ILO Events

As part of a two day Conference with the partners of the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative, this high-level panel will bring together distinguished speakers to explore the link between fair recruitment and social justice, offering insights on advancing fair recruitment in an increasingly complex global context. (Interpretation provided in Arabic, French, English, Spanish)

Significant progress has been made to tackle child labour. While there are nearly 86 million fewer children in child labour since we began measuring global levels in 2000, recent trends suggest that we are far behind on the collective commitment to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. Eliminating child labour in all its forms, including forced recruitment and use of children in armed conflict In alignment with the theme of the President of the General Assembly, “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for everyone everywhere”, the informal interactive dialogue aims to raise awareness and accelerate efforts towards the elimination of child labour in all its forms, including the forced recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. It would also be an opportunity to share best practices and to identify challenges and gaps in the achievement of SDGs, including SDG 8 (Target 8.7) ahead of its review at the High-level Political Forum in July 2025 and the Second World Summit on Social Development in November 2025.

Watch the informal address to the General Assembly plenary by UN Secretary-General Guterres on the UN80 Initiative, which aims to ensure the UN remains effective, cost-efficient and responsive to the people it serves.

AI and digital tools are revolutionizing occupational safety and health. Today, robots are operating in hazardous environments, doing the heavy lifting, managing toxic materials and working in extreme temperatures. They take on repetitive and monotonous tasks, while digital devices and sensors can detect hazards early on. At the same time, in the absence of adequate OSH measures, digital technologies can lead to accidents, ergonomic risks, work intensification, reduced job control and blurred boundaries. On the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2025 this event brings together ILO constituents and international experts to explore how AI and digitalization are reshaping OSH systems across sectors and countries.

Can artificial intelligence, robots and surveillance protect workers on the job? In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, ILO occupational safety and health expert Manal Azzi explains how AI and technology can be used as a safety net, without deepening inequalities or creating new risks.

This event is organized as part of ITU's AI for Good Series. In this era of rapid technological change and huge political promises being loaded onto large language models (LLMs), how can we ensure that automation serves human potential rather than undermines it? Outlining findings from the ground-breaking Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing, Anna Thomas MBE will present an approach to technological transformation that puts human capabilities and wellbeing at the centre of innovation. Drawing on extensive research across UK firms and workers, she will outline critical insights about AI and automation's impact on work: from the hidden opportunities and inequalities emerging across regions and demographics to the urgent need for a new "Good Work" paradigm that prioritises human agency, skills, and resilience. Key takeaways will include: Why adopting more, new workplace technologies won’t automatically be positive for firms – or for health and wellbeing How we can shape automation to enhance—not replace—human potential and use it to deliver a fairer future of better work The importance of skills diversity and adaptive capabilities Strategies for creating more equitable technological transitions

Launched in 2016, the ILO’s Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All (SPF Flagship Programme) supports ILO member States in developing sustainable social protection systems, including floors, and contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on social protection (in particular targets 1.3 and 3.8), through a coherent structure to mobilize resources and achieve impact. The SPF Flagship Programme works in 50 priority countries, aiming to achieve 80 institutional changes and increase legal and effective coverage for an additional 60 million people. Between 2021 and 2024, the Programme contributed already to 148 institutional changes (such as the adoption of laws and the implementation of systems) in 50 priority countries and increased legal and effective coverage for over 50 million people. Objectives of the meeting: - Take stock of the progress made, results achieved, and impact created since the beginning of Phase II of the SPF Flagship Programme, including through the multi-donor programme. - Share country and partner experiences in extending social protection to all, look at current and future challenges and opportunities, with a focus on key thematic areas. - Join forces to accelerate the achievement of Universal Social Protection, through building strong social protection systems and positioning social protection as a key tool for creating just and equitable societies. - Identify key priorities for Phase III of the SPF Flagship Programme.

This year, the ILO will mark International Women’s Day by celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action with a special event reflecting on three decades of progress, challenges, and the future of women in the world of work. Through engaging discussions, shared experiences, and expert insights, the event will emphasize a powerful message: All women are working women.

World Day of Social Justice takes place every year on 20 February. It was designated by the UN General Assembly in 2007 to remind us of the need to build a fairer and more equitable world and to urge all efforts to combat unemployment and poverty. The ILO will mark the occasion this year with a series of five events held in major cities around the globe. The events will bring together high-level speakers from across the world of work to discuss how to put social justice at the centre of international, national and regional policy agendas.

This event is organized as part of ITU's AI for Good Series. AI technologies have captured the public imagination and raised substantial fears. Many of these fears concern automation as some commentators claim that the large-scale elimination of jobs is imminent. This talk will try to put AI into some context about the things it does and how technologies have operated in the past. As in the past, new technologies such as AI don’t just automate, they also change organizations, the worker skills needed, and they have strong effects on consumers. Automation rarely replaces entire jobs; it typically just automates specific tasks. And when this happens, the remaining tasks – the ones that humans perform – become more valuable and often require new and deeper skills. Moreover, consumer benefits often raise demand dramatically as prices fall and quality improves. Greater demand often increases employment, rather than eliminating it. The talk will look at the long-term consequences of these changes and what the main social challenges are raised by this new technology.