As a specialised United Nations agency, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) works to promote social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights. As the only tripartite UN agency, the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers to promote decent work in different parts of the world, as well as develop labour standards and policies.

Since 1976, the ILO Regional Office for Arab States (ILO ROAS) has worked to advance the ILO’s core values and mission in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The ILO ROAS also maintains a local presence in Qatar, Jordan and Yemen, as well as representative offices in Kuwait and Jerusalem. A number of Arab countries in North Africa - Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco - are covered by the ILO’s Regional Office for Africa.

Mission and Objectives
The primary mission of ILO ROAS is to promote social justice, decent work and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development across the Arab States. It implements innovative programmes guided by the four pillars of the Decent Work Agenda : employment creation and enterprise development, social protection, standards and rights at work, and social dialogue .

Through strategic partnerships with national, regional and international actors, the ILO ensures an inclusive and participatory approach to programme development. Together with our tripartite partners – governments, workers and employers – the ILO ROAS works to foster social justice and decent work opportunities through sustainable enterprises, higher productivity, and growth with equity.

One of the key vehicles the ILO uses to implement its decent work agenda and to deliver support to countries is the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) . DWCPs have two basic objectives, promoting decent work as a key component of national development strategies; and organising ILO knowledge, instruments, advocacy and cooperation at the service of tripartite constituents in a results-based framework.