The author analyzes the concept of 'decent work' in the Ilo from the founding of the Organization in 1919 until the adoption in 1999 of 'decent work' as a fundamental universal principle, passing through some key passages, from the crisis of the 1930s to the caesura of the war and the revival of the organization with the 'Phildelphia Declaration' to the new post-Cold War context. The concept of decent work, relaunched in 2019, represents both a "form of work activities and an essential element [and the] for a new model of person-centered development". Indeed, rights and quality of work are identified as the basis for the creation of a new model of global citizenship and a tool for responding to the challenges posed by globalization and for a new social justice.