The ILO 8.7 Accelerator Lab Launches Vision for Innovation, Knowledge Sharing, and Scaling Up
The ILO 8.7 Accelerator Lab brings together a diverse group of innovators from various countries and projects within the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work branch to implement the ILO Strategy on Knowledge and Innovation.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, emphasized, “Innovation is about being much more effective and at the scale that is necessary to benefit the people the United Nations serves.”
In 2023, the ILO introduced its Strategy on Knowledge and Innovation, focusing on four strategic priorities: (i) enhancing internal capacity for knowledge management and innovation across the ILO; (ii) promoting innovative policies, products, and services to achieve decent work and social justice; (iii) forming partnerships to support innovation in the world of work; and (iv) fostering a culture of knowledge and innovation.
With the increasing prevalence of child and forced labor, the UNSG's call to better equip the ILO to address global challenges and support Member States in achieving the SDGs is crucial.
The 8.7 Accelerator Lab is driving a paradigm shift within the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch by piloting and scaling innovative ideas and successful projects. This initiative aims to combat the rising trends in child and forced labor and advance towards achieving Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lab supports both intervention-level innovation through project activities and system-level innovation to promote broader changes within the branch.
How the 8.7 Accelerator Lab Came About
Launched in 2021 in response to the global increase in child labor from 152 million to 160 million children, the 8.7 Accelerator Lab is the first initiative of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch to optimize both what the ILO does and how it does it to support constituents and partners in achieving SDG Target 8.7. The Lab aims to pilot, identify, and scale innovative solutions to end human rights abuses at work globally while also improving internal processes.
At the intervention level, the 8.7 Accelerator Lab focuses on optimizing development cooperation interventions through six acceleration factors, with innovation and knowledge sharing at the core. The key difference between invention and innovation is whether the innovative solution is scaled to improve lives. Every good practice on child and forced labor identified by the ILO should be shared across the branch, which is where the system level comes into play.
The Accelerator Lab’s Multi-Partner Fund provides flexible funding to carry out new pilots and scale successful ones. A harmonized approach to project management and evaluation facilitates knowledge sharing and helps identify and respond to opportunities and gaps.
Innovative Approaches to Development Cooperation
In December 2023, the 8.7 Accelerator Lab organized a Design Thinking Workshop in collaboration with the ITCILO Innovation Lab. Innovators from various countries gathered to:
Define innovation categories relevant to Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Identify potential innovative solutions to reduce child and forced labor.
Explore traditional and non-traditional knowledge-sharing systems.
Strengthen the strategy for scaling up innovative solutions.
The ultimate goal is to enhance innovation across the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in an integrated manner. The network of innovators is now implementing these tools and fostering an enabling environment within the branch.
Future Vision
The 8.7 Accelerator Lab’s vision for innovation is built on three pillars, with promising activities planned under each:
Improved Targeting of Innovative Solutions: Supporting concrete innovative projects and ideas within or across projects in the Branch.
Innovative and Integrated Knowledge Sharing Systems: Developing an integrated and adaptable Knowledge Sharing System on FPRW to innovate based on lessons from other projects.
Evidence-Based Systems for Scaling Up: Creating an Evidence-Based Tool for Scaling Up to foster learning and accommodate failures.
For these efforts to succeed, an enabling environment is essential. The 8.7 Accelerator Lab believes that supporting system-level change at the branch level will ensure that all innovations can be scaled up to achieve decent work.