Boosting South-South Cooperation for 2030 Work Goals
Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies globally, the world is reminded today of the urgent need for strong partnerships to revive the development agenda and secure a shared future of prosperity for all.
The global health crisis reversed South-East Asia’s economic and development progress and brought 4.7 million people into extreme poverty. In 2020, the region experienced a sharp economic contraction of employment of 4 million people at the height of the pandemic.
Despite the region’s strong recovery from the pandemic with a GDP growth of 4.6 per cent in 2024, millions of workers are still left behind. Many countries in the region continue to face challenges such as high youth unemployment, informal employment and lack of access to decent jobs for groups in vulnerable situations.
The latest Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025 : engaging communities to close the evidence gap reiterates that to achieve full employment and decent work in South-East Asia under SDG8, progress needs to be accelerated. Collaboration and exchange of good practices among countries facing similar labour market issues can bring about inclusive employment and just transitions to green economies in the region.
The Global Development Initiative proposed in 2021 by the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and supported by over 100 countries, aims to realize these goals and become a major driver of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly for countries in the Global South. As the largest developing country in the world, China has been a long-term partner of fellow developing countries on the path to common sustainable development in areas such as poverty alleviation, digital economy, and green development.
Thanks to good-neighbourly relations between China and South-East Asia to champion mutually beneficial cooperation, this important global initiative is actively being implemented in the region.
The International Labour Organization, in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China (MOHRSS), is spearheading efforts to promote human-centred development in the world of work.
Through a South-South and Triangular cooperation approach, countries in South-East Asia and China regularly convene to share good practices and lessons learned in navigating the complex labour market landscape. The ultimate objectives are to ensure inclusive employment, public employment services and entrepreneurship development. It is through sustained collaboration with governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations and civil society actors in the region that lasting impact is possible.
https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/accelerating-south-south-cooperation-towards-decent-work-and-common