International financial institutions (IFIs) - ILO Partnership

The ILO’s collaboration with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) is grounded in its constitutional commitment to advancing social justice and promoting decent work. Guided by its constitution, which mandates an examination of all international economic and financial policies in light of their social outcomes, the ILO strives to foster collaboration that aligns financing with the promotion of sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all (SDG 8). 

The ILO pursues this by integrating labour and social considerations into global financial and economic discussions and agendas, reinforcing that social and economic objectives can be mutually reinforcing drivers of sustainable and inclusive growth. The ILO’s collaboration with IFIs continues to grow, both in scope and scale. 

Key areas of collaboration 

• Social safeguards and standards in IFI-financed operations: The ILO works with International Financial Institutions to integrate decent work principles into the environmental and social safeguard frameworks by providing technical guidance to align safeguards with international labour standards, particularly in high-risk sectors such as infrastructure, construction, and agriculture. 
• Decent work diagnostics and risk assessments: Through evidence-based diagnostics and policy analysis, the ILO supports IFIs in identifying decent work deficits and social risks associated with their investment and policy lending portfolios to help inform project design, due diligence processes, and country-level programming. 
• Joint engagement in global financial and economic policy forums: The ILO actively participates in global discussions alongside IFIs and other international organizations to promote policy coherence between economic and social objectives, such as the G20, the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings, Financing for Development Conference, and multilateral development bank consultations. 
• Employment impact assessment and monitoring: The ILO provides International Financial Institutions with frameworks and methodologies to assess, track, and evaluate the employment outcomes of their investments, helping IFIs measure both the quantity and quality of jobs created by development projects to ensure that financial investments translate into meaningful employment opportunities and improved working conditions. 
• Capacity building and technical assistance: The ILO conducts awareness raising and capacity building for International Financial Institutions on key labour topics such as labour and social policy design and implementation, measurement of quantity and quality of employment, and employment impact assessment techniques, strengthening IFI capacity to integrate decent work principles into their operations.