The 47th ILO/Cinterfor Technical Commission Meeting (TCM) opened on Tuesday under the theme “Training for the Future of Work with Social Dialogue”, bringing together representatives of governments, employers, workers and training institutions from 25 countries.

08:30 – 09:30 –

Opening of the 47th Technical Commission Meeting of ILO/Cinterfor

 The opening session took place under the theme “Training for the Future of Work with Social Dialogue”, with the participation of authorities from governments, employers, workers and training institutions from 25 countries.

• Elena Montobbio, Director of ILO/Cinterfor, stressed that the agenda had been developed through consultation, coordination and consensus, with a future-oriented vision and a strong commitment to vocational training and skills certification as drivers of social and labour transformation.
• Ana Virginia Moreira, ILO Regional Director, underlined that technological, environmental and demographic transitions require inclusive and continuous training to ensure labour mobility, quality jobs and just transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• From the Employers’ Group, Juan Mailhos highlighted the importance of social dialogue in democracy, the need to combat informality and to align training with sustainable development policies, supporting micro and small enterprises.
• Representing the Workers’ Group, Natacha Sierralta emphasised that training must be recognised as both a human and labour right, with tripartite governance and equitable access for women, youth, migrants and informal workers.
• The Minister of Labour of Chile, Giorgio Boccardo, reaffirmed the role of decent work, gender equality and social dialogue as central pillars of a democratic development strategy, pointing to the challenges of technological, climate and demographic transitions..

The inauguration marked the start of a key space for exchanging experiences and building regional commitments around vocational training as a tool for decent work, social inclusion and sustainable development..

ILO/Cinterfor Network Strategy

Management Report and New 2026–2027 Plan

09:30 – 10:30 – Strategy of the ILO/Cinterfor Network

The session dedicated to the strategy of the ILO/Cinterfor network focused on assessing recent progress and defining the roadmap for the coming biennium, concluding with the approval of the new work plan.

Management Report and New 2026–2027 Plan

ILO/Cinterfor Director, Elena Montobbio, presented the 2024–2025 management report, highlighting achievements such as the Ibero-American Tripartite Declaration on Vocational Training, the result of collaborative work with regional scope. She outlined the regional context, marked by employment slowdown and low productivity, but also opportunities linked to technological, environmental and demographic transitions.

Looking ahead, Montobbio explained that the 2026–2027 plan is structured around the public policy cycle, with five pillars: tripartite governance, learning quality, skills recognition, training relevance and cooperation. Among the proposed initiatives are the creation of a regional qualifications framework in the care sector and the strengthening of a regional mechanism for recognising the competences of migrant workers.

Report of the Programme and Budget Committee (PBC)

Fernando Casanova, Cinterfor Programming Officer, presented the PBC report, which gathered the deliberations of constituents and institutions. The Workers’ Group welcomed the emphasis on public policies but warned about lack of training access for half of the regional population and the absence of genuine tripartism in several countries. The Employers’ Group expressed concern over the dismantling of employer organisations in El Salvador and Nicaragua, defended the need for targeted strategies, and called for mechanisms to strengthen the network’s financial sustainability. In this context, Costa Rica announced it would double its contribution.

Group interventions

• Guido Ricci (CACIF, Guatemala), on behalf of the Employers’ Group, warned about the “devaluation of social dialogue” and the “destruction of democracies” in the region. He stressed that migration, informality and youth employment should be priorities for the next biennium, and emphasised productivity as the backbone of training systems, underpinning sustainable wage and employment policies.

• Tyronne Esna (CTRN, Costa Rica), representing the Workers’ Group, denounced attacks on trade unions. He insisted that training should not only serve economic interests but also meet people’s needs and expectations. He also proposed advancing tripartite debates on regulatory frameworks and promoting the inclusion of vocational training in collective bargaining.

The session concluded with the approval of the 2026–2027 work plan, with a commitment to integrate the groups’ observations and strengthen the role of the network as a space for social dialogue, cooperation and the construction of inclusive training and certification policies in the region.

Other Perspectives I

Facing transitions: fundamental principles for lifelong learning

11:00 – 12:30 

The first panel of the 47th TCM addressed the need to guarantee continuous and relevant learning in a context marked by technological, green and demographic transitions. Moderated by Romanina Morales, National Director of SENCE (Chile), it featured presentations by Carmen Pagés (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) and Mario Eckardt (GIZ, Germany), who shared international experiences and approaches on how to anticipate skills needs and strengthen lifelong employability.

Relevance as a central axis

Carmen Pagés underlined that training systems are among the most powerful tools to tackle inequality and low productivity in the region, but they must become more relevant, flexible and responsive. She stressed the importance of robust information systems to consistently identify and anticipate training needs, translate them into updated occupational profiles and ensure quality learning.

She presented examples of skills trends: the rapid growth of communication, critical thinking and green skills (such as environmental legislation or renewable energies), as well as changes in traditional profiles like accounting, where analytical, communication and teamwork skills are now more highly valued.

Pagés highlighted good practices from countries such as Canada, Australia, Germany and Spain, where institutions with clear mandates collect labour market information and translate it into qualifications. She stressed that to remain relevant, systems must be agile and adaptive, incorporating big data and artificial intelligence tools as early warnings of shifts in labour demand.

Enterprises, sustainability and learning in practice

Mario Eckardt stressed the role of the private sector as a key player in lifelong learning. He explained that employability in the face of digitalisation and the green transition depends on building a mindset of sustainability and continuous training within companies, involving all levels from managers to workers.

He presented the concept of “learning pathways” in companies – structured trajectories enabling workers to update and expand their competences (reskilling and upskilling). Drawing on data from Germany, he noted that more than 80% of continuing training hours take place during working hours, with high levels of business investment, and emphasised that the economic and social benefits of this training far outweigh its costs. 

Eckardt also presented examples of international cooperation promoted by GIZ, such as projects in Brazil (with SENAI) for green skills development, and in Peru in the sanitation sector, showing that continuous training is key both in large companies and in strategic sectors.

Debate and exchange with the audience

The dialogue highlighted the need to:

• Ensure regulatory frameworks and incentives that secure active participation of trade unions, workers and employers in the design of training plans.
• Make use of competency-based online learning modalities, allowing asynchronous learning with tutoring and greater learner autonomy.
• Enable smooth transitions between school, technical training, university and the labour market, making systems more permeable and attractive.

The panel concluded with a call to democratise continuing education, strengthen collaboration among institutions and social actors, and innovate in learning mechanisms, with the goal of enabling everyone to learn, grow and adapt in a context of accelerated change.

Tripartite Panel

12:30 – 13:00 

Moderated by Ana Virginia Moreira, ILO Regional Director, the panel brought together Ximena Rivillo (ChileValora, government sector), Yinette Chandeck (CONEP, Panama, Employers’ Group) and Gustavo Gándara (CGT, Argentina, Workers’ Group). The debate focused on the role of tripartism and social dialogue in addressing digital, green and demographic transitions, ensuring lifelong training and certification policies that are relevant.

Government perspective

Ximena Rivillo stressed that current changes are structural, requiring lifelong learning systems and articulation between training, employment, productive development and social justice. She highlighted the importance of qualifications frameworks, skills certification and tripartite governance, and affirmed that lifelong training must be recognised as a human right.

Employers’ perspective

Yinette Chandeck emphasised that the private sector is the main generator of jobs and must actively participate in the design of training. She warned that people are often trained for a “world that no longer exists” and called for closer alignment of education supply with productive demand through partnerships with enterprises. She also stressed the urgency of modernising labour laws and reducing informality through inclusive policies and social dialogue.

Workers’ perspective

Gustavo Gándara pointed out that 50% of the region’s workforce lacks labour rights, facing educational, qualification and digital access gaps. He called for overcoming programme fragmentation and moving towards comprehensive training systems that reach the majority. He proposed a holistic vision combining formal education, recognition of prior learning, digital and soft skills within a single learning process.

The panel reaffirmed that institutionalised tripartism is the key to addressing informality and major transitions, ensuring decent work, inclusion and democracy.

Exchange on Good Practices I

Innovation in training to address transitions

14:30 – 15:30 – 

Moderated by Rodrigo Filgueira (ILO/Cinterfor), this exchange brought together experiences from Rafael Santos Badía (INFOTEP, Dominican Republic), Alessandra Dias da Cruz (SENAC, Brazil), Carlos Hernández (SENATI, Peru) and Romanina Morales (SENCE, Chile). The discussion centred on how innovation in vocational training becomes a key tool for responding to the region’s technological, productive and social changes.

Innovation as an institutional strategy

INFOTEP highlighted the creation of an innovation department with cross-cutting reach across the institution, distinguishing innovation from technology and prioritising more flexible management processes. Santos Badía pointed to projects such as a unified training cloud, virtual simulators and skills recognition, alongside territorial expansion to bring training closer to people.

SENAC presented the institutionalisation of an innovation culture as a pillar of its mission, with practices such as mapping innovative teaching experiences and a national award that collects and disseminates replicable and inclusive methodologies across Brazil.

Innovation from teaching practice

SENATI underlined the role of instructors and students as everyday innovators, capable of adapting technologies, generating prototypes and solving local problems. Through the SENATI INNOVA programme, these initiatives have been recognised and disseminated, turning into national competitions, technology forums and teaching career categories. Hernández stressed the importance of valuing these applied solutions to link training with the real needs of enterprises and communities.

Innovation in public policy

From SENCE Chile, Romanina Morales emphasised the challenge of innovating within rigid public structures and the need to adapt to diverse territorial realities. She presented the *Talento Digital* programme, a public-private partnership which, through bootcamps, achieved a 75% employment rate for graduates within three months, with many tripling their income within a year. She also highlighted agreements with companies and universities to democratise access to digital and AI skills.

The exchange showed that innovation in vocational training can stem both from institutional management and from teaching and student creativity, requiring public-private partnerships and international cooperation. Speakers agreed that innovation must be replicable, scalable and have direct impact on employability, productive development and social inclusion.

Exchange on Good Practices II

Lifelong learning strategies

16:00 – 17:00 

Moderated by Gonzalo Graña (ILO/Cinterfor), this space gathered experiences from David Enrique Garzón (SENA, Colombia), Aston Spencer (HEART-NSTA, Jamaica) and Fernando Rodríguez (INA, Costa Rica). The conversation focused on how the region’s vocational training systems are promoting lifelong learning, ensuring flexible pathways and inclusive opportunities for workers.

Colombia’s experience

David Garzón (SENA) underlined that vocational training is recognised as a constitutional right and that SENA seeks comprehensive training, close to communities and linked to secondary education. He presented strategies such as *Campesena*, which removes schooling barriers to training access and recognises rural knowledge, as well as new curricula adapted to local and popular economies. He stressed financing as a key challenge for ensuring learners complete their programmes and proposed moving towards a regional network for international mobility.

Jamaica’s experience

Aston Spencer (HEART-NSTA) explained that in Jamaica lifelong learning is inclusive and open to all ages, with free programmes up to level 4. The institution combines modular training, multiple entry and exit points, and strong industry linkage. Its National Qualifications Framework (levels 1–7) enables progression from technical to academic, also validating informal sector knowledge. They also provide flexible programmes for adults, scholarships, online training and strategic partnerships to modernise sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and tourism.

Costa Rica’s experience

Fernando Rodríguez (INA) reviewed the institution’s track record in skills certification, enterprise accreditation and dual training. He stressed the role of scholarships and socio-economic support to ensure retention, as well as flexible enabling programmes. He presented the STEM/STEAM experience with a gender focus, facilitating women’s entry into technology careers, with financial and vocational support. He explained that the National Qualifications Framework enables progression to higher levels and harmonisation with higher education, expanding opportunities for historically excluded groups.

The exchange highlighted that lifelong learning requires inclusion, financing and flexibility, as well as recognising enterprises as learning spaces and consolidating national qualifications frameworks. Panellists agreed that regional cooperation and mobility are key to addressing the region’s common challenges in vocational training and decent work.