Market systems development for Decent Work – the Lab – Phase II

The ‘Market Systems Development for Decent Work’ project, known as the Lab, is a global project implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The purpose of the project is to institutionalise and mainstream a market systems approach to decent work, both inside and outside the ILO. The rationale for this is that by working to improve market systems, development projects will be able to deliver more and better jobs, more sustainably.

The project seeks to achieve this firstly by partnering with projects to apply components of a market systems approach to job quality, and in doing so show how sustainable market systems solutions can be delivered to improve working conditions, and secondly by generating and institutionalising knowledge that plugs key gaps, both inside and out of the ILO. The Lab targets three key beneficiary communities with research findings and support to apply a market systems approach to decent work: the ILO, SECO and the wider market systems development (MSD) community.