ILO Calls for a New Multilateralism Rooted in Decent Work and Social Justice

Ahead of the Second World Social Summit for Social Development, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has called for a renewed model of multilateralism centered on decent work and social justice. As the world’s leading advocate for labour rights and equitable growth, the ILO will play a crucial role in ensuring that the Summit produces tangible outcomes for workers and communities worldwide.

Building on the commitments made at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla in July 2025, which urged greater investment in social policies and an annual two-percentage-point expansion in social protection coverage, the ILO aims to transform global pledges into real progress. The upcoming Summit will renew the sentiments of the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and advance a modern global social contract that places people at the heart of sustainable progress. The Declaration’s three enduring pillars, poverty eradication, decent work for all, and social inclusion, remain the core of the ILO’s agenda.

In its recent report, “The State of Social Justice: A Work in Progress,” the ILO acknowledged that while global living standards have improved since 1995, inequality remains alive and well. Child labour among 5- to 14-year-olds has fallen from 20 to 10 percent, and extreme poverty from 39 to 10 percent, with over half the world’s population now covered by some form of social protection. Yet, 58 percent of workers remain in informal employment, women’s participation in the labour force lags 24 percentage points behind men’s, and at the current pace, it could take a century to close the global gender pay gap.

As reaffirmed by the Resolution adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 2025, the ILO, as the UN’s lead agency for Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), will collaborate with governments, employers, and workers through its tripartite structure to ensure that the Summit commitments are translated into fair, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes.

The ILO emphasizes that eliminating poverty in all its forms remains the world’s most pressing challenge. It will support countries in embedding decent job creation and sustainable enterprises into poverty reduction strategies, emphasizing employment-intensive investments and skills development. Additionally, the ILO will promote the expansion of universal, adequately financed social protection systems through the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions.

The ILO will continue championing full, productive, and freely chosen employment as the cornerstone of social development. This includes promoting fair wages, safe workplaces, and equitable opportunities. Key priorities include improving protections for informal workers, strengthening labour rights in the digital economy, ensuring just transitions to green and digital industries, and advancing gender equality through equal pay and investment in the care economy.

To reduce inequalities and promote cohesion, the ILO will advocate for the rights and opportunities of vulnerable populations, including women, youth, migrants, persons with disabilities, and older workers. By supporting initiatives that bridge divides within and between countries, the Organization aims to foster fairer and more inclusive societies.

Through the Global Coalition for Social Justice and the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, the ILO continues to mobilize governments, employers, workers, and international partners to convert the Doha and Seville commitments into concrete action. As the world moves toward the Summit, the ILO’s message is clear: a new multilateralism must be built on the foundations of decent work, fairness, and social justice for all.

For more information, please visit the ILO’s site.