ILO employment-intensive projects create one million workdays in two years in the Arab States region

BEIRUT, Lebanon (ILO News)– The ILO’s Employment-Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) implemented across Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territory over the past two years have together generated around one million workdays, said ILO Senior Resilience and Crisis Response Specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States Maha Kattaa.

Kattaa explained that these initiatives have supported thousands of refugees, displaced persons, and host community members in crisis-affected and fragile areas, offering access to decent and dignified job opportunities, particularly for women and persons with disabilities. This has been achieved amid a volatile context marked by humanitarian, refugee and economic crises.

© ILO

Since EIIP was introduced in the Arab States region in 2016, EIIP projects have generated around 3.6 million workdays, a number that has risen sharply over the past two years, with progress closely monitored by the ILO through indicators such as workdays. The latter are tracked internally on a biannual basis across multi-year project cycles and assessed through regular monitoring and evaluations to ensure every intervention delivers tangible results on the ground.

To achieve these results, the ILO has supported national partners, including ministries, local municipalities, public employment funds and private contractors, through policy work, capacity building and system strengthening across the region.

“The ILO will build on these achievements by assisting governments and social partners in designing and implementing public works programmes that improve labour conditions, create job opportunities, and promote social cohesion,” Kattaa said.

© Abdul Hameed Al Naseer/ILO

EIIP is a proven ILO approach that creates immediate jobs while laying the foundations for future sustainable recovery. Through these interventions, the agency and its partners generate short-term employment in rehabilitation of infrastructure including buildings, roads, drainage and agricultural and water systems. At the same time, they uphold decent work standards such as fair wages, safe working conditions and timely payments, directly supporting the most vulnerable households.

© ILO

Across the Arab States region, EIIP has become the ILO’s key entry point in post-crisis settings, driving the link between humanitarian, development and peace-building work through rehabilitating public infrastructure and services that promote social, environmental and economic progress.

Under the EIIP, a “workday” is defined as eight hours of labour within a six-day work week, while completing 40 days or more constitutes a “job.”