The International Labour Organization (ILO) will engage with world leaders, the United Nations system and other partners during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81), with a focus on ensuring that decent work and social justice are at the centre of responses to transformations reshaping economies and societies.
UNGA81 opened on 8 September, with the General Debate from 22 to 28 September under the theme "Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that Delivers for All". The session comes at a consequential moment for multilateral cooperation, amid geopolitical tensions, constrained development financing, technological change transforming the world of work and efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the UN system.
A major focus will be the changing world of work and governance of technological transformation. The adoption in June of the Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention, 2026 (No. 193), the first international labour standard dedicated to the platform economy, provides a global framework for ensuring that technological innovation and new business models advance alongside workers' rights, fair competition and sustainable economic growth.
On 25 September, the ILO will convene its main high-level event, "Shaping the Future of Work: Decent Work in the Platform Economy", with key partners. The event will introduce Convention No. 193 to the UN community and examine its relevance to digital transformation, artificial intelligence and governance of the future of work. It will also explore how international labour standards, social dialogue and labour market institutions can help ensure that technological innovation contributes to decent work, inclusive growth and sustainable development.
The changing world of work will also be addressed through workers' financial health. On 24 September, the ILO and the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health will jointly convene "The Workplace: A New Frontier for Promoting Financial Health". The event will examine how the workplace can strengthen workers' financial resilience and inclusion, while ensuring that new financial services and technologies are designed and used responsibly.
The event will also launch the ILO's Good Practices Guide for Responsible Earned Wage Access, as policymakers, employers' and workers' organizations, financial service providers, investors and development partners consider how workplace-linked financial services can support decent work outcomes. The discussion reflects the ILO's work through its Global Centre on Digital Wages for Decent Work to ensure that the digitalization of wages and financial services improves workers' lives while safeguarding their rights and interests.
During UNGA81, the ILO will also emphasize job creation and fair transitions as the international community responds to climate change, economic uncertainty and widening inequalities. Employment creation, productive and sustainable enterprises, living wages, skills development, social protection, transitions from the informal to the formal economy, fundamental principles and rights at work and social dialogue will be central to the ILO's engagement and its message that economic transformation must translate into tangible improvements in people's lives.
UNGA81 will also provide an opportunity to carry forward commitments made at the Second World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, connecting these global agreements directly with policies that expand decent work, strengthen social protection and tackle inequality.
As preparations gather pace for the 2027 SDG Summit and early discussions on the post-2030 development agenda take place, the ILO will continue to make the case that full and productive employment and decent work is not only an objective of sustainable development, but also a central means of achieving it.
