labour and social affairs commission of … · labour and social affairs commission of the african...

LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION OF THE AFRICAN UNION Ninth Ordinary Session 8-12 April 2013 Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA

LSC/EXP/5(IX) Original : English

THEME: “Enhancing the Capacity of the Labour Market Institutions in Africa to meet the

Current and Future Challenges”

FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT ON THE FOLLOW-UP OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OUTCOME OF THE OUAGADOUGOU

EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT

AFRICAN UNION

UNION AFRICAINE

UNIÃO AFRICANA

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 251 11-551 7700 Fax: 251 11-551 7844 website : www.africa-union.org

http://www.africa-union.org/

LSC/EXP/5(IX) Page 1

Introduction 1. The Follow-up Mechanism of the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on

Employment Promotion and Poverty Alleviation recommends that the African Union Commission will prepare a Biennial Report to assess the status of Implementation of the Plan. This is the Fourth Biennial Report in the series following that of 2006, 2008 and 2010. It also considers the constraints that have been experienced and how they might be overcome. The progress status is considered according to the Key Priority Areas of the Plan of Action and the provisions of the Declaration. The period covered by this Report is from January 2011 to October 2012. The Report is conpiled from the reports received from Member States, activities of the AUC Departments and inputs from the First Comprehensive Report (October 2009) on the Implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 Declaration and Plan of Action. Other sources of information include Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as International Partners.

2. The particularity of this 4ths Biennial Report is that it arrives ahead of the 2nd

Comprehensive Evaluation Report due for 2014 and the Special Session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission in the same year. The Plan of Action called for commitment by Member States to place employment at the centre of their economic and social policies. Its primary goal is to reverse the current trends of pervasive and persistent poverty, unemployment and under-employment on the continent. The Third Biennial Report is an opportunity to recall the 11 Key Priority Areas (KPA) of action outlined in the Plan of Action:

(i) Ensuring political leadership and commitment to creating an enabling

environment of good governance for investment, development and poverty alleviation in the context of NEPAD and the MDGs,

(ii) Promotion of the agricultural sector and rural development, sustainable

management of the environment for food security and development of support infrastructure,

(iii) Development of an appropriate framework for integration and harmonization of economic and social policies,

(iv) Improving and strengthening the existing social protection schemes and

extending it to workers and their families currently excluded, as well as occupational safety, health and hygiene,

(v) Empowerment of women by integrating them in the labour markets and to

enable them to participate effectively in the development of poverty reduction strategies, policies and programmes,

(vi) Human and institutional capacity building for public and private institutions

in charge of employment promotion and poverty alleviation, including social partners and other relevant actors of civil society,


(vii) Utilizing key sectors with high employment potential to generate more jobs and allocate adequate resources for that purpose,

(viii) Building international cooperation, fair and equitable globalization, and

partnerships for an enhanced international support for Africa’s efforts towards achieving sustainable development, putting emphasis on the employment agenda, poverty alleviation, regional integration and a better participation in the globalization process,

(ix) Promoting regional and economic cooperation among the RECs in order to

expand economic space, intra and inter-regional trade, markets and exploit the economies of scale,

(x) Targeting and empowering vulnerable groups such as persons with

disabilities, aged persons, migrants, children and people infected and affected by HIV-AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases, internally displaced persons, refugees, migrants and the working poor, and

(xi) Mobilization of resources at national, regional and international levels.

3. Each of the11 Priority Areas is accompanied by strategies and recommended actions that would be implemented through national and regional plans. The Follow-up Mechanisms established the modalities of assessing and evaluating progress being made in implementing the Priority Areas at national, regional and continental levels. UN agencies, international financial institutions, and regional banks (financial institutions) are expected to adopt greater policy coherence and to increase support for the employment agenda. Key Priority Area 1: Ensuring political leadership and commitment to creating an

enabling environment of good governance for investment, development and poverty alleviation in the context of NEPAD and the MDGs.

4. This Priority Area relates to the creation of a conducive environment for investment, development and poverty alleviation as well as substantial employment creation. Governments have sought to create or readjust existing institutions for the creation of this enabling environment. 5. South Africa has developed an Employment Services Bill through public hearings it was negotiated with the NEDLAC before submission to Parliament. The Department of Tourism was allocated a budget R739 million for its Expanded Public Works programme to implement the tourism of projects which address job creation, youth training and capacity building, poverty alleviation and economic empowerment of historically disadvantaged communities. The Department of Higher Education and Training is providing information through career guidance, access to intermediate and higher learning opportunities for youth and adults, increasing access to boost the number of qualified artisans and mid-level skills available in the labour market.


6. The Ministry of Labour of Seychelles has initiated several employment training schemes: (i) Skills Development Programme (monthly allowance of 162.79 USD attributed to every participant); (ii) Skills Acquisition Programme (monthly allowance of 100, 78 USD attributed to every participant); (iii) Internship; (iv) Apprenticeship scheme and (v) Unemployment Relief Scheme. The Credit Concessionary Agency aimed at empowering youths through self-employment by creating small businesses, was replaced in 2012 by the Small Business Financing Agency to support key activities undertaken by small enterprises. CBOs and NGOs are actively engaged in employment promotion through Economic Reform Social Programme financed by the EU. NGOs used funding for capacity building training and re-training projects to enable the unemployed and also those who lost their jobs to acquire new skills and engage in self-employment projects or take up new employment opportunities in other areas such as tourism, fisheries and construction). CBO benefited from direct grants to invest in environment related economic activities such as landscaping, district beautification, programme, offices and business premises cleaning, etc. IMF supported these activities. The Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa is premised on the need to build capacity of Non Profit Organizations (NGOs, CBOs) and Faith Based Organizations (FBO) to deliver social services and create employment through the use of volunteers who are paid a stipend while also provided with training, including accredited training programmes. 7. Algeria has significantly improved its investment and enterprise creation and development environment in order to boost job creation. The measures concern access to land and financial resource for investment, production and service enterprise supply conditions, ease of financial condition of indebted SMEs, foreign rate exchange risk management (Tripartite Summit, May 2011), etc. In 2011, a Cabinet Council decided bold measures to further improve the job creation incentives package: lower interest rate, progressive fiscal scheme, reservation of 20% of public purchasing/procurement for the micro enterprises (presidential decree n°12-23 of 18 January 2012), etc. These measures were effective in upgrading the employment services provided by the structures in charge of micro enterprises promotion, in particular for the National Agency for Youth Employment and the National Unemployment Insurance Fund: increase in number of micro enterprises funded (30.106 projects in 2010 and 61.322 projects in 2011), number of jobs created (75.936 direct jobs n 2010 and 128.635 in 2011). From January to August 2012, 72.402 micro enterprises were created and have yield 134.674 direct jobs. The budget allocation to the National Agency for Youth Employment increased from 12 billion DA in 2010, to 47 billion DA in 2011 and to 78 billion DA in 2012. 8. In Burkina Faso, the Ouagadougou 2004 Declaration, Plan of Action and Follow-up Mechanisms were compiled in a unique document which was disseminated to members of the Government and to social partners. As a means of follow-up on the implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 outcomes, the Government also sets up a National Council on Employment and TEVET (CNEFP) by decree determining its organization, roles and functioning. Burkina Faso adopted a National Labour Policy aiming at improving health and security at work, social dialogue and the labour market legal framework. It is completed with an Operational Action Plan.


9. The Government of Zimbabwe and the social partners established the Employment Forum on 20 May 2011. A key mandate of the Employment Forum is to organize annual job summits at which status reports on the implementation of the policy will be presented. The Employment Forum becomes the major vehicle for the implementation of employment generation programmes. It is supported by three policy clusters on Employment Creation, Skills Development as well as Advocacy and Resource Mobilization. The Ministry of Labour and Social Services provides secretariat services to the Forum. In December 2011, the Government of the Republic of Central Africa organized a National Forum with the aim to facilitate the implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 Plan of Action and the Decent Work Agenda. One of its main tasks will be to elaborate a National Decent Work Policy. Tanzania made employment issues central to key national development policy frameworks like National Strategy for growth and reduction of poverty phase II and other sectoral plans. 10. Several other countries demonstrated a strong political leadership in employment policies. Employment targets were incorporated into Tanzania’s National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction. Ethiopia mainstreamed employment into its Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP).Lesotho, Burkina Faso, Seychelles, Ghana, Madagascar and Liberia, CRA, Sudan, and Egypt used their Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) as the basis of their employment creation programmes. Tunisia has assigned to the 12th Plan 2010-2014 the goal of accelerating economic enterprises creation, particularly in labour intensive sectors. 11. Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) set up Inter-Ministerial Committees to follow up on the PoA commitments. Benin went further designating focal persons of the follow-up committee in all structures represented in the committee. These can be used as model for other Member States still to set up their national follow-up mechanism. Like some countries, Egypt has put in place a High level National Committee on the Ouagadougou 2004 Summit implementation and follow-up, which is chaired by the Prime Minister. Mauritius created a National Empowerment Foundation with programmes covering the whole spectrum of social intervention: housing, unemployment, public infrastructure, health, substance abuse, leisure and sports, and life/social skills. 12. In South Africa, Small Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) companies and BEE co-operatives were supported with skills development. The Department of Labour participates in a Task team on the Anti-Poverty Strategy and in a National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). It also participates in the implementation of the War-on-Poverty Campaign/ Programme. Other interesting programmes are rolled out, such as (i) the Expanded Public Works Programme in the Social Sector to build the capacity of Non Profit Organizations to deliver social services and create employment through the use of volunteers who are paid a stipend while also provided with training; (ii) the Labour Department’s Basic Entrepreneurial Skills Development programme aims at providing training to underemployed emerging entrepreneurs in the second/informal economy and to unemployed young people in order to promote sustainable livelihoods; and (iii) the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS).


13. A National Human Resource Policy and its accompanying Implementation Action Plan are being developed by Ghana for ensuring the development of knowledge based and disciplined labour force with the capacity to drive and sustain public and private sector-led growth. 14. At regional level, only the SADC indicated that it put in place regional follow-up mechanisms through its regular regional consultative structures at experts and ministerial levels. Three Committees have been put in place on (i) Social Protection; (ii) Labour and Employment; and (iii) Productivity1. Conclusions: 15. Member States have pursued their efforts in establishing national institutions on the follow-up of the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action. Though these institutions are not well operational due to lack of resources and a strong road map.

16. More and more MS are incorporating employment objectives and targets in their PRS. Political commitment appears to be decisive in the design of a full range of employment policies and the allocation of appropriate budget for their effective implementation and achieving sustainable significant and sustainable results. 17. In order to scale up the capacity of the RECs in implementing the Ouagadougou 2004 Plan of Action, as the SADC did, the other RECs are still to indicate the mechanisms they intend to put in place to cater for this objective. Key Priority Area 2: Promotion of the agricultural sector and rural development,

sustainable management of the environment for food security and development of support infrastructure.

18. There is necessity for comprehensive employment policies which are well articulated with the rural development policies. The aim is to “encourage the participation of the youth in agriculture in order to reduce rural-urban migration and promote agriculture cooperatives” (Key Priority Area 2, Strategy vi) 19. As decentralization approach, Burkina Faso elaborated the Regional Employment Promotion Strategy (SRE) for every region of the country supported with a Regional Employment Promotion Action Plan (PARE). The approach is based on regional characteristics on employment potential. The SRE and PARE will be implemented from 2012 to 2014. They aim at (i) consolidating employment in regional employment zones; (ii) creating new economic and employment opportunities in each region; (iii) improve employability of rural workforce and (iv) improve the human and technical capacities of local stakeholders on employment promotion. As some other MS, Mali has developed a “Multi Sectoral Investment Programme for Rural Employment”

1 SADC Meeting of Ministers responsible for labour and employment, and social partners, 29-30 April 2010, Maputo

(Mozambique)


20. The agriculture and rural development sectors remain central to employment creation strategies for several Member States: Ethiopia’s agriculture-led industrialization (ADLI); Tanzania’s Agriculture Sector Development Programme, Senegal’ Great Agricultural Offensive for Food and Self-Sufficiency-GOANA”, Burkina Faso’s Assistance Programme on Rural Employment . 21. Egypt undertook an ambitious multisectoral program of rural property rights and land cession in a great number of villages alongside health services targeting 40 per cent of the rural areas and with rural electrification programme and micro credit schemes involving the poor rural households. In South Africa, the Department of Rural Development and Land developed a Comprehensive Rural Development Support (CRDP) model which aims to mobilize and empower rural communities, through approach addressing the needs of the person, household, community and space. It is also implementing the National Rural Youth Service (NRYS) Programme which provides character-building programme, soft and hard skills training, which qualifies recruits in rural areas to undertake various rural infrastructure. It established agricultural enterprises where four communities were trained in the management of such enterprises, resulting in 2589 beneficiaries that are skilled and capacitated in the technical enterprise development trade. To improve access to water, the Department is distributing Rain harvesting tanks throughout vulnerable rural communities. It has been working on assisting rural municipalities with disaster mitigation strategies. A total of 41 disaster management help desks were established and 9 communities trained on environmental management measures. The South African Enterprise Investment Programme (EIP-DTI) disbursed R636 million and facilitated investment of R3,7 billion in the food processing sector. This contributed to the retention of 14,000 jobs and created 7,000 new jobs. Other supports were made available through the Cooperative Incentive Scheme, agreement with private sector commercial distribution operators (Pick’ Pay) for dedicated space to agricultural product, and launch of the buy local campaign in canned fruits. The Department of Environmental Affairs was nominated by Cabinet to coordinate the environment and culture sector, while contributing itself through its two jobs creation programme, in the form of Social Responsibility Programme and the Natural Resource Management Programme. 22. Ghana has adopted the Youth in Agriculture Programme which is made up of four (4) components (Block Farm, Livestock, Fisheries and Agribusiness Development Sub- Programmes). Cameroon has initiated numerous rural projects in support of youth employment: (i) Young Rural Entrepreneurs Programme (PAIJA MINJEUN); (ii) Rural Employment Development Project (MINADER); (iii) Rural Youth Development Programme, etc. Algeria has implemented various economic and employment opportunities with the following results: creation of 753,448 Equivalent Employment from 2009 to 2011; 3, 51 projects supported. . The country has supported creation of rural workers’ professional organizations and reactivated the previous ones. 23. However, as stated in the First Comprehensive Report (October 2009), the National Biennial Reports do not provide evidence on how employment is integrated with agricultural policies. It seems that there is a need to have an institutional and political mechanism for integrating and coordinating agricultural development policies with that of employment.


Conclusion: 24. Member States are deploying remarkable efforts in implementing various initiatives on rural employment. However, a little, if any, is undertaken to extend social protection schemes to the rural workers and members of their families. Despite the significant initiatives undertaken by some MS in rural employment promotion, the rural-urban youth migration for labour trends still remains at a high level. Member States have, however, attempted to address the situation with less and greater success. Key Priority Area 3: Development of an appropriate framework for integration and

harmonization of economic and social policies, 25. The overall objective of this priority area is to achieve an integrated and holistic approach in social and economic development in order to effectively contribute to employment creation and poverty alleviation. Two of the intended strategies to achieve this goal are “harmonizing labour legislations and investments, and Enhancing employment, especially of vulnerable groups and promotion of labour intensive projects, SMEs and micro enterprises” 26. Member States have made progress on this front. The Government of Seychelles is preparing a National Development Strategy 2013-2017 to align and harmonize national policies and strategies. Also, employment indicators `are used by the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment, Central Bank Seychelles, National Bureau for Statistics and other relevant Government Ministries/agencies. In Nigeria, the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme is a new scheme. It is a social transfer whereby poor households are assisted to build their assets by means of investments in human capital. The Pension Reform Act covers all public sector officers and private sector organizations that employ more than 5 workers. The Federal Government has approved in principle the extension of Social Security for all in the informal sector. In Tunisia, the level of social protection coverage is estimated at 95% of the working liable population for the contributing workers. 27. The Ghanaian Shared Growth Development Agenda (GSGDA) is a new medium-term development framework (2010-2013). Nigeria has put forward an employment friendly General Macroeconomic Policy which promotes sector target lead in employment creation. The employment creation content of every government project is emphasized by the National Planning Commission which coordinates government policies and programmes. Ethiopia set up a Micro and Small Scale Enterprises Development Policy, as well as an Urban Development Package and Public Work Programmes. 28. RECs engaged in harmonizing policies on migration and employment creation as in the cases of ECOWAS and SADC. Harmonizing of labour and social policies in SADC has been given a fillip by adoption of a plethora of the following documents: the Policies, Priorities and Strategies on Employment and Labour; the Charter of Fundamental Social Rights; the SADC Code of Conduct on Child Labour; and the Code of Conduct on HIV-AIDS and Employment. The SADC has also identified the following key priority ILO Conventions for a concerted action by its MS: (i) Labour Inspection (Industry and Commerce), Convention 1947 (No. 81); (ii) Labour Inspection (Agriculture), Convention 1969 (No. 129); (iii) Employment Policy


Convention 1964 (No. 122); and (iv) Tripartite (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144). In December 2012, with the support of the UNDP, the ECOWAS Conference of Ministers of labour advanced on accelerating the building of regional labour market through adopting (i) the revised General Convention of the Social Security of ECOWAS and its Administrative Arrangement ; (ii) the Regional Plan of Action for Youth Employment and (iii) the Action Plan against Child Labour. 29. At international level, the European Union and the World Bank have developed their Social Protection Strategy for Africa. The UN has adopted a Recommendation on the Social Protection Floor in June 2012. These international strategies require better information and involvement of the AU MS relevant structures, in particular the Ministries of Labour and Employment as well as social partners and CSO’s. Conclusions: 30. MS are undertaking social policy reforms to strengthen and diversify their national social protection schemes, in line with the AU SPF (Windhoek, October 2008) and the UN Social Protection Floor. 31. Regional Economic Communities are moving towards better coordination and harmonization in the social development field, in particular regarding the labour and social protection legal framework and the intra- and inter- regions labour migration. Key Priority Area 4: Improving and strengthening the existing social protection

schemes and extending it to workers and their families currently excluded, as well as occupational safety, health and hygiene,

32. This Priority Area relates to establishing, improving and strengthening social protection schemes and extending them to workers and their families as well as occupational safety, health and hygiene. The overall objective is to extend and enhance safety nets including social protection for better working conditions for men and women, in particular, the most vulnerable including youth, women and those infected and affected by HIV-AIDS, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. 33. Some MS have established health universal Insurance schemes. The Government of Zimbabwe runs an Enhanced Social Protection Programme (ESPP) that provides a coherent national strategic direction in ensuring that households and individuals are prevented from falling into unacceptable living standards with irreversible welfare losses. The ESPP thus addresses coordination problems, inaccurate targeting of beneficiaries, minimum beneficiary participation as well as monitoring and evaluation issues. Through this framework NGO participation has been improved while political will and public expenditure have also been raised, translating into concrete gains in education, health and food security, among other areas. In Seychelles, Social protection is applicable for all but based on household income. The Agency for Social Protection was established in 2012, resulting from the merging of the Social Security Fund and the Social Welfare Agency into a single agency.


34. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is one of the flagship Ghanaian Government National Social Protection Programmes aimed at empowering extremely poor, disadvantaged and the vulnerable populations in the country. It is worth to mention that beneficiary households have to abide by certain conditionality: (i) sending and retaining children of school going age to school; (ii) registering births; (iii) children in such households not engaging in worst forms of child labour; and (iv) Immunization against childhood killer diseases. The informal Sector Scheme is a voluntary Money Purchase Scheme based on the individual equivalence principle. The scheme has two accounts: Occupational Scheme Account and Retirement Account. Ghanaian workers in the Diaspora are to contribute to a minimum pension programme with the objective of safe guarding against future and unforeseen contingencies. 35. The Department of labour of South Africa implemented the Basic Entrepreneurial Skills Development programme, the aim of which is to provide training to underemployed emerging entrepreneurs in the second/informal economy and to unemployed young people. The programme utilizes one-to-one coaching as an innovative methodology to facilitate business skills transfer and developmental support to emerging entrepreneurs and is conducted by formerly unemployed entrepreneurial development practitioners. In one site where the training has already been concluded almost 80% of participants completed the programme and 100% of them are operating businesses. The Department of Social Development is partnering with CBOs to deliver community development services and must ensure that they have the required capacity, including through training of Community Development Practitioners and of Household Change Agents. 36. Namibia extended its social security system to include pension funds and medical aid schemes, and activated a Social Security Development Fund for job creation. It was also reported that Tanzania drafted a Social Security Bill and efforts were undertaken to establish Social Security Schemes to cover the informal sector. This gives an opportunity for the informal sector, the rural poor, unemployed Youth, the elderly and other privately employed individuals to enter in a number of social security benefits. Lesotho strengthened its existing social protection schemes and finalized a Social Welfare Strategic Plan and a National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. In Nigeria, the National Social Insurance Trust Fund provides social security, social protection for the poor, the aged, and the disabled and other disadvantaged members of the population. Its plan entails: the Employee Compensation Bill (ECB), the Youth Opportunities Program (YOP), the Informal Sector Programme (ISP), a Micro Finance Scheme and a Mass Housing Scheme Owner/Occupier as part of the Family Benefit, 37. Algeria and South Africa are running unemployment benefits plans for unemployment coverage. Botswana is implementing its Revised National Policy on Destitute Persons. Programmes are implemented through Local Authorities, local structures like Village Development Committees. They play a supportive role in the implementation of programmes by assisting in the identification and follow-up of beneficiaries. 38. The AU Executive Council Decision on the Report of the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission l (EX.CL/Dec.648(XIX) has endorsed the Social Protection Plan for the Informal and Rural Workers (SPIREWORK. The AU Assembly of


Heads of States and Government has called for “appropriate social protection coverage expansion for the youth, women, informal economy and rural workers and members of their families, in order to reduce poverty and vulnerability” (Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XVI) 39. The AUC has prepared the SPIREWORK Communication Strategy which will be presented to the 9th Ordinary Session of the Labour and Social affairs Commission in April 2013. The SPIREWORK is a comprehensive plan of action addressing policy requirements from the MDGs, the Ouagadougou 2004 Extraordinary Summit, Africa Health Strategy, CARMMA, relevant ILO international Conventions, and the UN Initiative on Social Protection Floor. It is based on two pillars. The first pillar is the design of a Social Security Services Package. The second pillar is the establishment of enablers through measures towards recognition, legal and regulatory framework, advocacy, statistics and knowledge management, organization and networking for empowerment and effective participation of the informal workers. The AUC has organized the 1st training on SPIREWORK for member States of the SADC and EAC regions in Maputo in December 2012. 40. The World Bank has commenced the implementation of its 2012-2022 Social Protection Strategy. The EU Agenda for Change has a component on “Inclusive and Sustainable Growth for Human Development” which targets, among others, “social protection, health, education and jobs” Conclusions: 41. Two main trends can be observed: (i) MS are engaging in reform of their existing social security regimes applicable to the modern sector in view of ensuring their sustainability and viability in the context of financial, economic and job crises; (ii) MS are attempting to cover the vulnerable workers in the informal economy by extending the existing social protection regimes or by creating innovative decentralized schemes that could be appropriate for these categories of workers. 42. The AU has reiterated the priority on the extension of social protection schemes to the informal economy and rural workers. Key Priority Area 5: Empowerment of women by integrating them in the labour markets

and to enable them to participate effectively in the development of poverty reduction strategies, policies and programmes,

43. The overall objective of this priority is to mainstream gender issues into all the poverty reduction and employment promotion policies and programmes by investing in human capital development, especially young women and men. 44. One Non Governmental Organization, the Seychelles Association of Women Entrepreneurs (SAWE) was formed in April 201, aiming to promote, develop and defend the business of its members. It is dedicated in empowering women, as mentors, role models and key drivers of the economy. It is linked with the Africa women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP). There are other youth and women association recoded in the registrar of associations. Burkina Faso established a Youth Initiatives Support Fund (2007).


45. In Comoros, along with the Peace Consolidation Fund, a Peace Sustainability Support Project through Youth and Women Employment Promotion in Comoros (APROJEC) exists. The goal is to contribute to the integration of the youth and women in the socio economic life in order to enhance justice and social peace. 46. Member States are supporting establishment and/or strengthening of cooperative movement development, including for youth and women empowerment (Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, etc), through appropriate legal and policy frameworks. They prove to be effective in boosting the nontraditional businesses sector. 47. In addition to the bold measures in support to self-employment schemes (ref. above Key Priority area 1), Algeria has upgraded the Youth Employment Support Scheme through various measures which have improved the job placement performance of the specialized structures: 660.810 young job seekers (out of which 325.562 women, 49, 26%); special employment decentralized schemes for 10 South Wilayas (Regions) have produced 18,303 jobs for young job seekers from January to June 2012. 131 projects conducted by youth associations were supported in 38 wilayas in the sectors of culture, sports and environment with the support of the EU. Algeria is engaged in women empowerment initiatives under the umbrella of the Law n° 12-03 of 12 January 2012 fixing the modalities and opportunities for women of representation in elected assemblies. As a result, women represent 31% of the Members of the Parliament elected in 2012. The Government has adopted a multiyear programme for the implementation of the national strategy on economic empowerment of the women over the period 2010-2014. Consequently, the rate of women participation in the labour market increased from 12, 3% in 2003 to 14, 2% in 2010. 151.644 women benefited from micro credit from 1010 to 1st semester of 2012, representing 67, 8 % of the total funding. The Social Insertion Activities Platform is another Algerian jobs creation programme targeting the young people between 18-20 age, with participation of local governments and local stakeholders (public and private enterprises, artisans, establishments and institutions involved in social services, etc). The young persons are trained in the tasks they must perform. 153,312 young persons were enrolled in this program in 2010 and 21,663 as of September 2012. 48. In South Africa, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is implementing the Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) which focuses on poverty alleviation and employment opportunities. It is based on Key Performance Areas: (i) Economic Participation; (ii) Education and Skills Development; (iii) Policy Research and Development; (iv) Partnership and Stakeholder Management and (v) National Youth Service. The National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) contributes to combating youth unemployment. Its main goal is to recruit and develop rural youth to be paraprofessionals, by training them to render the needed community services in their own communities. The Department of Labour initiated a career advice programme on entrepreneurship that aims to encourage the unemployed to take up entrepreneurship as employment opportunity. A total 8 107 small BEE co-operatives supported with skills development, 23603 non-levy paying enterprises and 479 community based co-operatives supported through skills development. 9 570 workers and 3013 SMME co-ops were trained in productivity improvement. The NDA has supported the development of business


skills for women. Funds were allocated to the Saving and Credit Groups (SCG) Scheme for capacity building of 150 SCG with 1260 members. The training did not only improve the financial management capacity among members but it also increased their self-esteem and confidence. DSD has introduced a programme to link caregivers of the Child Support Grant, Foster Grant and the Disability Grant to income generating and employment opportunities. It has facilitated training in business skills to approximately 11573 women including caregivers of beneficiaries of the Child Support Grant. 49. Nigerian Employer’s Consultative Association (NECA) developed Entrepreneurship Programmes targeted at women and youth. Nelex was established to assist all Nigerians, especially the youths. The establishment of cooperatives by women, youths and other groups are promoted and encouraged by government. Some States in the north have set up special schools for married girls and young mothers. This guarantees their access to education and transformation of their lives. Activities of the private employment agencies are now regulated by the government to protect especially youths in the labour market. 50. The Tunisian National Employment and Self-Employment Agency allows for regular monitoring of the labour market status and to avail daily accurate statistics, thanks to its wide network of 82 bureaus and 9 entrepreneurship spaces”, and also thanks to the establishment of a labour market information system. Ghana is implementing a Responsive Skills and Community Development Project (GRSCDP), aimed at promoting gender equity, and socio-economic development through institutional capacity building, and the improvement of women’s gainful employment and entrepreneurship. The Mauritius National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) has a special programme for unemployed women delivering entrepreneurship training, Booster Loan Scheme, Quasi-Equity Financing Scheme, placement on training to cater for school leaves, unemployed, retrenched workers and laid of workers. The Mauritius NEF is supported by the private sector under the Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). 51. South Africa is implementing a series of porgrammes: (i) the National Youth Service (NYS); (ii) the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP); (iii) the Community Works Programme (CWP); (iv) the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme (MYPP) which is a youth skills development programme based on the Cuban model of social work with the objective to build a new cadre of youth with new values of caring and compassion and the culture of volunteerism and patriotism; and (v) the National Skills Fund which initiated a pilot project in support of Business Process Outsourcing and Off-shoring (BPO&O), focusing on the training of Call Centre Agents. 24 local Youth Development Forums and 10 Youth Service Centres were established. A new concept of One Stop Centres (OSCs) was also initiated. The Integrated Youth Development Strategy is implementing a series of jobs creation/skills training Anchor projects with specific targets and which have yield significant results in the areas of agriculture and agro-processing, auto component manufacturing, artisan training, mineral extraction and beneficiation, youth build SA, ICT, Green economy, Youth Co-ops, Social Economy/Enterprises, furniture manufacturing Arts and Culture. The Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme (MYPP) is a youth skills development programme based on the Cuban model of social work. The objective of the programme is to build new cadre of youth with new values of caring and compassion and the culture of volunteerism and patriotism.


52. As reported in the 3rd Follow-up Report, Egypt undertook many initiatives for women empowerment such as breakthrough of their representation and leadership in workers and employers organizations, the Women Competencies and Skills Development Centre, the Women National Council’s programs on entrepreneurship, female discrimination at the workplace grievances bureau. The Government has put in place 5 regional Counseling and Orientation Centers dedicated to the enhancement of women cultural standards for better awareness of their rights as workers 53. As requested by the U Assembly in July 2011, the AUC has elaborated a Youth and Women Employment Pact which will be presented to the 9th ordinary session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission in Aril 2013. Also, the AUC, the AfDB and the ECA engaged in a Joint Initiative on Youth Employment whose implementation will commence in the first semester of 2013. 54. Since 2009 the UNDP Regional Programme for Social Cohesion and Youth Employment has been supporting 12 Sub-Saharan countries to design macro-economic policies that promote youth employment and facilitate the development of skills among the younger generations2. Conclusions: 55. MS undertook numerous and strong employment promotion for youth and women, combining different strategies and mechanisms. Social Partners and international partners also participated through specific initiatives. 56. The AU Youth and Women Employment Pact will represent the policy umbrella upon which the stakeholders will build their intervention and support, such as the AUC-AfDB-ILO-ECA Joint Initiative on Youth Employment. Key Priority Area 6: Human and institutional capacity building for public and private

institutions in charge of employment promotion and poverty alleviation, including social partners and other relevant actors of civil society,

57. The main objective under this Priority Area is to strengthen the capacity of local, national, regional and continental institutions in promoting participation, voice, tripartism, social dialogue and partnership to ensure an equitable and efficient representation of important socio-economic interests and beneficiaries in the formulation and implementation of inclusive development policies. 58. A few Member States have created National Schemes on Unemployment Benefit. Seychelles, Algeria and South Africa are the most prominent countries in this area. Algeria has enhanced its National Unemployment Insurance Fund with the aim to expand its target group and improve the services delivery system. The Department of Labour of South Africa allocated R 6.5 billion through Unemployment Insurance Fund and R 2 billion through

2 African Development Bank, A Window of Opportunity, New Initiative to accelerate the Response to Youth Unemployment


Compensation Fund to job creation initiatives. R 1.2 billion was allocated to Training Layoff scheme to prevent job losses. The Unemployment Insurance Fund moved from being insolvent in the late 90’ and expanded coverage of domestic and farm workers and undertook major business reforms resulting in improved coverage for unemployment insurance, reduction of administration costs of delivery. The Fund registered a surplus of R48.4 billion by 2012. 59. The South Africa National Productivity Institute undertook in 2011 a research on identification and analysis of international best practices in public employment policy. The findings can contribute to the creation of more efficient labour market; facilitate changes that address existing challenges related to unemployment, skills shortages and misalignments between the country’s existing training and education systems. Four country case studies were conducted in Brazil, South Korea, Denmark and Germany, considering the following criteria: (i) success in reducing unemployment; (ii) success in facilitating skills development; (iii) the presence of an efficient labour market; (iv) the presence of well-established and effectively functioning public employment services and (v) clear policy frameworks and systems to administer and regulate these services. 60. Through a NEDLAC New Growth Path, four national accords were adopted in 2011. The first is the National Skills Accord. The second is the Basic Education and Partnership with Schools. NEDLAC was consulted by the government on legislative documents concerning training and skills development, such as the Skills Development Amendment Bill. It produced reports tabled at the Parliament before the legislature considers the Bill. This provides instance of dialogue on training and skills development. Also, NEDLAC addressed the issue of youth unemployment and the broad spectrum of policies that the government can adopt. NEDLAC also sets the terms of agreement for implementation of EPWP. 61. Employment Policy Monitoring and Evaluation must be looked at as an essential filed for building labour market institutional capacity. Burkina Faso has developed a matrix of 12 indicators for the evaluation of the impact of the National Employment Policy. 62. Comoros has established « Jobs Center: (Maison de l’Emploi) et a National Youth Employment Fund which seeks support from the Kuwait Funds. Also, a Youth and Women Employment Support Project was initiated with the ILO assistance, a MOU was signed with the Government of Australia and the ILO for the creation of 500,000 jobs in the rural settings. The Directorate of Employment is in charge of the implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 PoA but is faced with insufficient human, material and financial resources. The 1st edition of the National Youth Employment Fair was organized in 2012 in Comoros. There is a tendency of MS to organize donors’ meeting within the framework of DWCP (Comoros, Zimbabwe, etc). 63. The Labour Department of Seychelles publishes its monthly statistical bulletin which updates data on jobseekers, unemployment, occupational accidents, and industrial relations cases and migrants workers. More accurate and quality labour statistics is a priority strategy for the Ministry. As in the majority of Member States, the biggest challenge for Seychelles is labour market analysis. In April 2012, a Policy, Planning and Research section was created within the Ministry of Labour. Benin has elaborated guidelines for counting the jobs generated by projects and programmes implemented by the government.


64. Mauritius and Namibia developed internal expertise for data collection, processing, analysis and report production, management and further development of the labour market information system, Also they are developing labour market information systems to cater for collection, analysis and dissemination of labour market information . A number of countries including Lesotho, Libya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Liberia, conducted labour force surveys. Improvements were made in the generation of labour statistics in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Egypt. In addition, Ghana had undertaken Living Standards Surveys and Egypt had conducted a survey on migration. However, as in other countries, the level of budget allocation to human and institutional capacity building has not increased significantly in Nigeria. A number of MS have set up and or enhanced National Youth Employment Agencies and National Employment Agencies (Algeria, Senegal, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire,). 65. Since its inception in South Africa the Turnaround Solutions of the Department of Labour (previously called Social Plan) it is managed by Productivity SA. In 2000, it saved more than 100 000 jobs. Its aim is preventing job losses; ensuring the survival of businesses; safeguarding their stability necessary for growth and expansion. Also, Productivity SA is implementing the Workplace Challenge and the Skills Development programme of the Department of Trade and Industry. The aim is to facilitate government and industry partnerships in order to enhance productivity and competitiveness of entreprise by improving the work relations and developing world class best operating practices of sectors, industries and businesses. 66. The Mauritius Employment Service provides extensive publicity on services offered, such as television programmes on vacancies, Audiotex on vacancies, Job Bank on Employment Service website (self registration by jobseekers, posting of vacancies by employers, job matching by both parties), publication of monthly bulletin on employment, dissemination of vacancies obtained through Job Vacancy Surveys. Also, the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) enables the collection and analysis of unemployment data. Being handicapped by limited dedicated resources, the Public Employment services can expand their reach out capacity through partnership, as did the Tanzanian Employment Service Agency through capacitation of several NGOs in delivering employment services. Conclusions: 67. The labour market governance remains weak in most of the AU MS. That fetters the effectiveness of the labour market institution in delivering adequate services as required to support both the demand and supply sides. Key Priority Area 7: Utilizing key sectors with high employment potential to generate

more jobs and allocate adequate resources for that purpose, 68. Ethiopia promoted the Micro and Small Scale enterprises development as engine for jobs creations and about 1.5 millions jobs were created in this sub-sector. Also, in health sector, 33819 health extension workers were trained and deployed in rural zones all over the


country. Agriculture is the foundation of the country’s economy, accounting for half of gross domestic product, 83.9% of export and 80% of the total employment. 69. Nigeria has developed a National Action Plan on Employment Creation which identifies 11 critical areas with high employment potential to generate jobs and bring about economic growth. Unfortunately, its implementation has been stalled due to lack of funds. Agriculture, fishery and forestry, agro-processing, services (including social services: health, education, security, etc), construction and infrastructure, mining, informal economy-handicraft, SMEs are identified as a means of creating and generating employment at all levels. However, there is a lack of matching between the sectors’ job creation potential and the available skilled and appropriate labour force. This mismatching appears as a major constraint to the private sector led development process and productive jobs generation. The Trade and Industry Department of South Africa introduced effective initiatives such as the Clothing Textiles Competitiveness Programme, the Enterprise Investment Programme (retention of 14,000 jobs and creation of 7000 new jobs) 70. Some MS reported using the Value Chain Analysis as a tool for identifying key sectors/activities with high employment potential. South Africa introduced the Total Value Chain Poverty Alleviation Model to demonstrate its potential for poverty alleviation and employment creation. The model promotes full participation of the emerging enterprises in all phases of the value chain, i.e. involvement in production, processing, packaging and marketing. As in Benin, Togo has mapped the youth and women employment opportunities at local and district levels. Mali has adopted a “Development Policy Document on the Handicraft Sector”. Conclusions: 71. There is a convergence on the key sectors with high employment potential across the countries, with some regional particularities attached to their natural resource endowment. The rural sector, the informal economy and services sector deserve more intense attention from all the stakeholders. The potential opportunities need to be unveiled through relevant approaches such as the Value Chain Analysis. The development of this potential is hampered by the lack of information and appropriateness of the skilled workforce. Key Priority Area 8: Building international cooperation, fair and equitable globalization,

and partnerships for an enhanced international support for Africa’s efforts towards achieving sustainable development, putting emphasis on the employment agenda, poverty alleviation, regional integration and a better participation in the globalization process,

72. UN Agencies and other donors pursue their funding of labour related project/programmes. However, developed countries continue tightening their immigration policies, including through Employment Permit System, not issuing new work permits or renewing the work permits of migrant workers. Discriminations on labour and social protection rights are still experienced by some categories of African migrant workers in developed countries.


73. The G20 has committed to support labour market capacity enhancement and social protection promotion in the developing countries (London Summit in April 2009 and Pittsburgh Summit, September 2010). This is an opportunity for Africa to add its voice to the globalization process as it concerns labour and social protection issues, and to mobilize the key international partners. Key Priority Area 9: Promoting regional and economic cooperation among the RECs in

order to expand economic space, intra- and inter-regional trade, markets and exploit the economies of scale,

74. The ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and services has been implemented to strengthened integration. The ECOWAS Labour Code and other constituents in the sub-regions (air, banks, telecom, transport) are geared towards promoting sub-regional integration. Labour Migration is one of the most outstanding issues taking center stage in the development agenda of both developing and developed countries in these early years of the 21st century. RECs are pursuing their efforts in promoting employment. 75. ECOWAS drafted the ECOWAS LABOUR Code that would serve as the platform for the integration of the sub- region labour institutions and harmonization of labour/employment policies in the sub-region. The East African Community has made employment central to its development initiatives. The EAC common market protocol provides for procedures to deal with employment and labour issues in the region. Key Priority Area 10: Targeting and empowering vulnerable groups such as persons

with disabilities, aged persons, migrants, children and people infected and affected by HIV-AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases, internally displaced persons, refugees, migrants and the working poor,

76. Under the banner of the social protection system in Zimbabwe, vulnerable groups are being assisted and such assistance covers issues of education and health care. Reference is made to the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and the role of the National AIDS Council, which administers national programmes to address HIV and AIDS issues. In order to keep a focus on the youth employment challenge the National Youth Policy was reviewed in 2010 in line with the National Employment Policy Framework and the African Youth Charter by the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment. The National Youth Policy Action Plan was developed to facilitate its implementation. This policy thrust takes into account that the youth are very vulnerable under the obtaining global economic challenges. 77. Comoros adopted its national Policy on HIV-AIDS at the Workplace. Botswana has commenced the process of drafting the 1st National Occupational Safety and Health Policy as well as the HIV/AIDS and Employment Policy. Algeria ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Disabled People. According to the Article 27 of this Convention, Algeria put in place various initiatives to support their integration in the labour market. The labour legal and regulatory framework recognize and protection their rights to productive employment and work, in specialized or conventional workplaces, without discrimination. Employers must reserve 1%


of the positions to disabled people, in compliance with the Law 02-09 of 08 May 2002 on the protection and promotion of disabled people (article 27, chapter IV). In addition, the self-employment programmes provide special treatment to the disabled people. Algeria upscaled its labour intensive programmes with increased public fund since 2011. Also, its original programme “Blanche Algérie » aims at socio economic insertion of the youth through micro enterprise creation to improve the living environment of the people and environment protection. “Blanche Algerie” created 5,433 jobs in 2010 and 10,436 in 2011. A monthly 3,000 DA cash compensation for Public Interest Work is attributed to every working age person who accepts to participate in this kind of work organized by local governments. An additional monthly 1200 DA cash is accorded to the entrepreneur. 254, 311 persons were benefiting from the scheme in 2010, 260,895 in 2011 and 265,830 in 2012. They have also social security coverage. 78. South African Department of Labour subsidized placement officials at National Councils for People with disabilities to facilitate their access to economic opportunities. 79. Angola is implementing its ambitious Eight Point Social Inclusion Programme, the Basic Law on 1st Employment, has launched the so-called “Micro Amigo Programme” and has extended the Incubator Enterprises through creation of entrepreneurship centres. 80. Burkina Faso established a Multisectoral Committee for Equal Chances for the Disabled Persons, and is implementing programmes on preventing risks incurred by the orphans and other vulnerable children (OEV). 81. Bold policy and operational initiatives have been deployed by some Member States (Liberia, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, etc) in the areas of HIV/AIDS at the workplace and child labour. HIV and AIDS is a major threat to the world of work. It is affecting the most productive segment of the labour force and reducing earnings. The impact of HIV and AIDS is seen through declining productivity, increasing health care bills, increasing labour costs due to increasing staff absenteeism. The Ghanaian National Workplace HIV/AIDS Policy was formulated by the social partners of the National Tripartite Committee (NTC), in collaboration with the AIDS Commission and the ILO. It is aimed at providing essential guidance to policy makers, employers and workers organizations for formulating and implementation workplace policies. 82. The Ghanaian Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare together with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and with the technical assistance from COCOBOD (Ghana Cocoa Board) , the World Cocoa Foundation and DANIDA, is implementing a National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa (NPECLC). The overall goal is to eliminate all worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector by 2011 and in other sectors by 2015. Cocoa is a major foreign exchange earner for Ghana, accounting for 37% of GDP (2003). It directly provides employment for about 3.5 million rural dwellers and, indirectly, affects the lives of almost all Ghanaians. Mauritius is implementing its National Multisectoral HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework 2007-2011. 83. As it is the case in some MS, Tunisia has developed a series of employment promotion programmes targeting the disabled persons to access labour income through self employment and/or salaried work. Also the legislative framework was tailored to cater for disabled people’s employment in the civil servant service. The promotional measures extend to members of their


families. Various social integration and promotion are available in favor of the vulnerable groups, such as the National Solidarity Fund “26-26”, the National Employment Fund “21-21” and the Tunisian Solidarity Fund3. 84. Member States and international partners also shared their experiences and programmes. The seminar elaborated recommendations and outlined a Project on Youth Employment in Post-Conflict Countries 85. Labour Migration is a natural response to the underlying demographic and economic differentials between countries worldwide. Migration flows within the Continent is enormous. The challenge and opportunity is to manage the already occurring massive labour migration in a manner that maximizes the opportunities and benefits of labour migration. The challenges need to be addressed by taking forward the relevant provisions of the Migration Policy Framework in Africa, in particular the chapter on “Labour Migration”, as well as with regard to the Abuja Treaty calls to recognize and promote the role of the labour migration policies in achieving Regional Social and Economic Integration and development in Africa. Conclusions: 86. Numerous programmes are conducted by MS in support to the vulnerable and marginalized groups, with the assistance of international partners. The main challenges remain Child Labour, HIV-AIDs at the workplace, Youth Employment in post-conflict settings and the protection of a cross border labour migration within the framework of integrated labour markets. Key Priority Area 11: Mobilization of resources at national, regional and international

levels. 87. By and large, Member States reported dire constraints in appropriately mobilizing the resource required for the effective implementation of their employment policies. Member States are making efforts to increase domestic resource for the implementation of employment policies. 88. The survey on funding of employment policies in africa indicated the main constraints faced at all levels and that continue keeping funding at low level, both from national budget and international partners. The responses pointed to the same constraints: (i) quality of the relationship with the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Development Planning; (ii) absence of follow –up, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for employment policies, programmes and projects; (iii) the ranking of the Ministry of Employment and Labour within the governmental apparel; (iv) the lack of visibility of the employment sector and issues; (vi) the weak familiarization/sensitization of the National Parliament and Senates on employment issues; (vii) the quality of the programmes/projects.

3 Third Biennial Follow-up Report on the Implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 Plan of Action


89. As a result, a Strategic Document on Resource Mobilization for the implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 Plan of action was endorsed by the AU Executive Council in July 2011. Its implementation will facilitate the implementation of employment policies at all levels.

labour and social affairs commission of … · labour and social affairs commission of the african...

Documents