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Kikwete to address ILO zonal meeting
2007-04-24 10:05:33
By Guardian Reporter
President Jakaya Kikwete is among African leaders expected to address the eleventh meeting of the International Labour Organisation(ILO) Africa Zone, which start today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
President Kikwete left the country yesterday for Addis Ababa.
Such zonal meetings are scheduled after every four years, and this year’s meeting would be attended by 53 African leaders, according to a State House statement released on Sunday.
The last meeting on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in 2004 was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
At the meeting, African leaders promised to give priority to employment creation with a view to alleviate poverty and improving the living standards of African peoples.
According the statement, the pledge by African leaders has not only been a priority in African countries, but has also become an international agenda.
The meeting will discuss a report by the ILO director, which shows detailed activities with the organisation’s members, especially African countries.
It will also analyse policies and actual examples vital for implementantion in providing quality employment in the continent.
Meanwhile from Addis Ababa Anaclet Rwegayura of PST reports that the International Labour Office (ILO) has warned that unless national policies and programmes in Africa start responding to the rapid rise in the numbers of young jobseekers, the region would face not only an economic and social waste, but a socio-political risk as well.
As Africa’s labour policy makers are convening today, the ILO reports that the number of labour market entrants aged between 15 and 24 has outpaced the economy’s ability to absorb them.
In a major report released here ahead of the meeting, ILO says the number of unemployed young people in Africa grew by almost 30 per cent between 1995 and 2005.
“Overall, in Africa young people were three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and five of every 10 unemployed were young people.
`Given that young people tend to be highly motivated, energetic and capable of offering new ideas and insights, foregoing this potential engine of growth is an economic and social waste and a socio-political risk,` says the ILO in `The Decent Work Agenda in Africa 2007-2015` report.
Despite the positive trends that Africa registered in the last four years, including economic growth at an average rate of more than 5 per cent in most countries, increased commodity prices, official development assistance and debt relief from the international community, poverty remains the greatest challenge in the continent.
“With the highest incidence of poverty in the world, Africa urgently needs to create more employment and tackle the scourge of hunger, malnutrition, and overall low living standards,” the report points out.
Unemployment combines with poverty to represent one of the greatest challenges to the development of the continent.
According to the ILO, to reduce Africa`s unemployment rate to the world average of just over 6 per cent by
2015 would require an increase in employment of around 11 million jobs per year. At present only 8.6 million jobs are created yearly.
About 500 other delegates, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, will take part in the four-day ILO Africa Regional Meeting beginning today, according to Regina Amadi-Njoku, ILO Regional Director for Africa.
She said a high-level panel discussion on the role of the private sector in employment generation was to precede the meeting yesterday and a social partners` preparatory workshop on Sunday.
According to the official, President Kikwete would present the Tanzanian experience in decent job creation at the high-level panel discussion while President Campaore would discuss the way forward for Africa to reduce poverty and create employment in a sustainable direction.
Participants of the meeting include labour ministers, trade union officials and representatives of employers’ associations from around the continent.
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