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The International Labour Organization was created in 1919 at the end of World War
One in the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based
on social justice. The result is a tripartite organization, the only one of its kind that
brings together governments, employers and workers to promote social justice through decent work.
In 1969, on its 50th Anniversary, the ILO won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2017 its mandate for peace was reinvigorated by the adoption of Recommendation number 205 on
employment and decent work for peace and resilience. The Recommendation provides
a unique world of work normative framework to prevent and respond to the devastating effects of
crisis on economies and societies, based on four pillars: employment creation, social protection,
rights at work and social dialogue. Decent work puts people at the heart of development.
Decent work means dignity, equality, a fair income and safe working conditions. It gives people,
in particular vulnerable populations, a voice in what they do, protects them from
exploitation and paves the way for an inclusive sustainable and equal future.
Far too many people are still living in fragile or conflict-affected settings.
Climate change, together with violent conflict and disasters, have staggering economic costs and are
linked to unemployment and decent work deficits through a vicious cycle. Crises, including the
covid-19 pandemic, can halt sustainable economic development and exacerbate social injustice and
gender inequalities. This means less jobs are available or jobs with lower quality. For example,
conflict and widespread violence may increase informal work particularly for youth and women.
Unemployment and decent work deficits such as, for example, child and forced labour,
lack of freedom of association and discrimination in the workplace, can trigger grievances and lead
to conflict. On the other hand, access to decent work is essential for peace and stability, which
in turn create the circumstances in which economy and society can flourish. Jobs can be created,
workers and employers can organize and the quality of jobs can be steadily improved in
a gender-responsive manner. All of this reinforces peace in a virtuous circle.
Gender equality and non-discrimination is at the heart of this virtuous circle. Breaking down
inequalities between genders and strengthening women's empowerment is a prerequisite for social
justice and sustainable and inclusive peace. How the ILO should engage in fragile settings?
By joining forces with other UN agencies and key stakeholders across the humanitarian, development
and peace nexus, ensuring that the voices of workers and employers organizations are heard.
The complexity of today's crises cannot be addressed by any single actor or through a silo
approach. Humanitarian response, sustainable development and sustaining peace are three
sides of the same triangle. In contexts of conflict and protracted crisis we all need
to ensure coherence, complementarity and collaboration across the nexus.
At the same time national and local partners, in particular the government, workers and employers
organizations, should take a leading role in the process. In emergency response, traditional
humanitarian actors focus on saving lives and providing immediate livelihoods. While necessary,
these measures should be part of a long-term vision for recovery that also addresses the
root causes of fragility that made the society and economy vulnerable in the first place. This
is what we call the humanitarian, development and peace nexus. What is the role of the ILO
in the humanitarian, development and peace nexus? The ILO can supplement humanitarian action with,
for example, immediate livelihood creation and social protection schemes such as cash transfer,
but these initiatives have to be embedded into long-term sustainable employment and social
protection policies that address conflict drivers in an inclusive and rights-based
manner. An example is ILO's jobs for peace and resilience (JPR) Flagship programme. The
JPR programme delivers quick immediate benefits, sensitive and local resource-based approach, fully
embedded into longer-term development strategies, focusing on providing direct job creation and
income security through employment intensive infrastructure rehabilitation or construction,
enhancing skills for employability, supporting self-employment, enterprises and cooperatives,
bridging labour supply and demand through Employment Services. These key objectives are
achieved through institution building, respect and promotion of fundamental principles and rights at
work and social dialogue, to reinforce social cohesion and build resilience to future shocks,
particularly for youth and women. What does it mean to contribute to the P of the nexus (peace)?
The UN Secretary General has called on all UN entities to integrate the common goal of
sustaining peace in their work and in their strategic planning. At minima any initiatives
in a fragile context need to be conflict sensitive because it runs the risk of doing harm.
Clearly understanding the root causes of conflict and fragility and the sources of resilience and
peace in each situation is crucial, especially since crises such as covid-19 disproportionately
affect already vulnerable or marginalized people, including forcibly displaced populations,
host communities, people with disabilities, women and youth. This is why, instead, with the United
Nations as a whole, the ILO is placing increasing emphasis on making sure our interventions make a
positive contribution to peace, because there is no sustainable development without peace and no
peace without sustainable development. How can we distinguish a conflict insensitive intervention
from one that is actively contributing to peace? If we Implement an employment and decent work
programme that focuses on economic sectors dominated by people from one ethnicity, gender
or community, we inadvertently increase their dominance, reinforcing resentment and a sense
of exclusion among other groups. This is conflict insensitive as it ignores the power dynamics at
the heart of conflict. On the contrary, if we select sectors based on the opportunities
for employment and business development they offer to ethnic groups and genders,
including those currently marginalized, we create a more inclusive economy and reduce resentment.
This is conflict-sensitive programming. But we can take it one step further. Programmes can target
young people most at risk of being recruited into violent extremist groups, further reducing the
risk of violent conflict and giving them not only a job but also a voice, qualification and dignity.
How can decent work explicitly contribute to peace? A conflict-sensitive and peace
responsive employment and decent work programme must simultaneously address the lack of economic
opportunities, lack of contact and the existence of grievances and perception of social injustice
through the decent work agenda. First, inclusive employment and the income associated with it
increases the opportunity cost of engaging in violence. When populations of working age have
access to livelihoods and decent jobs with adequate social protection, they may be less
prone to violence. Second, if conflict is driven by negative perceptions and distrust among groups,
decent employment programmes can promote social cohesion by increasing constructive inter-group
contact. For example, by including social cohesion skills into vocational training programmes,
or by creating opportunities for dialogue particularly among the government, the workers
and employers organizations, these programmes can break down stereotypes and build mutual
understanding and trust. Third, conflicts often relate to grievances arriving from inequality,
discrimination, non-respect of human and labour rights, exclusion and perceptions
of injustice. Sometimes it's not lack of jobs, but the experience of exploitative, precarious,
informal jobs where fundamental rights are disregarded that spurs grievances. Employment
and decent work initiatives that promote participation through social dialogue can
address grievances and make sure all voices are recognized and heard. It can also empower women
and marginalized groups, such as indigenous people, forcibly displaced populations,
people with disabilities, allowing them to become actors of change and leaders of peace.
In conclusion, the four pillars of decent work - employment creation, social protection,
rights at work and social dialogue - hold the keys to a future we can all be proud of:
a future based on social justice. When we tap into the transformative power of decent work for
all to address the causes that drive conflict, we can build more peaceful, inclusive and equal
societies. Decent work empowers people, brings them together and gives them income, hope, a
voice and dignity. This is the path from fragility to resilience, from conflict to sustaining peace.