Strategic partnerships mean working with other organisations who have an interest in PES activities (i.e., stakeholders) to develop and shape strategic decision making and the future direction of PES services.

Through the involvement, adequate consultation and participation of stakeholders, partnerships develop cross-cutting perspectives and integrated approaches to multidimensional problems.²
Working with stakeholders in the short term can provide opportunities for others to provide quick feedback on specific activities, open up access to other networks and specific target groups and PES can also ‘piggyback’ on others’ communication activities to spread the word about PES activities and services. Longer-term, strategic partnerships can create the foundations for embedding closer relationships between PES and other stakeholders and, over time, help to change any negative perceptions of the PES.

In addition, strategic partnership working can be multi-layered from local to policy level to enhance PES delivery, as well as policy planning.³ By working in strategic partnerships, PES can develop more wellinformed policies and measures and deliver services more effectively, thus contributing to better labour market conditions.

PES offer unique insights and knowledge about the labour market and the challenges that are faced by jobseekers and enterprises, as well as having access to labour market information. This is information that other stakeholders may not have access to and therefore PES can use this within the strategic partnerships to overcome any negative perceptions that other stakeholders may have around PES. This is important for PES to consider when establishing working relationships with other organisations as this can contribute to creating a ‘win-win’ situation for the different actors involved.
PES need to consider the level of activity or scope of discussions as this will determine the reach and scale of the intended partnership. PES should think if the activity is better framed within a local, regional or national perspective and then consider which stakeholders would be best suited for the topic. If it is national (or regional, in cases where PES are decentralised) topic, then there may be local perspectives that still need to be addressed and in this case the PES could consider if any stakeholders will have a national head office and local/regional offices whom local/regional PES offices could ‘partner’ with. This will help to ensure that the conversations at each level are appropriate, fruitful and are of benefit to all parties.

It is also worth highlighting that the media can be used by PES to promote positive results and new programmes. The media can therefore be an important partner in terms of reaching out to (potential)
jobseekers, enterprises and developing a wider awareness in the general public of PES and PES services.

By providing the media with labour market information and creating key messages around this, PES can demonstrate to the media that they are the labour market experts.

7.1 What are tripartism and social dialogue and how can they contribute to partnership working?

Tripartism and social dialogue are important concepts in strategic partnerships, and they are the foundations for respectful, equal and high-quality partnership working. The box below provides the ILO definitions of tripartism and social dialogue. The key principles include building consensus, equality of all views, respect and commitment from participants. To be successful, both tripartism and social dialogue focus heavily on processes around exchanging information, communication and negotiation (where needed). By developing strategic partnerships around these important principles, it is likely that PES will be able to gather more in-depth insights from other organisations at important decision-making moments and throughout the development, design and delivery of important policies as well as on-the-ground activities. This will increase the likelihood of PES delivering efficient and effective services that meet real needs on the ground.

It is important to remember that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to social dialogue as it needs to be adjusted to institutional arrangements, legal frameworks, traditions and practices in a specific context.

The ILO recommends that there are four aspects ⁵ that need to be in place as a precondition to social dialogue being used:

1. Strong, independent workers’ and enterprises’ organisations exist and they have the technical capacity and access to relevant information
2. Political will and commitment from all parties to engage in social dialogue
3. Respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining
4. Enabling legal and institutional framework.

Figure 7.1 Key steps to apply the ILO social dialogue approach⁶

Knowledge sharing is at the heart of social dialogue and tripartism. This is a two-way process where PES can share insights into the labour market, programmes and policies and the insights offered by partners can be wide-ranging. The diagram below shows what PES can offer to partners and what information partners can provide to PES.

Figure 7.2 Sharing knowledge with stakeholders

Dialogue with partners should not be a one-off , tokenistic activity and instead it should be in-built to both the development of any new services and the ongoing planning, delivery and review of current service provision. This ensures that feedback and different views can be regularly captured. There are different mechanisms for this but importantly, this should at least initially include face-to-face contact, which will help to develop personal connections and mutual trust between the PES and partners.

One proven approach to working with partners is having regular quarterly meetings with local, or regional, stakeholders. This can include:

• Presenting information on the local labour market
• Expected trends
• Presentation of new programmes or activities and their results to date (if known)
• Opportunity for others to offer views on PES developments, and results
• Input from others on their developments.

It is advisable that this can be complemented by a written note produced afterwards as well as sharing of information and news from the PES in between meetings. For example, a similar approach is used in the Astrakhan Region in the Russian Federation. This PES has a social council in place that brings together trade unions, the education sector, enterprise representatives and others with the aim to monitor and improve employment conditions. In addition, in Armenia, a ‘tripartite commission’ has been established which brings together enterprises, employment centres and trade unions on a regular basis to share information and make common agreements.

When PES are developing new strategies or programmes a round table discussion can include other partners with specific expertise and interest relevant to the new proposal. These partners can be invited with a clear remit to provide constructive feedback on the idea in focus. A round table discussion can include:

Presentation from the PES on the new idea, and the reasons behind it,

• Opportunity for each participant to provide feedback on the strengths of the idea – what do they like?
• Opportunity for each participant to identify what they think needs to be improved – what changes would they like to see, and why?

PES can use the feedback when developing the strategy, or programme. The figure below outlines this process and what the impact can be on partnership working. This type of approach is successfully used in the Russian Federation by the Republic of Bashkortostan in developing a strategic programme (see the Case Study below).

Figure 7.3 Using round table discussions to develop approaches

7.2 How can governance structures support the implementation of local partnerships for employment?

PES governance arrangements can strengthen, or inhibit, PES’ ability to work with local partners. Governance arrangements can provide more fl exibility at local levels (e.g., decentralised arrangements),
with more responsibilities placed with local or regional offices to form their own approaches, partnerships and other such matters. In contrast, centralised governance arrangements mean that all decisions are taking at a central office, most often on a national level. In terms of partnerships, this can mean that decisions to work with others are made at this central office and they advise, or inform, local and regional offices who to work with. This can place certain ‘restrictions’ on local offices on whom they could work with. Ultimately, governance systems should be in place to create supportive conditions for meaningful local partnerships to be established and mechanisms for ongoing communication and exchange between PES and local partners.

Across the world, most PES work with local partners, but the types of partnerships/working arrangements and the ability to cooperate often differs across, and within, national boundaries due to:⁸

• Issues with PES capacity (e.g., PES ability to have staff in local areas and their ability to work with local partners to collect timely and relevant data);
• Differences in local fl exibility across regions, and by management approaches (e.g., local offices having more autonomy versus a ‘centralised’ system);
• Level of decentralisation of the PES, i.e. how much power and freedom a local PES office has to decide who they want to work with, when and why; and
• Different ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ initiatives that are in place to encourage collaboration, such as policy initiatives to bring different partners together or the establishment of local task forces to tackle unemployment in one specific city/local area.

Governance systems can also provide strategic frameworks for the context of partnerships. At local and regional level, strategic frameworks can provide the ‘structure’ for working with local partners and indicate the benefits of such work, including:

• Gathering insights at local level on policy and programme intervention on what does and does not work;
• Becoming aware of issues that may cause labour market exclusion, particularly local factors, and being able to efficiently plan use of resources so that partners and services can work together;
• Developing and identifying shared objectives and priorities, creating common visions and integrated strategies; and
• Strengthening the ability for PES and partners to develop innovative solutions that are adapted to local situations.

7.2.1 What steps and tools can PES use to make sure that they have the right governance in place?

Strategic fl exibility can help PES to develop and achieve operational excellence within local contexts. The OECD defines strategic fl exibility as the ‘ability of PES actors working at the local level to develop strategies and customise policies and programmes that respond specifically to local labour market conditions.’

The table below outlines key aspects that are useful to have in place when developing PES local governance.

Table 7.1 Key aspects for PES local governance

Source: IDB; WAPES and OECD (2015) ‘The World of Public Employment Services: Challenges, capacity and outlook for public employment services in the new world of work’

The OECD has also outlined a set of different tools that can be used by national governments, and can be applied by PES, to promote and increase a culture of fl exibility:⁹

• Negotiating targets – consulting at the local level when setting government targets
• Increasing the use of outcome targets, rather than output targets;
• Establishing common and cross-sector targets which incentivise local actors to work together;
• Boards and scrutiny panels which allow a wider group of local actors to scrutinise delivery of national programmes;
• Flexible funding schemes and special funds to encourage creative solutions at the local level; and
• Incremental responsibility – devolving decision making where accountability risk is judged to be minimal.

As well as tools to foster the conditions for the right governance, PES also need to ensure that they have appropriately skilled staff in place to ensure that they can work successfully with strategic partners. The next section provides an introduction to the key requirements around staff resources in this area.

7.2.1.1 What staff resources are needed to work with strategic partners?

Internally, PES need to have the right staff resources available to ensure that they can create conditions conductive to strategic partnership working. When working with stakeholders through strategic partnerships PES need to be able to respond to partners quickly and using clear communication. This is important to demonstrate PES’ expertise, capacities to work with other partners and provide them with the time to build relationships with other stakeholders. Larger PES may have the resources and access to a dedicated external relations team. Smaller regional or local PES may have a small group, or a lone individual, who can undertake the role of ‘partnership manager’.

The individual, or team, undertaking the role as partnership manager needs to have excellent interpersonal skills, be client-oriented and be able to network internally within the PES as well as with different external stakeholders, upholding the key principles of social dialogue and tripartism. For internal communications, they will need to work closely with respective units where and when required but also maintain an excellent knowledge of different PES activities and individual units as well as the wider labour market. This is important as they are the key contact for stakeholders and therefore their attitudes, behaviours and overall professionalism will refl ect the working practices and attitudes of the PES as a whole.

It is therefore vital that the partnership manager(s) receives appropriate training and support to develop their skills in terms of communications as well as ensuring that they keep up-to-date with wider PES activities. Partnership managers must therefore be included within all required internal information networks and receive appropriate updates and briefings. This is particularly important as the skillset of partnership managers is slightly different to other professions within the PES. PES need to invest in tailored training programmes so that they can build effective partnerships as this will have long-term benefits to the information and insights available to PES as well as how they are viewed.

7.2.2 How can PES demonstrate the contribution of employment services to achieving employment policies?

PES play a key role in the labour market and undertake valuable work that contributes to achieving national employment policies. The ILO reported in 2018¹¹ that across the world many PES have gone beyond the core functionality of job-matching and instead, they now offer much more comprehensive and holistic support to the labour market. For example, many PES have now fully developed services for employers and jobseekers that address skills mismatches and enhance employability. Through designing and delivering active labour market programmes they also can directly support workers and employers.

With such activities, PES can collect data and use this to create a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate how their services have made an impact and contributed to employment policies. The ILO reports that since the economic crisis in 2008 many countries are now expecting evidence-based advice on policies and interventions. Countries are increasingly wanting to know ‘what works, for who and why’ so that they can create more job opportunities for all types of workers. By learning about what works and improving practices, PES can develop more efficient and effective measures and support services for employer and jobseekers, lead

ing to better matching. In the long term, this will help to maximise the potential of the labour market as it can increase employment rates and thus contribute to greater economic activity.

PES are at the forefront of delivering services that put economic and employment policies into action. To help support and shape future employment policies PES have the potential to gather data via their delivery and reporting mechanisms. By collecting and analysing such data, PES can show to a wider group of stakeholders (e.g., government and local/regional partners) the impact of their services, including targeted programme delivery. Communicating results and outcomes may help to boost their profile and enhance their reputation.

Strategic and brand communication can be an important tool to overcome common reputational challenges related to PES, which often include:

• Negative attitudes about governments in general
• Funding limitations
• Different levels of brand recognition
• Different approaches to strategic and communication processes¹²

PES can enhance their reputation with partners by undertaking tailored strategic and communication activities. Strategic and communication activities follow a five-step process, as outlined in the table below.

Table 7.2 Five-step process for strategic and brand communications

European Commission (2018) ‘Communication and (re-)branding toolkit for employment services’

7.2.3 What can PES contribute to employment policies according to their core institutional mandates?

Understanding the core institutional mandates for PES is fundamental to understanding the role, responsibilities and objectives that need to be in place. These can then be aligned and tailored accordingly
towards national, or regional, employment policies. Indeed, at the foundation of all PES activities, they contribute to three main national objectives:

• Support labour market inclusion;
• Facilitate labour market adjustments; and
• Mitigate the impact of economic transitions.

The ILO Employment Services Recommendation also states that ‘employment services should co-operate with other public and private bodies concerned with employment problems.’ It specifically states that employment services should consult with such bodies around the questions of:

• The distribution of industry;
• Public works and public investment;
• Technological progress in relation to production and employment;
• Migration;
• Housing;
• Provision of social amenities (e.g., schools, health care); and
• General community organisation and planning, which may affect the availability of employment.

The following section provides further information on how PES can work with private employment agencies.

7.2.3.1 What is the difference between public and private employment agencies and how can they best work together to achieve common employment aims?

Public employment services and private employment agencies (PrEA) have some similarities in common but they also have some very important diff erences that need to be considered. Both PES and PrEA provide support to enterprises and jobseekers with regards to the matching process. However, PES are provided by the state where as PrEA are commercial-based organisations which are completely independent of the state. PrEA tend to:

• Offer services to enterprises, for a fee, with an aim to provide a quicker matching process;
• Concentrate on skilled job candidates for enterprises, upon demand; and
• Actively recruit for foreign workers for enterprises in their country or can organise migration for work abroad.¹⁵

In many countries, there are specific types of PrEA that offer temporary forms of employment. These temporary work agencies offer their workers for short term employment assignments to enterprises.
These can help to fill specific gaps for enterprises and a fl exible, accessible workforce. The box below provides information on the ILO convention on PrEA.

It is worth noting that in some countries the protective provisions established in law may not cover certain types of workers who are recruited via PrEA and in many countries only jobseekers registered with the PES are eligible to participate in ALMPs.

PES and PrEA are not competitive, instead cooperation between PES and PrEA can be mutually beneficial. Cooperation can provide opportunities to:

• Share information;
• Cooperate on job matching services that are provided to different groups of jobseekers;
• Cooperate in delivering complementary services for enterprises;
• Share approaches and techniques to improve efficiencies, as in case of the Netherlands; and
• Contract out certain services from PES to PrEA (such as pilot programmes, as seen in Kazakhstan).¹⁷

7.3 How can PES participate in strategic partnerships to create integrated services to disadvantaged groups and increase coherence between employment and social policies?

Disadvantaged groups often face multiple, complex barriers that can prevent them from entering employment or from staying in work. Barriers can include issues around housing, childcare, transportation, health issues (including mental health), substance abuse, among others.²⁰

These are often coupled with employment and skills related barriers, such as poor literacy and numeracy skills, lack of technical skills, long-term unemployment and little (or no) work experience. Integrated approaches that bring providers together can help to address these issues in a more efficient manner than fragmented service provision.

This can ensure sustained access to the labour market.

For PES to make the shift from standalone services to working with others to deliver integrated provision, they need to start to build partnerships with others. This can include government agencies and stakeholders with core mandates related to economic and social rights.²¹

However, the extent to which they work together varies across national contexts, governance structures, institutional capacity and levels of investments in PES and ALMPs.

PES can look beyond government agencies to the private sector, not-for-profit organisations and nongovernmental organisations to maximise capacity, bring in expertise and knowledge of specific groups and therefore develop and deliver services that closely meet the needs of specific disadvantaged groups.

This can in turn lead to sustainable outcomes and better use of resources. Existing PES practices across the world indicate that successful strategic partnerships for integrated service delivery to disadvantaged groups share the following core attributes:²²

• A client-centred approach, which builds services around client needs;
• Multi-disciplinary teams drawn from different agencies, and/or partners;
• Ease of access to services by different providers;
• Information sharing and individual case management; and
• Flexibility to adapt services to local conditions.

The European Commission²³ have outlined four steps to integrating services to support market integration of minimum income recipients. The four steps can also be tailored and applied to other disadvantaged groups. The table below outlines the four steps and the key messages for each step.

Table 7.3 Steps to develop and deliver integrated services

European Commission (2018) ‘Integrated services to support the labour market integration of minimum income recipients – Practitioners’ checklist’

These steps can also be considered when thinking of designed and developing integrated services to longterm unemployed. The European Social Fund Platform Thematic Network on long-term unemployment²⁴ 

identified that integrated service delivery can be a successful approach to achieving sustainable outcomes for this disadvantaged group. In particular, PES can work with other organisations around specific actions that can help to increase the employability of long-term unemployed people, including areas on:

• Providing support around psychological and mental health
• Building individuals’ confidence and developing attitudes to work
• Integrating migrants, providing debt counselling and other support
• Provision of work trials and placements
• Raising and adapting the skill level of individuals, e.g. via VET-based ALMPs
• Developing individuals’ basic and transferable skills

However, PES may have several barriers to overcome before they deliver joined up, or integrated, services. Barriers can include clashes between local and national priorities; fragmented services; lack of employer involvement or buy in; and ‘ownership’ issues around certain target groups, services and activities.

7.4. What is the role of partnerships for reducing skill mismatches and fostering cooperation between education and the world of work?

The management of labour market transitions, with its constant need to identify, train, and match skills throughout life-long careers, is complex and ever-changing.²⁵ There has been a shift from the traditional approach of initial education, a job for life and then retirement to an increasing number of transitions in the labour market, within and between different sectors, as well as rapid technological changes. This means that workers need to be actively engaged in skill development throughout their working life so that their skill sets are appropriate to their work and to the technology that they will encounter. Training is not limited to the workplace, or a formal classroom setting, with an increasing range of training being delivered online and by different partners (PES, VET schools, private providers, among others).

While PES currently have a limited scope and small market share in the area of skill development, they have the potential (and they will need) to play a greater role in the future as they venture into area of career guidance and lifelong learning. Therefore, an important part of developing such services and reducing issues around skills mismatches is working with different types of partners to collect up-to-date information on skills needs. The IDB, OECD and WAPES (2015) suggest that if PES can collect, analyse and disseminate information about skills supply and demand it can lead to the PES having a greater infl uence in this arena.²⁶

Partnerships need to be in place to help job seekers build, develop, and maintain an employable profile from an early age, and to help employers fill in the skills that will contribute to growing economies and a coherent global society. PES are a natural partner in this. With more capacity, new technology, better information coverage (and the knowledge to use this information), and results-driven stakeholder management, public employment services can become the driving force in matching skills for the life cycle.²⁷

Apprenticeships are an important vehicle in many countries to equip workers (most likely young people) with the right education and skills that employers need now and in the future. Apprenticeship programmes bring together VET institutions and the labour market to share knowledge and develop programmes that produce well qualified workers. In many countries, small and medium enterprises use apprenticeship programmes to deal with skills shortages and as a way to hire well-skilled young people.

Such partnerships can increase knowledge exchange, improve the quality and effectiveness of training. In the longer-term quality apprenticeship programmes can also:

• Increase productivity;
• Lower the cost of recruitment; and
• Enhance employee retention.²⁸

PES can work together with other public authorities (such as local education authorities); enterprise’ associations; VET institutions and social partners to develop and promote quality apprenticeship
programmes. For example, the PES can have a key role in advising young people that apprenticeships are a valuable career path and PES can broker the matching (or recruitment) process. In many countries across Europe and further afield, committees are established to discuss different aspects of policy design and the implementation of VET training, including apprenticeships. These tripartite committees can include stakeholders such as:

• Trade unions;
• Employers’ associations;
• VET training centres (or associations);
• Qualification bodies;
• Government representatives; and
• PES (in some cases).²⁹

Social dialogue is an important aspect of developing high quality apprenticeship training systems. Ideally, social dialogue should be in place at a national and sector level so that programmes can be in line with sector demands and national policies. However, ensuring that the views of employers and trade unions are incorporated in the development of apprenticeship programmes is an issue in some countries. A possible solution is to develop appropriate institutional frameworks that promote social dialogue. This can include formal agreements between organisations that lay down the foundations for such dialogue and exchange.³⁰

1. ^ European Commission (2018) ‘Communication and (re-) branding toolkit for employment services’ (https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=20004&langId=en)
2. ^ European Commission (2013) ‘Successful partnerships in delivering public employment services’ (https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14096&langId=en)
3. ^ Ibid.
4. ^ ILO (2013) ‘National tripartite social dialogue: An ILO guide for improved governance’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---dialogue/documents/publication/wcms_231193.pdf)
5. ^ ILO (2013) ‘National tripartite social dialogue: An ILO guide for improved governance’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---dialogue/documents/publication/wcms_231193.pdf)
6. ^ Ibid.
7. ^ ILO (2017) ‘Towards policies tackling the current youth employment challenges in Eas tern Europe and Central Asia’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---sro-moscow/documents/publication/wcms_575550.pdf)
8. ^ InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) and the Local Economic and
   Employment Development Programme of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (LEED/OECD) (2015) (https://www.skillsforemployment.org/edmsp1/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=350665&dDocName=WCMSTEST4_171855&allowInterrupt=1)
9. ^ https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/promotinggreaterflexibilityinlabourmarketpolicy.htm
10. ^ European Commission (2013) ‘Successful partnerships in delivering public employment services’ (https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14096&langId=en)
11. ^ ILO (2019) ‘Fifth meeting of the SRM Thematic Working Group (23-27 September 2019). Technical Note 1: Instrument
    concerning unemployment policy and services’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---normes/documents/genericdocument/wcms_715383.pdf) and ILO (2019) ‘Fifth meeting of the SRM Thematic Working Group (23–27 September 2019). Overview document: Background information for the review of instruments concerning employment policy and promotion’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---normes/documents/genericdocument/wcms_715382.pdf)
12. ^ European Commission (2018) ‘Communication and (re-)branding toolkit for employment services’ (https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=20004&langId=en)
13. ^ ILO (2019) ‘Work for a brighter future – Global Commission on the Future of Work’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/publication/wcms_662410.pdf)
14. ^ https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:55:0::NO::P55_TYPE,P55_LANG,P55_DOCUMENT,P55_NODE:REC,en,R083,%2FDocument
15. ^ ILO (2017) ‘Towards policies tackling the current youth employment challenges in Eas tern Europe and Central Asia’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---sro-moscow/documents/publication/wcms_575550.pdf)
16. ^ ILO (2007) ‘Guide to private employment agencies: regulation, monitoring and enforcement’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/instructionalmaterial/wcms_083275.pdf)
17. ^ ILO (2017) ‘Towards policies tackling the current youth employment challenges in Eas tern Europe and Central Asia’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---sro-moscow/documents/publication/wcms_575550.pdf)
18. ^ ILO (2019) ‘Final Report: Local Employment Partnership in Bosnia and Herzegovina’ (for more information about the project
    see: https://www.ilo.org/budapest/what-we-do/projects/WCMS_478081/lang--en/index.htm)
19. ^ https://www.decentjobsforyouth.org/
20. ^ ILO (2018) ILO briefs on Employment Services and ALMPs. Issue No. 1 ‘Public employment services: Joined-up services for people facing labour market disadvantage’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_632629.pdf)
21. ^ Ibid.
22. ^ Ibid.
23. ^ European Commission (2018) ‘Integrating services to support the labour market integration of minimum income recipients:
    Practitioners’ checklis t’ (https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8147&furtherPubs=yes)
24. ^ European Union (2017) ‘White Paper 1: Tackling long-term unemployment: The role of integrated services’ (https://ec.europa.eu/esf/transnationality/content/white-paper-1-tackling-long-term-unemployment-role-integrated-services)
25. ^ InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) and the
    Local Economic and Employment Development Programme of the Organization for Economic Co-operation
    and Development (LEED/OECD) (2015) (https://www.skillsforemployment.org/edmsp1/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=350665&dDocName=WCMSTEST4_171855&allowInterrupt=1)
26. ^ Ibid.
27. ^ Ibid.
28. ^ ILO (2017) ‘ILO Toolkit for Quality Apprenticeships Volume 1: Guide for Policy Makers’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_607466.pdf)
29. ^ Ibid.
30. ^ ILO (2017) ‘ILO Toolkit for Quality Apprenticeships Volume 1: Guide for Policy Makers’ (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_607466.pdf)
31. ^ https://www.decentjobsforyouth.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Thematic-Plan-2-Quality-Apprenticeships.pdf