How to Tackle Poverty, Unemployment in Africa, By ILO

from All Africa

Vanguard (Lagos)

By Funmi Komolafe
Addis Ababa

THE number of Africans on the poverty level will rise by 10,000 per day unless African governments involve all stakeholders in their societies in efforts to reduce unemployment and poverty.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director-General, Mr. Juan Somavia, speaking at the 11th African Regional meeting of the ILO in Addis Abba, yesterday, said what Africa required from multinational organisations was "partnerships rather than conditionalities" to help reduce poverty and create decent jobs.

The regional meeting featured the launch of the Decent Work Agenda for Africa 2007 to 2015 which was immediately supported by three African Heads of State including the President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore, who with President Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the African Summit on Job Creation in Ougadougou in 2005.

President Campaore who launched the Decent Work Agenda 2007-2015 said it should make it possible for Africa to find solution to poverty and unemployment on the continent.

"The implementation of the Full Employment and Decent Work must be global for all our countries if we want to guarantee political stability and collective balance. Africa has great potentials and capacity to attain this goal if we improve education, knowledge and skills, if we create jobs and enterprises as well as better social economic security for our people. The Decent Work Agenda should make it possible for us to find the solution to poverty and unemployment in Africa," he said.

Speaking for stakeholders, Executive Secretary of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, said African countries had recorded five per cent growth but this is not yet "commensurate with the expected drop in poverty and unemployment."

He said the social partners had planned a summit on Governance and Social Dialogue for Decent Work in Africa for 2008 and that "this forum will be a good opportunity for workers, employers to make input into the Decent Work Agenda."

Sunmonu shared the views of the ILO Director -General that social dialogue was crucial to the attainment of Decent Work Agenda.

The ILO Director-General said: "Growth with few good jobs is not politically sustainable," emphasizing that the ILO has "multilateral system as a common interest," and has developed "toolkit" with other agencies to help others "self-assess their policies in terms of employment and decent work outcomes."

He said the ILO had 19 Decent Work Country Programmes at the operational stage on the continent while 25 more are under discussion.

In his address, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Ato Meles Zenawi , said: "The Decent Work Agenda in Africa 2007-2015 is so timely and relevant in terms of the major challenges we all face in our attempts to reduce poverty, including in line with the first Millennium Development Goal.

"There is no better forum for a practically oriented deliberation on decent jobs in Africa than a meeting at which the major participants are government representatives and representatives of employers' and workers' organisations."

Also speaking in support of the Decent Work for Africa Agenda, President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania said his country had ratified all the eight core Conventions of the ILO and had made a commitment to create one million jobs in five years.

He, however, said Africa needed to pay more attention to the informal sector, extend social protection to the masses of the people in the informal sector and youth employment.

"The problem of youth unemployment is exacerbated by the global demographic trend which has seen the size of youth increasing at faster rate than our economies can absorb. It is, therefore, critical that partnership is forged in tackling the specific needs of young people in this era of globalisation, including human capacity building. Harnessing the energies and potentials of young people represents an invaluable opportunity to nurture agents of socio-economic development," he said.

The ILO's Regional Director for Africa, Nigeria's Regina Amadi-Njoku, presented the Director-General's Report on "ILO Activities in Africa" for 2004-2006. Discussion on that report and the Director-General's thematic report, "The Decent Work Agenda in Africa" which delegates deliberated upon yesterday.

The regional meeting continues in Addis Ababa.