Strengthening the Impact on Employment of Sector and Trade Policies (STRENGTHEN)

Project documentation | 16 August 2018
The project, funded by the European Union, aims to strengthen the capabilities of country partners to analyse and design sectoral and trade policies and programmes that would enhance employment creation in terms of quantity and quality. 

The project's main objectives are the following: 
  • To develop global knowledge on how to strengthen the positive impact on employment of sectoral and trade policies, including in the areas of agriculture and rural development, infrastructure and energy with a focus on private sector development in these sectors as well as on existing and relevant methods for the employment impact assessment of those policies in selected sectors.
  • To strengthen country-level knowledge on the impact of sectoral and trade policies on productive and decent employment and on measures to optimize the employment effects of selected sectoral and trade policies and related issues such as structural transformation, labour standards, and skills development.
  • To build the capabilities of governments, social partners, development practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders in partner countries to identify, measure and assess the employment effects of sectoral and trade policies.
  • To provide guidance to development cooperation practitioners in partner countries as well as the European Union on how to address the employment opportunities and challenges resulting from sectoral and trade policies including through public policies, trade and investment programmes and operations in key sectors in developing countries.
The first phase of the project started in 2014 and ran until 2020. It was implemented by the Development and Investment Branch (DEVINVEST) of ILO’s Employment Policy Department in close collaboration with other relevant ILO units and the ILO regional and country offices responsible for the partner countries.