#Ratify C88

Promoting the ratification of the Employment Services Convention No. 88

The global COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing jobs crisis have highlighted the critical role of public employment services and, by extension, the ILO's Convention that supports them.

Wider ratification of the ILO's Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) – which calls on governments to maintain a free nationwide public employment service – can help repair the social and economic damages caused by the crisis by promoting a human-cantered recovery based on decent work principles.

The ILO urges member States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying and implementing Convention No. 88, an instrument that remains highly relevant in a changing world of work.

Ratification of C88 helps improve the functioning of labour markets, notably by promoting the participation of groups who face challenges linked to gender, age, disability, race, ethnicity and migration status, among other factors.