The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions (GA) is a UN initiative launched in September 2021 to help countries tackle multiple crises, including COVID-19, informality, poverty, inequality, lack of decent jobs, and financing gaps. It also prepares countries for challenges and opportunities from digital, green, and demographic transitions, as well as broader economic transformations. The initiative aims to create millions of decent jobs, extend social protection to billions currently excluded, and facilitate just transitions for all, placing decent work and universal social protection at the center of recovery efforts to promote shared prosperity, sustainable peace, and social justice.
Supported by the UN system, the G7 and G20, the UN Joint SDG Fund, and public development banks, the Global Accelerator is one of twelve High-Impact Initiatives identified to accelerate progress toward the SDGs by 2030. It serves as a key vehicle for the Jobs and Social Protection Transition, one of six investment pathways designed to deliver the SDGs. The initiative is also a core pillar of the Global Coalition for Social Justice and emphasizes social dialogue between governments, workers, and employers to address persistent global decent work deficits. In Indonesia, for example, the GA is implemented under the UN Resident Coordinator with collaboration from ILO, UNDP, and UNICEF to strengthen adaptive social protection and skills development.
In the Asia-Pacific region, six pathfinder countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Viet Nam—are actively shaping national strategies to expand social protection, create decent jobs, and facilitate just transitions. Each country adapts the GA framework to its priorities, leveraging existing governance structures and multi-stakeholder engagement to drive systemic change. Across the region, the initiative addresses key challenges such as financing gaps, social policy deficiencies, labour market inequalities, and the effects of climate change and digital transformation on employment.
The GA framework also strengthens institutional coordination, improves financing strategies, and aligns national employment and social protection policies with broader development goals. These collective efforts demonstrate the Asia-Pacific region’s commitment to achieving universal social protection and building resilient, inclusive, and future-ready labour markets that provide decent work opportunities for all.
