Geneva – The Global Accelerator hosted its virtual Solutions Session “Country-led solutions: Integrating decent jobs and social protection for social development” on 4 November, as part of the ongoing Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2). The event showcased how countries, donors, and international financial institutions are aligning policy and financing to scale reforms for decent jobs and universal social protection.
The Global Accelerator supports all three core themes of social development – eradicating poverty, promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all, and fostering social integration – simultaneously. It has therefore, been recognized by the WSSD2 Political Declaration as a concrete mechanism for implementing the WSSD2, which calls upon Member States to consider supporting the implementation of the initiative.
Opening the session, Mr Sangheon Lee, Acting Assistant Director General of the Jobs and Social Protection Cluster, ILO emphasized that investments in employment and social protection are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda and ensuring just transitions in every country. He noted that the initiative is “a model of the UN system at its best ensuring that we work together, across sectors and silos, to realize a shared vision of dignity, equality, and opportunity for all.”
The first panel, Country presentations: Making the investment case for decent and productive jobs and social protection, highlighted national experiences from Albania, Senegal and Indonesia, and was moderated by Ms Ingrid Macdonald, UN Resident Coordinator in Albania. The countries showcased three different approaches to integrating decent jobs and universal social protection:
- Albania’s approach highlighted integrating policies and investments to support specific groups of beneficiaries
- Indonesia had sector-specific pilot interventions and assessed their scalability for other sectors
- Senegal highlighted the various levers of action at the disposal of Ministry of Economy to ensure that all public investments, regardless of the sector, contribute to the creation of decent jobs and extension of social protection.
Albania is the first European Pathfinder Country of the Global Accelerator and is currently progressing towards accession to the European Union, while working on reforming its jobs and social protection landscape. Ms Olta Manjani, Deputy Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation, Albania, presented the country’s approach of creating quality jobs and enabling women’s labour force participation, through strategic policies and making space in the government budget to create investments in the care economy. Ms Manjani stated that by embedding social commitments into fiscal planning, the country was ensuring more equitable access to government services such as education, health, employment support, and social protection. “Albania's message today is clear. Investment in decent work and social protection is not a cost, but a catalyst that enhances productivity, strengthens social cohesion, boosts labour market participation”, she said to conclude her remarks.
Indonesia has identified tourism as a key sector for acceleration under its roadmap. It has set up a Sector Skills Council that aligns training systems with industry demand, through the Global Accelerator. “Indonesia is integrating social protection and labour market policies into an adaptive system that supports just transitions and is investing in skills development and lifelong learning that respond to private sector needs,” stated Ms Nur Hygiawati Rahayu, Director for Employment, Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Indonesia. By investing in an apprenticeships programme and mobilizing joint financing, the country is bridging the gap between public policy and enterprise practice.
Senegal is facing multiple transitions – the climate crisis, increased pressure on the agrifood system, and a large youth bulge. Against this backdrop, it is prioritizing decent jobs and social protection in macroeconomic policies, promoting them in the national budget and across various public investments, that was highlighted by Mr Souleymane Diallo, Director General for Planning and Economic Policy, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Senegal. "The Global Accelerator initiative is of particular interest to Senegal, as it promotes the structural improvement of policies through an integrated approach that places decent work creation and the extension of social protection at its core," he stated. The country has piloted the ILO’s ‘Structural Model for Sustainable Development’ modelling tool, which has enabled the country to ensure that the approved public investments contribute to the creation of decent jobs and extension of social protection, aligned to the national roadmap. He concluded his remarks by recommending the SMSD tool to other pathfinder countries, to judiciously allocating their existing resources to initiatives and ensure maximum return on those investments.
The panel demonstrated how the countries are creating multiplier effects on labour participation and formalization and closing the financing gaps by prioritizing investments in decent jobs and universal social protection. Their remarks highlighted how they are implementing these key policies and programs to make major investments and transitions more just and sustainable. Ms Ingrid Macdonald, summarized the panel with her reflection as a UNRC, stating that, “Initiatives like the Global Accelerator enable us to work across our country teams. It allows us to work with our government counterparts, but also across social stakeholders, civil society, and others. This makes a tangible difference.”
The second panel, Multi-stakeholder collaboration to design, implement and finance reforms on decent and productive jobs and social protection, and to achieve social and economic outcomes, moderated by Ms Sabine Machl, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, showcased collaboration across donor governments, financial institutions, social partners, and UN agencies. The discussion shed light on how the various national and global stakeholders of Global Accelerator come together, strengthen advocacy and bring their comparative strengths, to support governments in advancing on policy and financing reforms of the social protection, skills and employment systems, to achieve further social development.
Several developing countries are currently facing a difficult dilemma: increasing macro fiscal and financial constraints are putting at risk their ability to maintain high levels of spending and investments in their social and economic transformation. Mr Alvaro Diaz Duque, Deputy Director, General Directorate of Sustainable Development Policies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Spain, reflected on the pressing need of universal social protection to underpin sustainable development. He also stated that a primary reason for Spain’s support to the Global Accelerator is because it enables consistent technical support to be provided to countries, thereby reducing the risk of conflicting advice or duplication. “A distinguishing feature of the Global Accelerator is that it allows for alliances and partnerships between various stakeholders. The involvement of multiple parties allows us to fight against fragmentation and have a multiplier effect on the impact, as well as results, by combining the expertise and economic resources of various actors,” he stated.
Other partners emphasized the importance of the Global Accelerator's coherent policy approach in trying to overcome structural problems such as inequality. Ms Hélène Djoufelkit, Deputy Executive Director of Sustainable Development Solutions Department, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), emphasized the Global Accelerator’s role as a useful initiative for reducing inequalities, through income redistribution via social protection, and by supporting the transformation of the labour market. She also highlighted the importance of national Global Accelerator roadmaps that set out clear priorities for public policy and investment, enabling technical and financial partners to combine their support in a coordinated and complementary manner. “The Global Accelerator maximizes the impact of domestic resources and development cooperation by focusing interventions on the priorities of the roadmap and aligning investment flows with social priorities,” she remarked, encouraging more IFIs and DFIs to join the Coalition for Social Investment of the Finance in Common Summit (FICS).
The European Union has a 360 degrees strategy that it applies to all areas of work, and through its Global Gateway Strategy. It works on better aligning policy priorities and investments through integrated approaches, for target sectors to confront some of the world’s most pressing challenges. “Through multi stakeholder partnerships, we can increase not only the volume but also the value of investments, making sure they drive just transitions, leaving no one behind,” stated Ms Laure Rogès, Team Leader for Social Protection, Inequalities and Persons with Disabilities, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, European Commission.
Ms Emily Weedon, Global Lead for Social Protection and Labor Partnerships, World Bank, touched upon how integrating employment, and social protection can help governments spend their resources better. She cited the M-GA (UN–World Bank mechanism to support the Global Accelerator and the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Compass) as a model for mobilizing and aligning resources to support country-led reforms. “The fiscal space is shrinking but not the momentum. Strong social protection systems unlock better job outcomes. We need to remind decision makers that social protection is not a by-product of a good job, but it is what enables people to get good jobs,” she stated in her intervention.
The Global Accelerator is rooted in social dialogue, which ensures that policy choices concerning the world of work reflect the realities and vision of workers' and employers' representatives, and are based on International Labour Standards. Adherence to the International Labour Standards and the whole-of-government approach are essential to achieve the intertwined objectives of Global Accelerator. This was confirmed by Ms Ndeye Sokhna Mbaye, National Confederation of Workers of Senegal, representing International Trade Union Confederation: “Reaching the Global Accelerator goals requires better participation of employers’ and workers' representatives – while designing, while implementing, and while monitoring and evaluating the policies”.
Mr Khelil Ghariani, Executive Board Member, Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, representing International Organisation of Employers, emphasized that “The GA promotes a new model of inclusive growth where ministries of economy and social affairs try to achieve policy coherence and where International Financial Institutions promote social protection and decent work, as preconditions for sustainable development and just transitions”.
To wrap up the event, Ms Valérie Schmitt, Deputy Director, Universal Social Protection Department, ILO highlighted “National Global Accelerator roadmaps help achieve policy coherence from macroeconomic level, to designing, financing and implementing policies on the ground. They also help structure the technical and financial support coming from donor governments, the European Union, development banks, social partners, and the UN.”
The session reaffirmed the Global Accelerator’s role as a concrete platform for turning global commitments on decent jobs and universal social protection into country-led action, and its contribution to the implementation of the WSSD2 Political Declaration.