government programs ...

India

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was enacted by the Indian Parliament in August 2005. India's NREGA is unique is that it provides by law a universal entitlement to the right to work. It stipulates 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It came into force in the poorest 200 districts in February 2006 and is expected to take effect throughout rural India within five years.

South Africa

Expanded Public Works Program
The Expanded Public Works Programme is a nationwide initiative that aims to provide work opportunities and training  for a minimum of one million people between 2004 and 2009. Unemployment remains over 25 percent  and it is estimated that half of job seekers have never been employed. EPWP is an active labor market  policy  that provides exposure to the world of work in projects within the infrastructure, enviromental, social and economic sectors.

Other

ILO Employment Intensive Investment Programme

ILO Briefs (country projects in the infrastructure sector by region)