Our recent reports highlighted the importance of the analysis of the BRICS economic framework by United Nations (UN) organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)[1]. We now proceed to explore BRICS cooperation with another UN entity, namely the International Labor Organization (ILO). We see greater connectivity between BRICS+ and the ILO as being very much to the benefit of the world economy as the former accounts for more than half of the world’s population (after expansion and the creation of the partnership belt), while the ILO’s core mandate is to advance labor standards, develop human capital and improve working conditions on a global scale. In recent periods, the ILO has intensified its cooperation with BRICS along several tracks, including in research, with a recent ILO report produced at the end of 2025 dedicated to the productivity ecosystems for decent work in BRICS[2]. We see further scope to leverage the work undertaken by the ILO in areas such as social entrepreneurship to expand the use of international best practices across the BRICS+ platform.
According to the ILO website, in 2025 the UN organization implemented 220 projects in BRICS economies, with the BRICS members funding 63 ILO development projects in 2021-2024. Among the cooperation projects of the ILO and BRICS is the promotion of the decent work agenda and the provision of technical expertise to BRICS economies via “evidence-based technical inputs to BRICS discussions on policies that promote full, productive, and freely chosen employment and decent work… [as well as] in-depth labour, economic, and social analysis, providing policy recommendations that promote inclusive and sustainable development across member countries”[3].
Overall, the ILO singles out the following tracks of cooperation with BRICS in the labor policy sphere[4]:
- The Employment Working Group (EWG): A formal technical forum where representatives from BRICS economies discuss the labour/employment agenda.
- The Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting (LEMM): A political forum where labour ministers adopt joint declarations and endorse shared priorities on employment, social protection, and inclusive development, based on the technical work undertaken by the ILO and the EWG.
- The BRICS Network of Research Institutes: A platform that brings together research institutions from BRICS member countries to exchange knowledge and deliver evidence-based policy inputs, with the ILO providing technical support and advancing collaboration within the Network.
- The BRICS Productive Ecosystems Platform: An initiative to support BRICS members in “developing and implementing inclusive and sustainable policies that enhance productivity, promote decent work, and foster productive employment”[5]. This platform is supported by the ILO via the Regular Budget Technical Cooperation-South-South Triangular Cooperation (RBTC-SSTC) project, with productivity ecosystem studies conducted in South Africa, Brazil and China.
In building their relations with the BRICS bloc, the ILO has resorted to the use of the BRICS Troika format, whereby initiatives and proposals are considered not only from individual BRICS countries but also from the group that includes the representatives of the previous year’s, the current year and the future year’s presidency (hence, the BRICS Troika[6]). In particular, as stated by the ILO, “at the inter-regional level, the ILO has supported the BRICS troika presidency proposal involving Brazil, India, and China to institutionalize knowledge platforms for gender-responsive social security and digital transformation” [7]. Such an approach to using the BRICS Troika mechanism may be seen as useful by the ILO in ensuring greater continuity in the implementation of policy proposals from one BRICS presidency to the next. We note that other UN institutions such as UNCTAD have also supported the BRICS Troika mechanism in their policy recommendations[8].
One potential area that in our view harbors significant dividends for the ILO-BRICS cooperation is in the sphere of social entrepreneurship. We have already highlighted the importance of this area for BRICS economies, noting in particular the advances made in BRICS core members such as India[9]. The ILO for its part has undertaken a number of studies on the promotion of social entrepreneurship in developing economies, with practical modalities of supporting the social and solidarity economy (SSE) being tested in Africa and other parts of the Global South[10]. In our view, the BRICS+ economic development would greatly benefit from integrating the social entrepreneurship agenda into the BRICS-ILO cooperation framework, with guidelines and roadmaps of advancing the social and solidarity economy for each core member of the BRICS bloc based on ILO’s analysis of international best practices.
There may be further scope to raise the ambition in developing the BRICS-ILO cooperation with the view to providing tailor-made recommendations to BRICS members on labor market policies as well as the broader regulatory and macroeconomic framework (perhaps in coordination with BRICS CRA) geared towards fostering job creation. The ILO could also cooperate with the BRICS group together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in monitoring intra-BRICS labor migration trends, with the view to matching the excess demand/supply gaps across national labor markets. In countries such as India and China, particular focus may be needed to be accorded to job-creation and ways of reducing youth unemployment. BRICS economies may also work with the ILO to establish near-term and medium-term targets for job-creation based on the full range of potential instruments and policy initiatives (including those pertaining to regional integration)[11]. Other areas of ILO technical support may involve risk/opportunity assessments associated with the expansion in the use of AI across BRICS economies and estimates of the potential implications of automation and AI for employment.
[1] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/unido-report-explores-brics-digital-readiness-for-manufacturing/
[2] https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-02/BRICS%20synthesis%20.pdf
[3] https://www.ilo.org/about-ilo/ilo-and-multilateral-system/ilo-and-brics
[4] https://www.ilo.org/about-ilo/ilo-and-multilateral-system/ilo-and-brics
[5] https://www.ilo.org/about-ilo/ilo-and-multilateral-system/ilo-and-brics
[6] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/a-brics-troika-format-for-chairmanship-transition/
[7] https://southsouthpoint.net/2026/05/18/ilo-launches-new-south-south-and-triangular-cooperation-initiatives-to-drive-digitalization-social-protection-gender-mainstreaming-and-decent-work/
[8] https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tcsgdsinf2025d2_en.pdf
[9] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/social-entrepreneurship-across-em-what-role-for-brics/
[10] https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@africa/@ro-abidjan/@sro-cairo/documents/publication/wcms_589097.pdf
[11] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/boosting-job-creation-across-the-global-south/
Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder, BRICS+ Analytics
Image from ILO via www.ilo.org