"Table 2. Continued";Topic;Commitment
Topic;Commitment
2016
"Quality and inclusive employment";"Countries agree to focus policies on increasing quality and inclusive employment through facilitation of:  • modernization of enterprises and sectors of economy and introduction of new technologies aimed at creating employment opportunities;  • development of occupational standards and qualifications;  • increasing quality of vocational education and training of workers in line with occupational standards and qualifications that consider current and future requirements of business;  • labor mobility;  • job search, collection and dissemination of information on job opportunities, especially on modernized productive jobs;  • development of regulations covering new forms of work that ensures full respect for workers’ rights and access to social protection;  • strengthening social protection of vulnerable groups and protection of the unemployed looking for job to prevent social exclusion or marginalization from decent work opportunities."
"Formalization of labor markets";"• countries agree that the following issues constitute the basis for development of high quality formal jobs and increase of formal employment:  • integration of policies that promote job creation and income generation opportunities in the formal economy;  • creation of formal employment opportunities through enterprise modernization and increase of productivity;  • development of labor market infrastructure;  • investing in skills that meet the demands of the formal economy;  • strengthening of labor inspection;  • strengthening of occupational safety and health;  • ensuring the fulfillment of workers’ rights and protection, extension of adequate social protection to all workers."
"Labor and employment information exchange";"Countries commit to identify a set of labor-related harmonized indicators and work along with the BRICS Statistical Offices, which are engaged in the collection and publications of data, to enable us to track and reflect the progress made in implementing our employment agenda"
"Employment generation";"Countries resolve to assist each other in sharing best practices in implementing policies and programs that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship for employment generation. We intend to strengthen our public employment services to help our labor force, particularly the youth to find employment opportunities. We are also committed to strengthening labor market information systems based on each other’s experience"
2016
"Formalization of labor markets";"Countries aim at improving the livelihood of workers engaged in the informal economy and facilitating their transition to the formal economy, while at the same time enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises"
"Social protection";"Countries support designing and implementation of comprehensive social security systems that are effective, equitable, economically sustainable and address the needs of the society. We will encourage bilateral social security agreements amongst the BRICS member states and work towards developing a general framework for cooperation"
"Governance in the future of work";"Countries stress the need to improve the governance of work including improving national labor law systems, strengthening labor dispute resolution mechanisms, reinforcing labor law compliance and enforcement systems and adapting social insurance systems to the new situation. We will contribute to the improvement of international labor standards and their implementation in line with the new changes that would affect world of work in future, taking into account the different national conditions of the BRICS countries"
2017
"Skills for development";"Countries support measures for better access to vocational training, lifelong learning and the training that is relevant to the fast-changing demand of growing economies. These measures need to be part of comprehensive employment policy approaches that combine skills development with other policy measures. For our coordinated efforts and collective action, we adopt the BRICS Action Plan for Poverty Alleviation and Reduction through Skills"
"Universal and sustainable social security systems";"Countries commit to deepening social security cooperation among ourselves, and with other countries, with the support of the ILO and the ISSA. In this endeavor, we endorse the BRICS Social Security Cooperation Framework"
"The BRICS Labor Research Network";"Reaffirming the importance of evidence-based research in social dialogue and policy decisions in our countries, we endorse the BRICS Network of Labor Research Institutes: Terms of Reference"
2018
"Youth employment";"Countries thus commit to developing a comprehensive and coordinated approach, which will promote access to decent work for young women and men. For this to happen, it is essential that we make decent employment creation for youth a policy priority objective which cuts across economic, social and employment policies. Our actions in this regard will include the promotion of stable wage employment, as well as advocating sound pro-employment macroeconomic policies, including employment-intensive investment"
"Social dialogue";"Countries will work towards strengthening labor administration systems to support social dialogue more effectively and building the capacity of social partners to participate in dialogue fora"
"Women’s participation in the labor market: equal pay for work of equal value";"Countries commit to developing and implementing national and workplace policies aimed at improving the quantity and quality of women’s participation in the labor force"
"Social protection";"Countries, with the support of the ILO and the ISSA, are committed to deepening social security cooperation among ourselves, and with other countries. In this regard, we will harness the BRICS Social Security Cooperation  Framework to tackle current and future challenges, and accelerate progress towards reaching our joint objectives, with specific emphasis on cooperation on the improvement of the social security system, social security agreements, social security administration and promoting international standards and guidelines"
2019
"Inclusive future of work";"Countries reaffirm the need to improve the national labor law system and the international labor standards, as well as their implementation mechanisms, in order to address the challenges brought by informal employment and new forms of employment, as we agreed in the BRICS Common Position on Governance in the Future of Work"
"Trade liberalization and the impact on the BRICS labor market";"Countries recognize the benefits and concerns in trade liberalization and the need to respond through active labor markets policies and skills programmes, so that workers can ensure their employability by acquiring new skills for sectors that benefit from the opening of the economy, subject to national circumstances"
"Governance of labor market data";"Countries will continue to make efforts for access to and the sharing of data as a matter of priority in order to foster cooperation in labour-related matters, to inform policy makers and to support relevant labor market research"
"Promoting quality and productive employment for a sustainable social security system";"Countries believe that policy reforms to adapt social security systems to new demographic realities should include the promotion of formal employment, so as to guarantee the financial, fiscal and economic sustainability of the system with due respect for social justice and equity for the present and future generations"
2020
"Development of a preventative safety and health at work culture";"BRICS Member States are committed to improving a preventative safety and health at work culture in which the right to a safe, healthy and decent working environment is respected at all levels.  Countries reaffirm our commitments to eradicate violence and harassment at work in accordance with national circumstances.  Countries will enhance training on safety and health at work for all stakeholders including trainings for supervisors.  Countries will continue to promote workplace safety and health compliance through strategic approaches combining incentives and enforcement.  Countries will continue to work closely with social partners to improve safety and health at work culture.  Countries agree to continue consultations and information sharing on ways to promote a preventative safety and health at work culture, including in relation to SMMEs and the informal economy, using the existing BRICS resources"
"Poverty alleviation through social and economic transformations";"Countries will formulate and implement relevant policies to alleviate poverty through the promotion of productive employment and decent jobs efforts to meet the objectives set in the BRICS Action Plan for Poverty Alleviation and Reduction through Skills (2017). We will enhance investments to upgrade the employability of workers through lifelong vocational education, training, upskilling, re-skilling and actively support labor market transitions through employment services.  Countries will pay special attention to the most vulnerable groups and workers most at risk with targeted employment and social protection measures. We commit to fostering women’s empowerment and increasing their employment opportunities by encouraging women to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  Countries also commit to investing in the care economy, which provides paid care work and opens career pathways for both women and men, including care workers and those out of the labor force because of family responsibilities."
;"Countries will encourage employers to create opportunities for young workers and to retain older workers who would like to continue working while ensuring pension provision to those who want to retire.  Countries will further strengthen our social protection systems, especially through nationally defined social protection floors taking into account the ILO social protection floor recommendation, 2012 No 202 – and progressively ensure universal access to comprehensive and adequate social protection to strengthen solidarity and social cohesion.  Countries will continue, in accordance with national circumstances to provide a wide range of social protection benefits through universal schemes, social insurance and social assistance to those in need. We will further increase the efficiency of our social protection systems by improving the links between the provision of cash transfers and access to employment, healthcare, education and other services.)  Countries will continue to follow up the progress achieved in poverty reduction especially in the context of recovery from the crisis of COVID-19. In this regard we ask the BRICS Network of Labor Research Institutes with the support of international organizations (the BRICS Social Security Cooperation Framework Virtual Liaison Office) to conduct research on “Support of employment and income in the context of the COVID-19 crisis”  Countries reaffirm our commitment to striving for providing training to match the skill needs of new business models and new working arrangements in the digital economy.  Countries will promote entrepreneurship, especially for the youth to start their own businesses with the use of digital technology which may ensure decent work opportunities."
"Future of work in the digital economy";"Countries recognize the need to bridge the digital divide. We will continue to improve digital literacy particularly for vulnerable groups as per national circumstances and enhance information and communication infrastructure to support and strengthen digitalization of public services.  Countries will strive to equip and upgrade our public employment services, labor inspectorates and social protection institutions with advanced digital technologies to increase their efficiency and effectiveness, including reaching out to workers in the informal economy.  Countries will take into account the broader goals of employment security, decent wages, social protection and social dialogue in pursuit of new digital working arrangements.  Countries will strive to ensure adequate protection of data privacy for such services by implementing measures aimed at securing and protecting private individual information"
2021
"Promoting social security agreements amongst the BRICS countries";"Countries are committed to deepening social security cooperation among our countries. We resolve to carry out exchange of information among BRICS countries on employment and social security for cross-border labor flows and initiate social security agreements between BRICS nations within a reasonable timeframe"
"Formalization of labor markets";"Countries strive to enhance the transition from informality to formality as a means towards improving living and working conditions, productivity and job growth and strengthening efforts to reduce poverty through access to quality employment and social protection.  Countries will further strengthen our policies, regulations and measures to facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy.  Countries ask the BRICS Network of Labor Research Institutes to undertake an in-depth research on “E-formality practices, i.e., the use of technology for formalization in the BRICS countries” to assess their scalability and transferability."
"Participation of women in the labor force";"Countries reiterate our commitment to gender-responsive employment and social protection policies for medium and long term recovery, including macroeconomic policies, sectoral policies and active labor market policies. Investment in the care economy for decent jobs remains a critical aspect of such a policy agenda"
"Platform workers: Role in the labor market";"Countries reaffirm our commitment to support the development of the digital economy, including digital delivery of services, while acknowledging the role of digital platforms in providing resilience to national economies in the face of crisis such as COVID-19.  Countries will strive to leverage the opportunities and overcome the challenges emerging from the rise of digital labor platforms, to ensure sustainable enterprise development and decent work for all, and to work towards achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals"
2022
"Promoting green employment for sustainable development";"Commitments under discussion"
"Developing skills for a resilient recovery";"Commitments under discussion"
"Protecting workers’ rights in new forms of employment";"Commitments under discussion"
"BRICS network of labor research institutes reports: Employment and income support in the context of COVID-19 crisis";"Commitments under discussion"