South-4-Care Learning Hub
The 2024 ILO Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy and its Plan of Action provide the framework for strengthening international cooperation, knowledge exchange and capacity development on care policies, including through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC). In response to this mandate, South-4-Care brings together two complementary components designed to connect knowledge exchange with capacity building and action.
The South-4-Care Platform is a global online space for discovering and sharing how countries and ILO constituents are advancing decent work in and through the care economy. Complementing the Platform, the South-4-Care Learning Hub, developed in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO), builds on this knowledge base by offering structured learning opportunities that support policy dialogue and practical application. Together, these components connect access to knowledge with opportunities to put it in practice.
South-4-Care Learning Hub
Connecting knowledge, policy and practice to advance decent work and gender equality in the care economy through South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
The South-4-Care Learning Hub is a capacity development and peer-learning initiative jointly developed by the International Labour Organization and ITCILO. It brings together ILO constituents (governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations), alongside other actors involved in the care economy,to exchange experiences, strengthen institutional capacity and develop practical responses for integrated, rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems.
Each edition is tailored to its regional, subregional or interregional context. The programme combines technical learning, policy dialogue, peer exchange and practical work so that participants can draw on international standards, policy experience and lessons from other countries to identify priorities and actions that can be taken forward at national and regional levels.
What the Learning Hub Offers
- Practical guidance on ILO care-related international labour standards and frameworks, including the ILO 5R Framework for Decent Care Work: recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, and reward and represent care workers.
- Exchange of policies, programmes and practices from countries at different stages of developing care and support systems.
- Dialogue on how to design, finance, govern and implement coherent care policies and quality services.
- A focus on decent work for care workers, labour and social protection, and the voice and representation of care workers and people who provide or receive care and support.
- Country and constituent group work to identify priorities, partnerships and actions that can be taken forward after each edition.
Who Takes Part
The Learning Hub is designed primarily for ILO constituents—government representatives and workers’ and employers’ organizations—as well as care workers’ organizations; organizations representing people who provide or receive care and support; organizations of persons with disabilities; social and solidarity economy actors; civil society organizations; researchers; international organizations; and development partners involved in or interested in the formulation and implementation of care economy policies. It is especially relevant for those looking to influence and enact positive change toward gender equality and decent work in their regions.
Inaugural Edition and Global Launch in Doha
The 2025 inaugural South-4-Care Learning Hub combined a two-week online learning phase with a four-day in-person programme in Doha. It brought together around 120 policymakers, workers' and employers' representatives, UN entities, civil society, experts and development partners from 30 countries to examine how care policies can advance decent work, gender equality and social justice.
The Doha edition also marked the official launch of the South4Care Platform. Participants exchanged policies and practices from across the Global South and worked on approaches that could be adapted to different national contexts.
Main Areas of Learning
- ILO care-related international labour standards and the ILO 5R Framework for Decent Care Work.
- Care as labour market and social infrastructure, including its contribution to employment, gender equality and inclusive development.
- Integrated care policies and systems grounded in rights, decent work and social dialogue.
- Financing, regulation and governance of care and support services.
- Employment conditions, social protection, migration, skills and representation in the care workforce.
- Public, private, cooperative and community-based models of care provision.
From Learning to Action
Interactive workshops and peer exchange helped participants identify practical priorities for their own contexts, including legal and policy reform, stronger social protection, investment in public services and the care workforce, and closer cooperation among governments and social partners.
Suggested Resources
- Read the ILO news release on the South4Care launch
- Read the ITCILO story on the Doha Learning Hub
- View the ILO event page and programme resources
- Download the course information note
Advancing Decent Work in the Care Economy in South Asia - Colombo 2026
The second South-4-Care Learning Hub brought together around 90 participants and partners from across South Asia to strengthen knowledge, policy dialogue and institutional capacity on decent work in the care economy. The regional edition responded to a context in which women continue to perform a disproportionate share of unpaid and underpaid care work, while gaps in accessible, affordable and quality care services limit women's labour force participation and deepen inequalities.
The programme approached care systems as essential labour market infrastructure. It examined how coordinated public policy, social dialogue and investment can expand services, improve the rights and working conditions of care workers, support those who need care and enable more equal participation in employment and public life.
Programme Themes
- Care systems, policy coherence and the ILO 5R Framework.
- Financing and governance of care services, including public investment, blended finance and sustainable business models.
- Social protection across the life course for care workers, unpaid carers and people who receive care and support.
- Decent work for domestic, migrant, informal and community care workers.
- Migration and global care chains, including portability of social protection and reintegration.
- Care cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy models.
- Disability inclusion, long-term care, skills development, data and evidence.
Country Roadmaps and Outcomes
Country teams identified priorities for stronger care systems, including policy coordination across sectors, expansion of services, sustainable financing, stronger labour standards and better data. The Learning Hub concluded with country priorities and commitments to continue regional knowledge exchange and cooperation.
A dedicated research event on migrant domestic workers examined gaps in social protection across the South Asia and Gulf migration corridor and highlighted practical options for protection throughout the migration cycle.
Suggested Resources
Upcoming South-4-Care Learning Hub Editions
Additional South-4-Care activities are being developed in Asia and the Pacific to support policy exchange, joint learning and the adaptation of care economy models across countries. Dates, format and participation arrangements will be published once confirmed.
Reference for the web team: ILO announcement on South-4-Care activity in Asia and the Pacific