After fleeing Sudan, Alhassan rebuilt his livelihood in Egypt, growing his business through training while supporting his daughter’s life-saving leukemia treatment.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Over 60% of workers operate informally, shaping economies and daily life while raising critical questions about rights, policy, inclusion, and economic justice.
Nearly 58 percent of global workers remain informally employed, lacking social protection, stable contracts, and adequate working conditions worldwide.
The supports Moroccan rural women migrants through entrepreneurship training and financial literacy, strengthening independence and sustainable livelihoods at home.
Karla’s journey from repeated rejection to leadership at Coca-Cola FEMSA shows how inclusion unlocks talent and opportunity. After Mexico’s pledges at the , ĢƵHCR’s Programa de Integración Local helped connect refugees with jobs, documentation, and relocation support. Since 2016, more than 50,000 refugees have found employment, supported by over 600 companies. For refugees like Haitian technician Angelet François, work restores dignity, stability, and hope. These experiences prove that hiring refugees is not charity but smart economics, strengthening businesses, communities, and local economies.
The offers flexible income opportunities through digital platforms but comes with unpredictable earnings and limited worker protections. Understanding the impact of AI, skill requirements, and platform dynamics is essential for success in this evolving labor market.
Fátima Santos benefits from an , empowering women in Piauí’s carnauba supply chain through artisanal weaving and decent work.
International Labour Organisation research shows many workers resign due to childcare issues, emphasizing the need for workplace childcare to support families.
The future of decent work relies heavily on care work, both paid and unpaid. Governments, employers, trade unions, and individuals need to take urgent action to address the current deficits in care service provision and its quality. Failure to do so could lead to a severe global care crisis and worsen gender inequalities at work. The International Labour Organization (ILO) will mark the International Day of Care and Support (29 October) by spotlighting the , adopted by the ILO’s in June 2024.
The world of work is undergoing profound change. These changes are creating skills gaps, mismatches and shortages that are resulting in unfilled jobs and lost productivity. So how do we close this skills gap? In search of an answer, the has adopted a new international labour standard focused on updating its approach to skills and quality apprenticeships. But how will it work in practice? In this podcast Martin Henry, Research, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator of Education International in Brussels, and Kathryn Rowan, Executive Director of GAN, the Global Apprenticeship Network based in Geneva, share their insights.
The value of unpaid domestic and care work is finally changing following sustained advocacy and implementation of new measuring tools.
There is much discussion of the effects Generative AI will have on job creation and destruction, but just as important is the effect it will have on the quality of jobs – decent work – and which countries and sectors will feel the effects most. A new research paper suggests that its impact on the augmentation of jobs is at least as important as the automation of tasks. However, it also implies that, without the right policies, AI could deepen existing inequalities between genders and the richest and poorest. Find out more in this .
Care work, both paid and unpaid, is crucial to the future of decent work. Growing populations, ageing societies, changing families, women’s secondary status in labour markets and shortcomings in social policies demand urgent action on the organization of care work from governments, employers, trade unions and individual citizens. The care economy is growing as the demand for childcare and care for the elderly is increasing in all regions. With the global demand for domestic workers likely to grow, the to ensure they have access to decent work.
Amy Pope, Director General of IOM, is advocating for a new narrative around the issue of migrants, arguing that in an ageing world, “ultimately, ”.&Բ;
Humanity has always been on the move. Some in search of work or economic opportunity, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution or large-scale human rights violations. Still others move in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters or other environmental factors.
In her very first week on the job, she sat down with ĢƵ News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer to talk about a comprehensive view of migration and its causes.
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Ruma, a 38-year-old widowed single mother of one from a small town in southern Bangladesh experienced social harassment after her husband died, forcing her to migrate. Through an arranged marriage of convenience, she made it to Italy. Despite her attempts to succeed in Italy she decided to return home to Bangladesh, where she learned about the ’s project. The team has provided her with financial literacy and in-kind support. She has finally been able to provide for her son who is currently pursuing his future.