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ILO determined to root out all discrimination
2006-09-26 08:49:04
By Nasser Kigwangallah
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is determined to eradicate discrimination based on sexuality, a vice it says is a deterrent to sustainable economic growth.
ILO Regional Director for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia Jurgen Shwettman said yesterday in Dar es Salaam the fight against poverty and for social justice was at the heart of his organisation\’s mandate in the country.
ILO was committed to helping the government implement the Millennium Development Goals and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (MKUKUTA), he said.
Officiating at a five-day workshop on Women Entrepreneurship Development Capacity Building, he said:
’’Poverty elimination is impossible unless the economy generates opportunities for investment, entrepreneurship, job creation and sustainable livelihood.’’
ILO would continue to support the government in its Small and Medium Term Enterprises policy which clearly states the importance of greater opportunities for women and men to decent work and income based on ILO\’s decent work principles, he said.
Partnership programme with the government in the recent past focused mainly on the creation of quality jobs through women’s entrepreneurship development and on enhanced employment opportunities for people with disabilities, he said.
’’Since the ILO sponsored programme was initiated in 2001, more women entrepreneurs and Growth Oriented Women Entrepreneurs (GOWES), including those with disabilities and women affected by HIV/Aids have been able to achieve increased market access,’’ he said.
The ILO would continue to engage in providing advocacy and skills, training, research and consultancy services in the area of entrepreneurship development, he said.
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