Three ways the ITCILO harnesses innovation for sustainable development

When Mendy Lerato Lusaba, founder of the Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe (DWAZ), had her first child, her in-laws brought her a helper—a girl only 16 years old. "I knew it was illegal. I knew it was wrong. That’s when I became a decent work advocate without even knowing it," she says.

Mendy started with a passion for defending domestic worker rights, which blossomed into a greater vision of training individuals to be workforce-ready. But to bring this idea to life she needed more than passion, she needed a collective effort. Innovation challenges tackle complex social issues by bringing together diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions.

Unlike traditional approaches, challenge-based development leverages open innovation, stimulating new ideas to improve employment, worker safety, and job quality. By offering financial incentives and guided support for the best ideas, innovation challenges drive systems change through participatory processes that lead to scalable solutions.

Recently, the OECD published some key findings on how innovation challenges drive development in low- and middle-income countries:

• The out-of-the-box approaches to innovation challenges encourage risk-taking and an entrepreneurial mindset to find solutions beyond business-as-usual.
• Through innovation challenges, boosted cross-departmental and cross-sectoral engagement strengthens the entire local innovation ecosystem.
• Resulting from cross-collaboration, local social capital and capacity are enhanced contributing to long-term change at local, national, and global levels.

Similarly, these principles emerged in three ILO Innovation Challenges that the ITCILO facilitated to support individuals, like Mendy, in capacity development, digital inclusion, and the creation of decent digital jobs. Read their stories below.

When the ILO announced the winner of the first Skills Challenge Innovation Call in 2020, Mendy was ready to roll up her sleeves and kickstart her journey to launching Zimbabwe’s first-ever Domestic Workers Training Centre. For Mendy, winning the Innovation Challenge was the catalyst she needed to empower workers with practical skills and promote better working conditions. "Winning the Challenge was a game-changer. I’m one step closer to turning this dream into reality,” she shared.

To support her in bringing her vision to life, the ITCILO organized an Innovation Bootcamp to rethink skills development and lifelong learning. The virtual webinar rooms filled with innovators, domestic workers, and ILO experts connected across distances, as each contributed to human-centred problem-solving.

Each session became a building block of Mendy’s innovative vision. Discussions and virtual mind maps touched upon how behavioral insights deepen our understanding of human motivation, digital solutions must be rooted in accessibility and inclusion, and networks and partnerships serve as vehicles for advocacy around domestic work.

The Bootcamp was not just a series of workshops; it was a dynamic space where storytelling became a powerful tool for impact. The reframed challenge, new project design elements, and user-centred training curriculum ultimately led to the grand opening of the Domestic Workers Training Centre on 2 May 2021

As the digital revolution reshapes the global economy, South Africa’s youth stand on the cusp of transformative change, ready to drive innovation and growth. Recognizing this potential, the ILO launched the Skills Challenge Innovation Call in 2022 to enhance youth employability through targeted digital skills development.

As a result, four training organizations emerged as winners with two runner-ups dedicated to providing digital skills-building opportunities to South African youth not in employment, education, or training. Together, the organizations kicked off the process through the ITCILO’s online Innovation Bootcamp to ideate project design elements, map the stakeholders involved, and focus on data-driven decision-making.

To further innovate, the institutions came together for the ITCILO Digital Innovation Lab in Turin, Italy to review the innovation cycle and move draft projects from an exclusive focus on digital skills to a double focus on innovation and inclusion. After a series of follow-up webinars, the group reunited in Cape Town, South Africa for the ITCILO Training of Trainers and Networking Experience event. 

Together, they explored labour market pathways, pitched design concepts of their future institutions, and even collectively harmonized in a drumming circle. They showcased their success stories, exchanged ideas, and met development partners who could contribute to strengthening their training delivery. 

As a result, nearly 130 South African youth were collectively trained by William, Zine, Llewellyn, and Lamise to confidently and consciously use their digital skills to study, work, and live. Behind each of these purpose-led institutions are driven, passionate, and committed individuals. Individuals who have basically exceeded human abilities, transforming them into superheroes of digital inclusion.

The stories, results, and rhythms generated through the Innovation Challenge stretched beyond any traditional development project. To document and disseminate the ITCILO published an alternative project report with a narrative twist demonstrating the aspirations of a young generation ready to shape South Africa’s future. Are you ready to see what you(th) get?

To further advance decent digital job opportunities for refugees and host communities in Kenya’s Turkana and Garissa counties, ILO PROSPECTS launched an Innovation Call for local purpose-led entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers.

Ten organizations were recognized and awarded prizes for addressing local challenges and facilitating access to the Kenyan digital ecosystem. Ideas ranged from empowering women creative artisans through an online marketplace to providing freelancing opportunities for youth by leveraging AI translation technologies for local languages.

To drive creative thinking, the ten organizations came together for the ITCILO Innovation Bootcamp in Nairobi, Kenya hosted in April 2024 to redefine innovation models for feasibility, present initial actions, and kick-start the implementation phases for the winning organizations. 

The ten winners attended the ITCILO webinar series to build upon the momentum built in Nairobi and explore how to effectively improve access to digital markets and promote digital literacy and skills development for young people. 

Through the Innovation Challenge, the organizations have continued to establish digital mentorship programmes, develop on-the-job digital skills training, and launch safe co-working spaces to enhance the livelihoods of refugees and host communities through opportunities in the digital economy.

Through collaborative workshops, targeted bootcamps, and inspirational talks, innovation challenges created space for local stakeholders in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya to brainstorm, co-create, and build solutions to address specific community needs for capacity building and facilitating access to decent work.

These three challenge-driven initiatives showcase the ITCILO’s approach to uplifting individuals, laying the groundwork for sustainable economic growth, and creating a workforce that is ready to meet the challenges of the modern job market. Like the OECD’s findings, the innovation challenges harness a collaborative, network-wide approach to bringing out-of-the-box solutions with diverse stakeholders for long-term local and international impact.

The ITCILO’s Learning Innovation Programme is ready to embark on the next innovation challenge. 

Involve the ITCILO’s trainers and experts to: 

• Unlock curious, creative, and entrepreneurial mindsets through methodologies that drive co-creation during in-person learning events for knowledge-sharing 
• Facilitate engagement with local actors, governments, and development partners through online and offline Innovation Bootcamps with participatory methods 
• Showcase initial results and long-term sustainable solutions through reporting approaches rooted in positive, human-centred multimedia stories