Geneva, 10 June 2026 – Practitioners and policy-makers from 55 countries came together for the first webinar of the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative webinar series 2026 to exchange experiences on strengthening partnerships between Public Employment Services (PES) and private actors in support of fair recruitment. The webinar continues to be available online, extending access to its discussions and lessons beyond the live event.

The peer-to-peer exchange, Public Employment Services and Private Sector Partnership: Key Drivers of Fair Recruitment, brought together representatives from ministries of labour, Public Employment Services, private employment agencies, employers, workers' organizations, international organizations and other labour migration stakeholders from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia. The event provided a platform for sharing practical experiences on how public-private partnerships can contribute to fair, transparent and well-governed labour market intermediation systems. 

Opening discussions highlighted that labour market intermediation is becoming increasingly complex due to demographic change, labour shortages, skills mismatches, digitalization and growing international labour mobility. Participants agreed that these developments require stronger coordination among public institutions, private employment agencies, employers, training providers and other stakeholders to ensure that international recruitment systems remain efficient while protecting the rights of workers. 

The webinar featured contributions from:

• Zulum Avila, Technical Specialist, Labour Market Services, ILO; 
• Amandine Moignard, Executive Secretary, World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES); 
• Beatrice Miano, World Employment Confederation (WEC); 
• Imen Gharssellaoui, Directorate General for Placement Abroad and Foreign Work (DGPEMOE), Public Employment Services, Tunisia; 
• Yannick A. Gnaman, Youth Employment Agency (AEJ), Public Employment Services, Côte d'Ivoire; 
• Marc Capistrano, Staffhouse, Philippines; and 
• Barbara Benuskova, Policy Coordinator, Talent Partnerships, Legal Pathways and Mobility Unit, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission. 

Throughout the discussions, speakers emphasized that effective public-private partnerships depend on clearly defined roles, transparency, accountability and mutual trust. Participants underlined that cooperation between Public Employment Services and regulated private employment agencies should be governed by robust regulatory frameworks and supported by effective compliance mechanisms, including licensing, monitoring and inspection systems, to promote fair recruitment and better protect migrant workers. They also reaffirmed the importance of the ILO Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), as the international normative framework for cooperation between public and private actors in labour market intermediation. 

Country experiences from Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire and the Philippines illustrated different approaches to strengthening governance of labour migration and recruitment. Speakers shared practical examples of how stronger institutional coordination, regulatory compliance, digitalization, capacity-building and trust-based partnerships can improve labour market intermediation while supporting fair recruitment principles. The European Commission also presented emerging lessons from the implementation of Talent Partnerships, highlighting the importance of demand-driven approaches that engage employers, employment services and training institutions to develop sustainable labour mobility pathways. 

Participants concluded that the challenge is no longer whether public and private actors should cooperate, but how such cooperation can be effectively governed. The exchange reinforced the importance of an ecosystem approach that brings together governments, Public Employment Services, private employment agencies, employers, workers' organizations and other stakeholders to strengthen labour market governance and promote fair recruitment outcomes. 

The webinar was organized under the ILO Fair Recruitment Forward project funded by GIZ and the ILO THAMM Plus project funded by the EU.