The Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, during the VI Ibero-American Ministerial Conference on Labour, held in Avilés

Yolanda Díaz opened and chaired the Sixth Ibero-American Ministerial Conference on Labour at the Niemeyer Centre in Avilés, a key event aimed at strengthening cooperation between Ibero-American countries and moving towards a fairer, more dignified and people-centred model of work.

Throughout this conference, two working groups have addressed two major challenges "that will shape the future of our societies and the Ibero-American region in the coming decades," the vice-president stated.

At the round-table discussion on decent work in the care sector. All the delegations "have agreed on a shared assessment: the urgent need to dignify, professionalise and formalise a sector that sustains life and our economies, but which remains one of the most overlooked and precarious, and which is, for the most part, made up of women: the care sector."

"We are leaving with a renewed commitment to promote public policies that recognise the social and economic value of care work, guarantee labour rights and move towards comprehensive systems capable of meeting the sector's real needs," said Díaz in her remarks at the end of the meeting.

The second focus of the conference in Avilés was artificial intelligence and algorithmic work management. In this regard, the Minister for Labour pointed out that "digitalisation is no longer a phenomenon of the future; it is a reality that is completely transforming our economies and our labour relations".

"We have agreed that technology should be a tool for expanding rights, not for restricting them; for improving the quality of employment, not for undermining it." "And that is why we must commit to regulating it and to a proactive approach on the part of the public authorities," emphasised Yolanda Díaz.

Agreements for a people-centred future of work

In addition to focusing on the care sector as the central theme of the Conference, and as a result of the collective work carried out by the countries in the region, two concrete outcomes emerged today which have been adopted and are of "great political significance", as stated by the second vice-president of the Government.

At the end of the conference, Yolanda Díaz announced that "important steps have been taken today towards shared frameworks that guarantee human oversight, transparency, ethics and, of course, social dialogue in the governance of algorithmic systems."

This Conference gave rise to the Avilés Ministerial Declaration and the Ibero-American Commitment to the Social and Solidarity Economy (2026/2027). The negotiation and adoption of this commitment have been led by Spain, which is once again at the forefront of the international promotion of this social and fair model of production.

Yolanda Díaz has described the adoption of the Ibero-American Commitment on the Social and Solidarity Economy (2026-2030) as "a historic milestone for the region, as it is the first major political agreement of Ibero-American scope to be reached by consensus on this issue."

The minister argued that its adoption "represents a decisive step towards consolidating a shared vision of the strategic role of the social and solidarity economy as a driving force for sustainable development, social cohesion, the creation of quality jobs and the strengthening of more inclusive and resilient democracies."

For its part, the Avilés Declaration sets out "our common guidelines on care work, algorithmic management and labour rights, and includes a commitment by the countries to move towards decent work, inclusive public policies, regulatory frameworks and joint cooperation forums to tackle common challenges and provide shared solutions," the minister added.

The event took place in an atmosphere of frank dialogue and cooperation amongst all the countries from the Ibero-American region attending the meeting, in collaboration with the Ibero-American Social Security Organisation (OISS) and with the support of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).

The meeting forms part of the lead-up to the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Madrid in November, and aims to take a cross-cutting approach to the future of employment, the care sector and artificial intelligence in Ibero-America.

Non official translation