Turin, Italy – From 9 to 13 February 2026, more than 120 participants from 19 Global Accelerator pathfinder countries convened at the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin for the “Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange Forum,” organized jointly by the GA Technical Support Facility and the Joint SDG Fund. The forum brought together government representatives, social partners, UN agencies, international financial institutions, development partners, private sector actors, and donors to advance the implementation of the Global Accelerator initiative across participating countries.
Opening the forum, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed emphasized the importance of systems that protect people during crises and transitions, noting that the Global Accelerator translates global commitments into concrete national results. Sangheon Lee, Assistant Secretary-General a.i. of the ILO Jobs and Social Protection Cluster, highlighted the initiative’s strength in high-level political commitment and inclusive governance rooted in national priorities. High-level panels underscored the importance of nationally owned and well-financed social protection systems as key levers for economic, social, and environmental transformation, with examples drawn from Senegal and other pathfinder countries.
Throughout the week, sessions focused on policy integration, multistakeholder collaboration, multilateral coordination, and financing, drawing on the experiences of participating countries. Integrated policies were emphasized as essential for making social protection, employment, and skills initiatives work together, with practical examples from Albania, Senegal, and Indonesia showing how coordinated approaches enhance child wellbeing, women’s employment, and social protection outcomes. Social dialogue was highlighted as a critical element in ensuring policies are effectively designed and implemented.
The forum also explored multistakeholder collaboration and multilateral cooperation, illustrating how inclusive governance structures engage governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, civil society, and development partners. Presentations from Namibia, Malawi, and Uzbekistan highlighted effective social dialogue, alignment of financial and technical support with national priorities, and strategies for reducing policy fragmentation. Coordinated approaches were shown to strengthen coherence between reforms, financing, and implementation at the country level.
Sessions on financing emphasized that systemic investment in employment and social protection generates multiplier effects across economic and social outcomes. Countries such as the Philippines and Malawi shared approaches to aligning public expenditures with employment objectives, mobilizing domestic resources, introducing social insurance, and leveraging public–private partnerships and climate finance. Analytical tools like the Social and Macroeconomic Simulation for Development model were presented to support evidence-based policy design, scenario planning, and investment alignment. Private sector engagement and climate finance were highlighted as key mechanisms to extend coverage and integrate adaptation and mitigation priorities into social protection roadmaps.
Monitoring, evaluation, and learning were addressed as crucial to operationalizing the Global Accelerator’s results framework and theory of change. Pathfinder countries have begun collecting baseline data and aligning national indicators, enabling systematic tracking of employment outcomes, social protection coverage, and financing trends. Senegal and Cambodia illustrated the value of inclusive processes and clear theories of change to ensure coherence, accountability, and attribution of outcomes to the initiative.
The forum concluded with the launch of a Community of Practice to sustain peer learning, support implementation, and facilitate mobilization of additional technical and financial resources. As countries move from roadmap design to scaled delivery, participants emphasized that success depends on sustained collaboration, aligned financing, specialized technical assistance, and evidence-based implementation, ensuring that integrated policies translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
