The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a new global database on national employment policies and strategies to promote jobs for young people.
A statement by the global labour organization indicated that the Employment Policy Gateway, targeted at governments, social partners, research institutions, practitioners and other development stakeholders, enables users to search existing national policies and strategies for employment promotion by region, country and themes and that this allows comparisons of national policies across countries and supports research and analysis on existing policy instruments.
It pointed out that that the launch of the database was in response to increasing requests from governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations for comparative information on employment policies at the country level, including strategies that target youth.
According to the organization, with the COVID-19 crisis severely affecting labour markets around the world, leading to changes in policies and the introduction of new measures, the demand for such a database has increased.
The ILO explained that to promote an inclusive, job-rich recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, countries needed a bold and innovative employment-focused policy agenda, adding that iIn this context, gender-responsive national employment policies can play an important role and that such policies are being adapted or formulated in various countries to focus on COVID-19 responses.
Commenting on the initiative, Chief of the ILO’s Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, Sukti Dasgupta, said: “The Employment Policy Gateway is an effort to ensure that these policies and strategies are systematically documented, analysed and made available in an easy format.”
“The experience of the ILO in working with Member States on employment policies in the last two decades has resulted in valuable knowledge on content and processes related to national employment policies and youth employment strategies,
“The Employment Policy Gateway is an effort to ensure that these policies and strategies are systematically documented, analysed and made available in an easy format”, Dasgupta added.
According to the ILO, the Policy Gateway is structured in three inter-related sections namely, National Employment Policies (NEPs), which offers information on national employment policies adopted by countries worldwide. It includes policy design, content, policy implementation and monitoring; Youth Employment Strategies that covers national youth employment strategies, based on country submissions to the “ILO Survey on National Strategies for Youth Employment” in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and E-library that catalogues in their original language policy documents used in the Employment Gateway.
Speaking on the Policy Gateway, Director of the ILO’s Employment Policy Department, Sangheon Lee, said: “The Gateway will continue to update and expand its base of information, integrating additional countries and new features based on evolving contexts, including policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis.”
The Employment Policy Gateway is supported by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation.
