Prosperity Through Decent Work: Connecting water, energy, cities, and infrastructure to a sustainable and equitable jobs agenda

Date: July 13th, 2026

Time: 08:00-08:30 ET Breakfast

08:30-09:45 ET HLPF Side Event

Location: Doha Room, UNDP FF Building, 304 East 45^th Street, 11^th Floor

Organized by UNDP (Prosperity & Wellbeing Hub) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)

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I. Background and context

The 2026 High-Level Political Forum convenes as the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals nears, yet a critical question remains: Why is economic growth leaving so many workers behind? Many countries face a structural challenge where poverty is driven by low productivity, informality, and vulnerability rather than just unemployment. Millions are working, yet unable to secure stable and adequate incomes, benefit from the opportunities created by economic transformation, or rely on social protection systems that provide income replacement and income security when needed. 

These challenges are particularly acute in the world's least developed countries, where four in ten workers remain in working poverty despite years of development investment, and where shocks can quickly push workers particularly women, deeper into informality, and unravel years of hard-won development gains. The challenge of exclusion from decent work and economic opportunity is not limited to least developed countries. It is also structural in stable, growing economies, and in a world where cities are growing faster than at any point in history, the gap between urban expansion and the quality of work available to urban residents is widening in ways that demand urgent attention.

The SDGs under review this year (SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17) are the foundations for decent work. Investments in water, clean energy, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable cities are powerful levers for moving people from working poverty to shared prosperity when they are explicitly designed to raise productivity and reach the most excluded.

II. Objectives

This side event brings together policymakers, practitioners, and development partners to explore how the SDGs under review (SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17) can deliver decent work and shared prosperity. Drawing on country experience and UNDP's evidence base, the discussion will address the following key questions:

• Deliberate Design for Decent Work: How can investments in water systems, clean energy, and infrastructure be deliberately designed to create decent jobs, extend social protection, and raise the productivity of workers and enterprises?
• Integrated Institutional Systems: How can institutional systems, partnerships, and integrated approaches that link decent jobs with skills and social protection ensure that infrastructure investments translate into income security for all, including women and those in the hardest-to-reach communities?
• Local Development Partnerships: How can partnerships across governments, development institutions, and the private sector better support local development to ensure investments lead to inclusive, resilient livelihoods and gender equality?
• Reaching the Most Vulnerable: How can countries ensure that the benefits of investments in water, energy, infrastructure, and sustainable cities reach those most at risk of being left behind?

III. Draft Agenda

Join us for a high-level conversation on connecting infrastructure investments to a sustainable and equitable jobs agenda and turning SDG ambition into lasting prosperity!