M-GA | UN Global Accelerator

Vision

The Multistakeholder Engagement to Implement the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions and the World Bank Social Protection and Jobs Compass (M-GA) is a partnership between the United Nations and the World Bank to accelerate progress to achieve universal social protection and create decent and productive employment. This joint initiative was initiated in 2023 with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) aiming to support countries to develop integrated and well-coordinated national employment and social protection programmes and policies. 

Objectives

The UN Global Accelerator and the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Compass both aim to forge concerted action among international partners to strengthen national ownership and apply a systems approach to social protection and employment creation. Joint actions, policymaking, and programming can help achieve these objectives, which are embedded in the respective efforts to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030 and support decent and productive jobs.

The M-GA aims to achieve five development objectives, aligned with the three pillars of the UN Global Accelerator and the three principles of the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Compass:

Integrated and well-coordinated national public policies and strategies
National frameworks for adequate and sustainable financing of social protection and employment interventions
Strengthened national social protection and employment programmes and systems
Strengthened national ownership and consensus building
Knowledge generation and dialogue at the country, regional or global levels

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Country Impact

Implementation of the first joint UN-WB projects under the M-GA has started in late 2024. Out of eleven submissions under the first call of proposals, nine passed the technical review and are being implemented. Each project will run for two years, and receives funding of USD 500,000.

To continue supporting country implementation, a new call for proposals is under preparation and will be launched in early 2025.

The map shows the countries where M-GA projects are being implemented. Click on the dots for more information.

Cabo Verde

The project contributes to the eradication of extreme poverty through skills development, especially for women and youth not in education, employment or training. It also aims to enhance productivity of micro-businesses and the self-employed in rural areas, and support for formalization of informal micro-businesses. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNDP, World Bank

Cambodia

Colombia

The project aims to increase social protection coverage, adequacy, and systems adaptability, in particular for youth and women, through an analysis of pathways towards social protection extension and their respective impacts on poverty and inequality reduction. Two municipal pilot programs will be implemented to integrate all social protection programs. Read more

Implementing agencies: UNICEF, WFP, World Bank

Indonesia

The project contributes to increasing inclusion and reducing the vulnerability of persons with disabilities through a cost-of-care assessment of raising a child with a disability. Additionally, the project will deliver capacity building on employment services provision for working age persons with disabilities, a training delivery assessment for persons with disabilities, an institutional and process review of social protection programs for persons with disabilities, and an analysis of needs for elderly persons with disabilities. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNICEF, World Bank

Nepal

The project enhances productivity and access to social protection for women, youth and informal workers through improved coordination and capacity development on integrated policies for key stakeholders. It will support evidence generation on productivity, working conditions, MSMEs, skills development, and climate change impact on employment. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNICEF, World Bank

Paraguay

The project contributes to redesign and implementation of the social protection system and active labour market policies. It aims to improve labour market access of youth and women; enhance the governments’ capacity to identify skills gaps, anticipate impacts of technological and climate change; design a lifelong learning strategy, and engage in national dialogue on pension system reform. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNDP, World Bank

Philippines

The project contributes to reforms of the employment and social protection systems, with a focus on construction and transportation sectors, through identifying and evaluating pathways for increased government financing for decent jobs and social protection. This includes increased social climate finance, developing sector-specific skills development programs, reviewing the unemployment protection system, analysing options for social protection extension to gig and platform workers, and strengthening social protection monitoring and evaluation. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank

Uzbekistan

The project contributes to the extension of social protection, in particular social insurance, through the development and implementation of the Social Insurance Law. The project will conduct analysis of the design and financing of maternity, sickness and unemployment benefits, and build capacity of the national social protection agency to assess social insurance design options. Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNICEF, World Bank

Viet Nam

The project aims to improve the gender-responsiveness of labour market measures for the green transition and enhance social protection systems. It focuses on assessing occupations and skills needs for renewable energy, developing a gender-responsive career development tool for transitions to green jobs, and evaluating the impacts of key policy reforms on coverage expansion and contribution behaviour. Additionally, it analyses policy options to support workers and discourage lump-sum social insurance withdrawals while exploring ways to strengthen the social protection system to integrate climate considerations.

Read more

Implementing agencies: ILO, UNDP, World Bank

Closing the knowledge gap

Joint work on global level is aiming to support joint knowledge generation, analysis, synthesis, and dialogue at the global level to fill gaps in practice, evidence and understanding, contributing to the objectives of the M-GA and its implementation. Funds will be used to develop and pilot evidence-based global tools and develop knowledge products at the global level that can help increase coverage, improve adequacy, flexibility, opportunity, and financing of social protection and jobs.

See below for examples of the global projects demonstrating joint UN and the World Bank in terms of knowledge generation.

Expanding the Quality, Scope and Country Coverage of Global Data on Active Labour Market Policies

Labour market programmes and activation measures are essential to promoting decent jobs and universal social protection, particularly in developing countries where unemployment and precarious work prevail. Active labour market programmes (ALMPs), combined with social protection measures, feature prominently in Global Accelerator pathfinder country roadmaps and M-GA projects, helping disadvantaged groups access better opportunities.

However, global data on ALMPs primarily focuses on high-income countries. To address this, the ILO and World Bank are aligning methodologies and coordinating data collection, prioritizing Global Accelerator pathfinder and developing countries. This initiative will expand high-quality, comparable data on ALMPs, improving policy formulation, implementation, and monitoring.

Key outputs include cross-country data collection on ALMP indicators and qualitative analysis in 6–7 countries across income groups. Activities involve methodological reviews, data strategy development, collaborative collection, and dissemination. This will fill critical knowledge gaps and support evidence-based policy and programme design worldwide.

Climate Change and Social Protection

As countries work to reduce GHG emissions, protecting poor and vulnerable populations from climate change impacts is critical. Social protection systems are recognized as key to climate adaptation and disaster response but are less explored in enabling households to adapt their livelihoods, resource use, and service access to mitigate risks.

The World Bank and UNICEF will be working together to (i) enhance social protection systems to help vulnerable households reduce climate risk exposure, including slow-onset events, and (ii) build an investment case for social protection as a climate action policy using relevant metrics.

Key outcomes include:

Supporting adaptation: Identify barriers to adaptation, analyse existing evidence, conduct case studies, and recommend ways to improve social protection systems.
Social protection as climate action: Establish a rationale for investing in social protection, quantify its impact on resilience and adaptation, and present results using climate-relevant metrics.

Governance

The M-GA Coordinating Council provides strategic guidance for M-GA engagements, including support to countries via calls for proposals, technical assistance, and the development of global tools and knowledge products. It comprises M-GA donors, UN agencies, IFIs, pathfinder countries, social partners, and civil society, and coordinates with the GA Steering Group to align activities with GA and WB SPJ Compass objectives.

The Management Team (MT), including ILO, World Bank, FAO, UNDP, UNICEF, UN WOMEN and WFP, designs calls for proposals, technical reviews, monitors implementation progress, consolidates results and impact, supports global products and ensures compliance with legal and fiduciary requirements of both funds.

At the country level, joint activities are guided by existing coordination structures involving government, social partners, and civil society as well as UN agencies, World Bank and other development partners.

Read more on Coordinating Council Meetings.

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Funding

By supporting the M-GA, development partners help countries increase social protection coverage and overcome decent and productive employment gaps while strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The M-GA includes a coordinated design and implementation framework at country and global levels built on existing processes and respective governance structures of the Global Accelerator, the Joint SDG Fund and the RSR-ADSP M-GA Umbrella Trust Fund, as well as existing coordination bodies at the global, regional and country levels.

PARTNERS

With sincere appreciation to the Governments of Germany, Ireland and Spain for their commitment and financial support for the M-GA.

EVENTS

8 May 2025: Closed-door donor meeting
Challenges and Opportunities in Leveraging Partnerships to Accelerate the Achievement of Decent Jobs and Universal Social Protection for Just Transitions
8 May 2025, 3.30 pm CET/9.30 am EST, Geneva & Online
Please see the details of the event here.

M-GA Fact Sheet

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