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UN PhotoILO / LIFELONG LEARNING REPORT
STORY: ILO / LIFELONG LEARNING REPORT
TRT: 03:32
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT ILO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 APRIL 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / 15 SEPTEMBER 2025, LA GUAJIRA, COLOMBIA
28 APRIL 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, ILO’s Hannah Liepman walking past camera
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Hannah Liepman, Economist, Research Department, International Labour Organization (ILO):
“Our new ILO report finds that lifelong learning is extremely important today and it has so many important goals, right? So, on the one hand, there are immediate economic objectives like fostering employability in a changing labour market and fostering productivity. But clearly the goals go beyond this narrow economic focus. So, they also – lifelong learning also helps improve good jobs. It creates true innovation for enterprises. It also fosters inclusion and active citizenship.”
3. Med shot, Liepman being interviewed
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hannah Liepman, Economist, Research Department, International Labour Organization (ILO):
“In the report we define the building blocks of successful lifelong learning systems, so strong governance is needed, coordination across the institutions involved, of course, robust social dialogue and also sustainable financing, because financing is one of the elephants in the room. There are currently huge gaps when it comes to financing education for adults, even in high-income countries, as our report shows. And then we have new institutional data that shows that the ambitious goals of cohesive lifelong
learning systems, unfortunately, are still out of reach for many countries. And so, this then really is a key priority for governments, social partners, and training providers because, as we argue in this report, lifelong learning really needs to become a key policy priority in changing labour markets.”
5. Med shot, Liepman being interviewed
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Hannah Liepman, Economist, Research Department, International Labour Organization (ILO):
“So overall, we argue that skills development and lifelong learning are a fundamental bridge between
today's jobs and tomorrow's opportunities.”
15 SEPTEMBER 2025, LA GUAJIRA, COLOMBIA
7. Various shots, students getting training through the SENATIC project
8. Various shots, 18-year-old student Rafael Meza looks at a mobile app he developed on his phone
with his mother.
As digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), the green transition, and demographic shifts reshape labour markets worldwide, a new ILO report calls on governments to raise lifelong learning to a central pillar of economic and social policy.
Drawing on new worker surveys, online vacancy analysis, institutional data, and a review of 174 studies on what works in training, the report ‘Lifelong Learning and Skills for the Future’ warns that without stronger investment in inclusive learning systems, these transformations risk widening inequalities between and within countries.
ILO’s Hannah Liepman said, “Our new ILO report finds that lifelong learning is extremely important today and it has so many important goals, right? So, on the one hand, there are immediate economic objectives like fostering employability in a changing labour market and fostering productivity. But clearly the goals go beyond this narrow economic focus. So, they also – lifelong learning also helps improve good jobs. It creates true innovation for enterprises. It also fosters inclusion and active citizenship.”
“In the report we define the building blocks of successful lifelong learning systems, so strong governance is needed, coordination across the institutions involved, of course, robust social dialogue and also sustainable financing, because financing is one of the elephants in the room. There are currently huge gaps when it comes to financing education for adults, even in high-income countries, as our report shows. And then we have new institutional data that shows that the ambitious goals of cohesive lifelong
learning systems, unfortunately, are still out of reach for many countries. And so, this then really is a key priority for governments, social partners, and training providers because, as we argue in this report, lifelong learning really needs to become a key policy priority in changing labour markets.”
“So overall, we argue that skills development and lifelong learning are a fundamental bridge between
today's jobs and tomorrow's opportunities.”
The SENATIC project is a joint initiative of the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC), the National Training Service (SENA), and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
SENATIC promotes training in digital skills and information technologies in order to help to close the digital gap in Colombia and support skills development.
18-year-old student Rafael Meza developed a mobile app on his phone for his mother’s small pastry
business, using skills that he acquired through the SENATIC project.
