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Africa told to focus on entrepreneurship development
2008-05-06 10:10:45
By Correspondent Michael Haonga
African countries have been challenged to promote employment creation through entrepreneurship development.
The appeal was made yesterday in Dar es Salaam at the start of a three-day African Continent Regional Workshop on the Promotion of Decent Work through Women Enterprenuership Development.
The workshop, the first of its kind that has brought together 36 participants from the African continent, is being held under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO)-Irish Aid Partnership Programme.
``The promotion of decent employment through enterpreneurship development is banked upon to play a significant role in poverty alleviation.
It is also the fifth core element of the ILO`s Global Employment Agenda,`` underlined Jurgen Schwettmann, ILO director for the East Africa region in his opening remarks of the workshop.
``Moreover, the ILO-sponsored conference on ansustainable enterprises last year concluded that women`s economic empowerment is crucial for sustainable societies,`` he added.
He revealed that the demand for ILO support in women enterpreneurship development (WED) had been steadly increasing, adding: ``ILO`s expertise in disability inclusion in employment strategies is also being recognized as particularly relevant, hence there is clear need to scale up and to develop a viable strategy for replicating what has been achieved to date,`` the director said.
Director Schwettmann said achieving gender equality and women`s economic empowerment through enterprise develoment required decisive and systematic interventions including specific action programmes for improving physical market infrastrcuture, market enhancement, knowledge, skills and positive attitudes.
He said the small enterprises programme had been the home for ILO`s women enterpreneurship activities in the organisation since 2000, contributing to employment generation and poverty reduction.
He said over the past seven years, the ILO-Irish Partnership Programme had been a driver for women enterpreneurship development (WED) strategy in Africa, currently focussing on Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania and Zambia.
The workshop is, among other things, to discuss how to apply the strategy which seeks to unleash the economic potential of women`s enterprises to contribute to quality jobs,gender equality, economic growth and poverty reduction within the framework of the Decent Work Agenda.
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