G20 2025 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration – G20 South Africa

FANCOURT DECLARATION

G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration 

George, South Africa

Theme: ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability: Living and Working in an Unequal World:

Ensuring Decent Work and Decent Lives’

1. We, the Labour and Employment Ministers of the G20 members who gathered with the invited nations in George, South Africa, on 30-31 July 2025, dedicated to constructing extra affluent economies by fostering a sustainable and resilient workforce, recognising the pressing want to deal with inequalities and foster equity on this planet of labor and guarantee first rate work. Guided by South Africa’s G20 presidency and the overarching theme of Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, we recall the Preamble of the ILO’s Constitution, and we reaffirm our dedication to advancing first rate work insurance policies that foster a future-ready workforce.
2. In the face of pervasive transformations and international challenges, caused by, amongst others, technological, local weather and demographic adjustments, coupled with geopolitical uncertainty and chronic inequalities, we reaffirm that financial development and first rate work are important to constructing extra simply, inclusive and resilient societies. We emphasise the significance of defending labour and human rights whereas selling sturdy labour establishments, efficient social dialogue, and worldwide cooperation in shaping equitable labour markets.
3. In this regard, we recognise that selling first rate work, together with creating full and productive employment, good high quality jobs, and guaranteeing the adequacy and sustainability of social safety techniques, are basic for lowering inequality, broadening financial participation and boosting financial development. Governments, in session with social companions, play a central position in formulating and implementing insurance policies on this regard. We reaffirm our dedication to the G20 Policy Priorities to Reduce Inequalities within the World of Work (Annex 1 of the 2024 Fortaleza Ministerial Declaration) and decide to frequently overview related tendencies, insurance policies and programmes.

Inclusive Growth, Job Creation and Youth Empowerment

4. Empowering youth via schooling, employment and engagement is crucial for long-term social cohesion, sustainable financial development and reaching first rate work. While progress has been made because the adoption of the 2015 Antalya Youth Goal, over 267 million younger individuals worldwide stay not in schooling, employment, or coaching (NEET), with early faculty leavers, younger ladies, youth with disabilities, and people with out related expertise at heightened threat of longterm exclusion. We reaffirm our dedication to selling insurance policies providing high quality jobs and entry to technical and vocational schooling and coaching (TVET), concentrating on significantly younger individuals going through structural obstacles rooted in poverty, exclusion, compelled displacement and restricted entry to alternatives.
5. In mild of those persistent challenges and fast labour market transformations, we recognise the urgency of stepping up efforts to advertise high quality youth coaching, create employment alternatives and forestall the marginalisation of a brand new era. Building on the Antalya Goal, we decide to the Nelson Mandela Bay G20 Youth Target, to scale back NEET charges amongst 15–29 year-olds by an extra 5% by 2030, with a particular emphasis on supporting deprived youth, together with younger ladies, youth with disabilities and different susceptible teams prone to exclusion. [Refer to Annex 1].
6. To obtain this, we’ll enhance the standard, attain, and responsiveness of nationwide youth employment methods or initiatives. We will strengthen education-to-work transitions via funding in high quality TVET, apprenticeships, in-work studying, and upskilling/reskilling aligned with evolving labour market wants, whereas stopping these transitions from inflicting a lower in first rate work for youth. We intention to shut the hole between evolving labour market wants and younger individuals’s expertise, significantly in high-potential areas such because the inexperienced, digital and care economies. We recognise that the disproportionate duty of unpaid care work on younger ladies results in time poverty, contributing to maintaining them inactive, and limits their incomes potential, which is why we assist increasing high quality care, together with little one care and creating first rate jobs within the care economic system to foster elevated labour market participation.
7. We will work with related companies to enhance the state of affairs of younger individuals within the labour market, together with by growing consciousness, steering and assist to younger individuals’s psychological well being and wellbeing, to allow them to begin work, get again into work, keep and achieve work.
8. Recognising the significance of empowering younger individuals and fostering innovation, we’ll promote youth entrepreneurship as a viable pathway to first rate work by looking for to take away obstacles to finance, supporting and enabling ecosystems for start-ups and supporting younger individuals to take up management obligations and seize entrepreneurial alternatives. We will work to make sure common, orderly, protected and well-managed skill-based migration pathways. Furthermore, we’ll encourage engagement with youth organisations and social companions to make sure insurance policies are grounded in lived realities and create an enabling setting for growing youth employment alternatives. We intention to leverage and collaborate via the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) and the Entrepreneurship Research Centre on G20 Economies. We encourage each initiatives to combine youth employment actions into their implementation plans and sit up for the 2025 G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable. Recognising demographic circumstances, together with these associated to ageing populations, differ throughout nations, we be aware that the insurance policies needs to be responsive to those various wants in addition to their fast adjustments.
9. We request that the ILO and OECD assist the implementation and annual monitoring of the G20 Nelson Mandela Bay Youth Target via strengthened information techniques, cross-country studying and the continued publication of the G20 Youth at Work stories. These stories will monitor progress, monitor NEET charges and auxiliary indicators primarily based on nationwide, disaggregated information and analyse dimensions of youth employment, together with job high quality, entry to expertise coaching, paid and unpaid care work and entrepreneurship, specializing in these prone to exclusion.

Gender Equality within the Workforce

10. Almost all nations have narrowed the labour pressure participation hole between women and men since 2012, with roughly half of G20 nations on monitor to satisfy the 25% discount aim by 2025, and with extra nations on monitor to satisfy the 25% aim by 2030. Recalling our dedication to satisfy the aim our leaders agreed in Brisbane in 2014, “to reduce the gap in the participation rates between women and men in our countries by 25% by 2025,” and bearing in mind nationwide circumstances, we undertake to the Brisbane–EThekwini Goal, which builds on the unique ambition by extending our dedication to scale back the gender gaps in labour pressure participation by 25% by 2030 from 2012 ranges. We recognise the underrepresentation of ladies in management and determination making roles and that participation alone is inadequate to make sure equality in employment high quality and dealing circumstances. The quick tempo of technological advances, demographic adjustments and transition to sustainable economies make the aim of closing these gender gaps much more difficult and important.
11. Recalling the Rio de Janeiro Declaration made by G20 Leaders in 2024, we recognise the significance of closing the gender pay hole and be aware that persistent pay inequality undermines financial inclusion, limits ladies’s lifetime earnings and retirement safety, and holds again general productiveness and development. Unequal pay for women and men for work of equal worth stays a most important impediment for gender equality within the labour market. We decide to progressively scale back the gender wage hole and to advancing equal pay for work of equal worth and encourage G20 nations to work in direction of lowering the unadjusted wage hole between women and men by 15 per cent by 2035 (primarily based on 2022 ranges). We will undertake our overview after 5 years to think about growing the goal to 35 per cent by 2035.
12. To advance gender equality within the labour market, according to Sustainable Development Goals 5 and eight, we’ll take steps to strengthen coverage measures to deal with the multifaceted obstacles that girls face, together with discriminatory social and cultural norms. These steps embody implementing measures aimed toward fostering ladies’s entry to high quality employment, management positions and to energetic labour market insurance policies, supporting equal pay for work of equal worth, increasing and bettering entry to social safety, selling work–life stability, encouraging insurance policies for the equal provision and sharing of parental depart and provision of care giving advantages and high quality care providers, together with little one and older particular person care and growing entry to schooling, lifelong studying, apprenticeships and entrepreneurial alternatives.
13. We can even intensify efforts to foster measures and insurance policies to deal with instructional and occupational segregation to scale back overrepresentation of ladies in low-earning, low high quality and labour intensive and casual sectors. We are dedicated to advancing ladies’s full and equal participation throughout all sectors and all ranges on this planet of labor, together with in enterprise management and roles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), totally respecting their freedom to decide on skilled careers. We additional recognise the significance of selling first rate jobs and investing in a top quality care sector, together with childcare, take care of older individuals and incapacity inclusive care, as this sector is dominated by underpaid ladies. These are key to empowering ladies with caring obligations, supporting inclusive development and growing the general workforce participation. Furthermore, we recall our assist for the ILO’s 5R Framework for Decent Care and the Resolution on Decent Work and the Care Economy.
14. We reiterate our dedication to remove violence and harassment on this planet of labor, together with gender-based violence and harassment and to advertise the ideas of ILO Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206. Creating a world of labor free from violence and harassment is crucial to making sure dignity, security and equality for all employees.
15. We will improve the gathering of disaggregated information, monitoring frameworks and clear reporting to advertise accountability and drive evidence-based coverage. The annual G20 Women at Work stories, ready by the ILO and OECD, will proceed to trace progress and assist mutual studying on key indicators, together with gender gaps in labour pressure participation, gender pay gaps, profession development, occupational sectoral illustration, and the participation of ladies in paid and unpaid care work together with home work.
16. We encourage nations to affix the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) and speed up progress in direction of reaching equal pay for work of equal worth, a foundational step in eliminating inequalities on this planet of labor.

Addressing Inequality and Ensuring Fair Labour Income

17. We are involved concerning the continued decline within the labour revenue share throughout some G20 members over the previous 20 years and a weakening of job high quality for a major proportion of the workforce. These tendencies have been additionally pushed by the decoupling of wages from productiveness, particularly for lower-wage employees, and the enduring prevalence of casual and precarious work. They have disproportionately impacted susceptible teams and individuals in conditions of vulnerability.
18. Recalling the G20 Policy Priorities on Labour Income Share and Inequalities (Annex 1 of Ankara Declaration, 2015) and the G20 Policy Priorities to Reduce Inequalities (Annex 1 of Fortaleza Declaration, 2024), we acknowledge that creating productive and first rate jobs, together with via formalisation of the casual economic system and thru an economic system that encourages funding, is a vital driver to stimulating combination demand. We additionally recognise that strengthening enough social safety for all is crucial for lowering inequalities and growing employee resilience within the face of technological, local weather and demographic adjustments. We recognise that many individuals face obstacles to collaborating totally within the labour market, particularly individuals with disabilities and people with well being circumstances, caring obligations and in some nations low talent ranges. In this regard, we recognise that focused insurance policies and programmes are wanted to enhance entry to first rate work and scale back inequalities. Further, we emphasise the significance of fostering a virtuous cycle of productiveness development and higher employment via skilling, reskilling and upskilling, recalling the 2022 G20 Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Growth and Productivity and Human Capacity Development via strengthening Community Based Vocational Training (CBVT).
19. We decide to selling wage-setting mechanisms and wage safety insurance policies. Adequate statutory or collectively negotiated minimal wages, when supported by efficient measures to make sure protection and compliance, stay a vital software for addressing insufficient pay and low wage. We recognise the significance of freedom of affiliation, collective bargaining and tripartite social dialogue as, important for guaranteeing employees obtain a fair proportion of productiveness good points, supporting equitable labour market outcomes, and bettering the circumstances of those that are informally employed and facilitating the transition from the casual to the formal economic system.
20. We stay dedicated to the targets of goal 8.7 of the SDGs to taking rapid and efficient measures to eradicate compelled labour, finish trendy slavery and human trafficking and safe the prohibition and elimination of the worst types of little one labour, together with recruitment and use of kid troopers and proceed our efforts to finish little one labour in all its kinds. We reaffirm our dedication to supporting accountable enterprise conduct and transparency in international provide chains, in addition to to insurance policies and laws that promote due diligence efforts and protections for all employees, thereby contributing to fairer and extra resilient international labour markets.

Social Protection and Digitalisation for an Inclusive Future of Work

21. We recognise the significance of strengthening labour market establishments and social safety techniques to offer revenue safety, scale back informality, and assist profession transitions throughout the life course. The G20 Social Policy Portal stays a helpful platform for sharing experiences and good practices on this space.
22. Digital transformation presents vital alternatives for enhancing social safety for employees and the inhabitants, particularly susceptible teams, and is vital to serving to enterprises and employees navigate labour market transformations. As the digital economic system continues to evolve, it’s essential to bridge digital divides between and inside nations, together with the gender digital divide via a human-centred method to leveraging digitalisation, together with by enhancing labour and social protections, in accordance with the G20 AI Principles (Annex of Tsukuba Ministerial Statement, 2019). In this regard, we be aware the potential advantages of rising applied sciences to enhance social protections in addition to dangers of exclusion for susceptible teams together with individuals with disabilities. Reaffirming our prior commitments, we stay devoted to bettering working circumstances and entry to social safety for all employees, together with these in non-standard types of employment and on digital labour platforms according to worldwide labour requirements, together with the Social Protection (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the ILO

Recommendation No. 202 on Social Protection Floors (2012). We recognise the significance of skilling, reskilling and upskilling alternatives to permit employees to navigate the digital economic system extra successfully. We be aware of the standard-setting discussions on first rate work within the platform economic system on the 113th and 114th Sessions of the International Labour Conference.

23. While acknowledging the associated dangers of digital applied sciences by way of entry to social safety for employees throughout various kinds of employment, together with for classes of employees who typically have decrease protection charges than others, the digital transformation can enhance effectivity, accessibility and improve transparency in social safety supply.

Way Forward

24. We underscore the significance of correct evaluation and reporting of nationwide and international social safety protection in strengthening our efforts to realize SDG goal 1.3.1 (social safety techniques for all, together with flooring). In this context, we urge the ILO and different worldwide organisations to proceed strengthening the worldwide framework for social safety statistics.
25. As G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, we reaffirm our shared duty to advertise a sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and affluent future of labor. We will proceed coordinated implementation of the 4 precedence areas we have now mentioned: (i) inclusive development, job creation and youth empowerment; (ii) gender equality within the workforce; (iii) addressing inequality and guaranteeing truthful labour revenue; and (iv) social protections and digitalisation for an inclusive future of labor.
26. We decide to strengthening evidence-based policymaking utilizing disaggregated labour market information, improved monitoring techniques and efficient tripartite social dialogue. We will strengthen collaboration throughout the G20 and with related worldwide organisations, whereas persevering with dialogue with the L20, B20 and different engagement teams to advertise a shared agenda for financial development and sustainable outcomes.
27. We additionally reaffirm the commitments made beneath earlier presidencies, together with the promotion of well-managed, common, and skill-based migration pathways to deal with international talent gaps and assist sustainable and inclusive international development, acknowledging challenges in retaining expert labour.
28. We recall our dedication to think about the event of a global reference classification of occupations by talent and qualification necessities in direction of promote optimum sharing of expertise, benefiting each origin and vacation spot nations alike. We name upon the ILO and the OECD to finish the feasibility examine on the event of worldwide reference classification, together with a pilot in key sectors by 2027 and share a progress report in 2026.
29. We thank the ILO, OECD, World Bank Group, African Development Bank and ISSA for his or her technical contributions to the 2025 G20 Employment Working Group.
30. Finally, we specific appreciation to South Africa for its steering of the 2025 G20 Presidency and decide to presenting this Declaration to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg for consideration. We sit up for advancing these priorities beneath the 2026 G20 Presidency of the United States.

Annex 1: Nelson Mandela Bay G20 Target on Youth Employment (2025–2030)

Building on the 2015 Antalya Goal, which sought to scale back the share of younger people who find themselves most prone to being completely left behind within the labour market by 15% by 20251, the Nelson Mandela Bay G20

Target on Youth Employment goals to boost the mixing of youth into labour markets via a holistic and forward-looking method.

By 2030, G20 members will:

1. Reduce NEET Rates by an extra 5%

Reduce the proportion of youth (ages 15–29) not in employment, schooling, or coaching (NEET) by an extra 5% by 2030, in contrast with the charges noticed in 2024.2 Acknowledging the numerous progress made by some nations far exceeding the Antalya Goal, nations with NEET charges under 10% decide to sustaining momentum. Furthermore, monitor the NEET fee individually for women and men by its elements, i.e. unemployed NEETs (those that are actively in search of a job) and inactive NEETs (those that will not be actively in search of a job), and monitor the share of long-term NEETs (those that are on this state of affairs for greater than 6 or 12 months, relying on information availability).

2. Boost the effectiveness of Youth Employment Strategies or Initiatives

Accelerate the implementation of nationwide and/or regional youth employment methods primarily based on the 2015 “Annex III: G20 Policy Principles for Promoting Better Youth Employment Outcome”, guaranteeing they align with financial and social improvement objectives. This consists of growing monitoring frameworks on the nationwide stage to evaluate and refine insurance policies. This monitoring ought to establish actions to achieve out to probably the most deprived youth who’re neither in employment, schooling or coaching or prone to changing into so. Countries are inspired to interact with the G20 Compact with Africa (CWA) to advance reforms and methods conducive to the promotion of first rate jobs for youth within the continent.

3. Strengthen Youth Skills for Future Work

Equip youth with expertise demanded by the labour market by tackling faculty drop-out; increasing entry to work-based studying alternatives, particularly in technical and vocational schooling and coaching (TVET), internships, apprenticeships, and comparable schemes; offering pupil orientation and profession steering; and selling the psychological wellbeing of each younger men and women.

1 To this finish, the main focus was positioned on younger individuals with low expertise and {qualifications}; those that are neither in employment, nor schooling or coaching (NEET); or the low-skilled people who’re NEET or informally employed.

The NEET fee was utilized by the OECD and ILO as the first indicator for monitoring progress in direction of this aim and associated coverage targets.

2 The NEET fee is outlined because the share of 15–29-year-olds not in employment, schooling, or coaching. The goal is a 5% discount over 5 years, equal to the identical annual tempo of the Antalya aim (15% over 15 years). For instance, a rustic with a NEET fee of 10% in 2024 (reported in 2025), ought to intention at lowering it to 9.5% by 2029 (reported in 2030).

4. Strengthen Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion

Establish frameworks that facilitate personal funding and create jobs for youth. Boost entrepreneurship and innovation as pathways to employment, as an example by enhancing younger individuals’s entry to inexpensive finance, enterprise improvement providers, counselling, and mentorship;

establishing incubation hubs in each city and rural areas; and guaranteeing their inclusion in labour market insurance policies and programmes. Countries are inspired to take motion beneath the G20 Entrepreneurship Action Plan and have interaction with the Entrepreneurship Research Centre on G20 Economies to assist efficient implementation.

Progress towards the Nelson Mandela Bay G20 Target might be monitored yearly via the G20 Youth at Work Reports, produced with the technical help of the ILO and the OECD. All related information for monitoring the targets will be collected by the 2 International Organisations. Reports can even deal with related subjects similar to the standard of labor and unpaid care work, amongst different subjects.