Enabling Responsible Labour and Business Practices Towards a More Sustainable Electronics Sector (Responsible Electronics - Phase III)

The project is a partnership between the ILO and APPLE INC. The project aims to promote decent work, labour law compliance, and responsible business practices in Viet Nam's electronics industry, which employs over 1.5 million workers, 60% of whom are women. The electronics sector is a major economic driver in Viet Nam, contributing significantly to exports and employment. However, it faces challenges such as labour standards compliance, occupational safety and health (OSH), gender equality, and effective grievance mechanisms. The project builds on a previous ILO-Apple partnership (2021-2024) that improved social dialogue and compliance with labour laws in the electronics supply chain. The new phase aims to address evolving sector challenges and deepen impact. This project represents a strategic effort to enhance labour standards, promote gender equality, and foster sustainable business practices in Viet Nam’s electronics sector by leveraging multi-stakeholder collaboration, capacity building, and targeted interventions at workplace and sectoral levels. The project adopts a two-pronged approach: supporting enterprises, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to improve OSH practices, gender equality, and grievance mechanisms at the workplace level, and strengthening tripartite dialogue among government, employers, and workers at the sectoral level. The project emphasizes scalability and sustainability, expanding support to SMEs and integrating lessons learned from previous interventions. Key stakeholders include Ministry of Home Affairs, Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Viet Nam Electronics Industry Associations, enterprises, brands, industrial associations, and academic institutions. The project aims to foster a preventative OSH culture, improve compliance with safety standards, support better policies on non-discrimination and gender equality, and facilitate improvements in grievance and dispute resolution mechanisms. It also aims to accelerate tripartite dialogue sessions, equip tripartite partners with technical knowledge and skills, and organize biennial multi-stakeholder sectoral forums. The project strengthens tripartite partners’ capacity to foster responsible business practices, conduct comprehensive reviews of labour policies and challenges, and assess impacts of emerging global and national trends on compliance capabilities. The project aligns with Viet Nam’s Socio-Economic Development Plans, the Decent Work Country Programme outcomes, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Project symbol

VNM/25/51/APL

Admin unit

CO-Hanoi

Start date

23/06/2025

End date

01/06/2028

Total allocation

1007583

Total expenditure

Status

Active

115743

Development Partners

Apple Inc

Country/Countries

Viet Nam

Outcomes

Outcome 6: Protection at work for all
Outcome 2: Strong, representative and influential tripartite constituents and effective social dialogue
Outcome 4: Sustainable enterprises for inclusive growth and decent work