said, adding that Geneva offers a unique space where institutions can work together and where global policy discussions remain connected to realities on the ground.

Throughout the discussion, participants emphasized that translating evidence into impact will require stronger partnerships among governments, employers' and workers' organizations, the UN system, international financial institutions, researchers and the private sector, while building on the framework provided by ILO's Recommendation No. 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience.

Concluding the event, speakers agreed that decent work should be placed at the heart of prevention and peacebuilding efforts through sustained investment, stronger partnerships and coordinated action.