14th African Regional Meeting

Presidential Panel on the Future of Work We Want for Africa


Panelists

Daniel Kablan Duncan
Vice-President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire

Guy Ryder
ILO Director-General

Mthunzi Mdwaba
IOE Vice President and Deputy Chairperson of the ILO Government Body

Yuba Wabba
President ITUC, President Nigerian Labour Congress

Moderator

Nozipho Mbanjwa

Overview

Building on the work done by the ILO with its constituents since the 13th African Regional Meeting and the Addis Ababa Declaration in December 2015, this 14th African Regional Meeting will take stock of the progress made. These developments align with the African priorities as specified in the AU’s Agenda 2063, UN SDGs by 2030 as well as Ouagadougou+10. The stock-taking will be undertaken as the basis for looking into the future, in order to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the changing nature of work. The Director-General’s Report to the 14th Africa Regional Meeting constitutes the key document to shape the discussions by the tripartite constituents. The outcome of the 14th ARM will be an agreed Decent Work Agenda for Africa towards advancing social justice for the coming 10 years: 2020–2030.

The Presidential Panel aims to highlight concrete decent work results achieved in Africa in the priority areas that emerged from the 13th African Regional Meeting. Examples include employment for young women and men, effective management of labour migration, extension of social protection and effective labour market governance. Beyond the reflection on past achievements, the panel will focus on the future with a view to sharing plans to facilitate structural transformation and achieve job rich sustainable and productive growth. The panel will highlight the strategic partnerships needed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the changing world of work. Beyond the vision, the panel will inspire the programme of work, which will shape the way forward in creating a brighter future of work for Africa.

The panel will discuss the following issues and questions:
  1. What were the key decent work achievements related to the major priorities identified during the 13th Africa Regional Meeting by since 2015? What were the key factors that facilitated these achievements?
  2. What are the plans to create a brighter future of work to ensure that the youth dividend is harnessed, gender equality is promoted and structural transformation is achieved?
  3. Given the impact of technology, artificial intelligence, mechanization and digitalization, how can African economies take advantage of the opportunities for new types of jobs, which these technologies present, while mitigating the job losses?
  4. How can productivity improvement in African go hand-in-hand with more and better jobs and what are the key triggers to bring this about?
  5. What are the main elements of the Centenary Declaration and how do they lay the foundation for the pursuit of Decent Work in Africa in the period 2020–2030?