The 4th Assembly of the Ibero-American Network of Public Employment Services (RISPE) was held in Madrid
It was attended by the ILO and took place from March 31 to April 2, 2025, promoted by the Spanish Public Employment Service (SEPE).
3 April 2025
In what was its first in-person meeting since its creation in May 2023, RISPE brought together representatives from its 14 member countries, including Spain, Portugal, and several Latin American nations, along with the International Labour Organization (ILO) as an observer member. During this Assembly, the official accession of Honduras to RISPE was also approved.
The Director of the ILO Office for Spain, Félix Peinado, spoke at the closing of the Assembly to highlight the importance of this event in strengthening dialogue and cooperation among countries in a global context of crisis and structural transformation. He emphasized the strategic role of Public Employment Services (PES) in facing challenges such as digitalization, the green transition, and demographic changes, with special attention to young people, who face high rates of unemployment and informality. He also called for strengthening the institutional capacities of PES through solid legal frameworks, diversified funding, technological innovation, robust information systems, and strategic partnerships.
Youth employment was one of the central themes of this 4th Assembly, with discussions on the basic principles approved at the previous meeting to improve the employability and training of young people. The Assembly also approved the development of joint work on women’s employment and the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence.
The program included presentations and roundtable discussions on shared challenges, especially the digital and environmental transitions, as well as other issues such as labor informality and low productivity. Participants exchanged good practices in areas such as training, guidance, and other active employment policies, and had the opportunity to learn firsthand about outstanding initiatives such as the Construction Labour Foundation and the Tandem Program at the National Historical Archive.
As highlighted by Spain’s Secretary of State for Labour, Joaquín Pérez Rey, this meeting reaffirms its significance as a platform to strengthen Ibero-American ties in public policies focused on youth employment and the challenges of the global labor market, and becomes an excellent mechanism for sharing challenges and solutions to labor market issues.