ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
ILO-en-strap
Regional Meetings

Ninth African Regional Meeting

Abidjan
December 1999

 

 

 

 

ILO activities in
Africa: 1994-99

Report of the Director-General

 

 

 

 

 

International Labour Office  Geneva

 

ISBN 92-2-111841-X

 

 

The primary objective
of the ILO in Africa
is to promote opportunities
for women and men
to obtain decent and productive work,
in conditions of freedom,
equity, security
and human dignity.

 

Contents

Acronyms and abbreviations
 

ACODEP

Support to decentralized village communities for participatory development

ACOPAM

Organizational and cooperative support to grass-roots initiatives

AFRO/ICFTU

African Regional Organization

AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

ALIS

African labour information system

APP

Active Partnership Policy

ARLAC

African Regional Labour Administration Centre

BAD

African Development Bank

BCEAO

Central Bank of West African States

BEAC

Bank of Central African States

CILSS

Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drug Control in the Sahel

CRADAT

African Regional Centre for Labour Administration

CTA

Chief technical adviser

CUROR

Central Unit for the Reorganization of Rural Areas (Cameroon)

DOAWTU

Democratic Organization of African Workers' Trade Unions

EAMAT

East Africa Multidisciplinary Team

EMAC

Central Africa Multidisciplinary Team

EMAO

West Africa Multidisciplinary Team

EMAS

Sahelien Africa Multidisciplinary team

GDP

Gross domestic product

HDI

Human development index

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus

IBRD

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)

IILS

International Institute for Labour Studies

ILS

International labour standards

IMF

International Monetary Fund

IPEC

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO)

ISEP

International Small Enterprise Programme (ILO)

ISPEC

Pan-African Institute of Education and Cooperative Training (Cotonou)

JFA

Jobs for Africa

LDC

Least developed country

MDT

Multidisciplinary team

MERS

Monitoring, evaluation and reporting system (ILO)

NAMAT

North Africa Multidisciplinary Team

NGO

Non-governmental organization

OATUU

Organization of Africa Trade Union Unity

OAU

Organization of African Unity

OECD

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

PA-SMEC

Support Programme for Mutual Benefit Societies and Savings and Credit

PACDEL

Concerted autonomous participatory process for the development of local employment

PRODIAF

ILO/Belgian programme on social dialogue in French-speaking Africa

PRODIAL

ILO/Portugal programme on social dialogue in Portuguese-speaking countries

PSI

Programme support income

RBTC

Regular budget for technical cooperation

SADC

Southern African Development Community

SAMAT

Southern Africa Multidisciplinary Team

SIYB

Start and Improve Your Business

SME

Small and medium-sized enterprises

SOGVERS

Support for village groups in the East Savana region

STEP

Strategies and tools against social exclusion and poverty (ILO)

UEMOA

West African Economic and Monetary Union

UNAIDS

Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNHCR

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations Children's Fund

Introduction

The Eighth African Regional Conference was held in Mauritius in January 1994 and focused on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social protection. Since then a new set of rules for Regional Meetings has been adopted (1997) which specify that these meetings should constitute a platform for tripartite delegates to express their views on ILO regional activities.

The Ninth Regional Meeting is the main Meeting being organized by the ILO in Africa at the end of this century and the eve of the next millennium. This report reviews ILO activities in Africa since the last Meeting held in 1994 and also proposes a number of guidelines for future activities to serve as a basis for tripartite discussion during the Meeting.

Countries in the African region are facing a multitude of challenges. They have to find ways to boost their fragile economies, increase the value of human capital through education, training and health, and provide food security; but they have to contend with high population growth and accelerated urbanization, environmental deterioration, high levels of poverty, low productivity levels, small markets and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In addition, the region continues to be afflicted by ethnic conflicts and civil wars. Despite these problems and challenges, economic performance has improved substantially during the last five years in a number of countries, as has the democratization process.

This Report focuses on identifying what the ILO has done to alleviate the problems prevailing in the region during the past five years. It contains four chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the economic, political and social developments in the region during the period covered by the Report. It describes the efforts being made by many countries to meet their macroeconomic targets and implement Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). Macroeconomic performance has been encouraging in several countries; indeed the number of countries achieving positive economic growth has increased over the years.

However, despite this favourable macroeconomic performance, living standards have actually dropped for a vast proportion of the population and unemployment and poverty have increased. Constraints to development are still very much present in Africa. These constraints have seriously hampered growth and the implementation of economic reforms. In most countries in the region, the level of saving, investment and domestic consumption has remained low and the economic environment is not yet conducive to private investment due to institutional blockages and difficulties in accessing credit.

On the political side, the number of sub-Saharan countries with elected governments has increased from five to 24 since 1990. However, the pace is still slow compared to expectations. This transition from one-party authoritarianism to multi-party democracy is taking place alongside economic reform programmes. When free elections are held, they are welcomed enthusiastically. Regrettably, violence on the streets is far too common in many African countries. Furthermore, the large number of armed conflicts in the region have serious repercussions on prospects for employment promotion, poverty reduction and socio-economic development as a whole. The Report stresses that greater political stability in the region would allow leaders and communities to focus more on critical development issues rather than, as at present, devoting much of their attention to settling conflicts.

The social situation in Africa has been, to a large extent, marked by increasing poverty, bad governance, corruption, civil strife and the negative impact of HIV/AIDS. As regards labour market trends, the report points out that although unemployment problems are serious in many countries, a relatively small percentage of the active population is actually registered as unemployed. The concept of unemployment is usually associated with those employed in the formal sector — but they scarcely exceed 20 per cent of workers in some countries. Relatively low recorded rates of open unemployment mask the real magnitude of the employment problem in Africa. Given the extreme poverty and absence of unemployment benefits in a number of African countries, workers cannot afford to be unemployed in the strict sense of the term; they are engaged in survival activities, even if these do not provide full employment or generate sufficient income.

Formal employment has been declining in Africa over the past few years. SAPs have resulted in retrenchments in both the public and private sectors. This has led to an increase in the informalization of economies and growing unemployment and underemployment.

Chapter 2 of the Report highlights the major challenges faced by African countries that should envisage strategies to try and improve the living conditions of their populations, such as poverty alleviation through employment promotion; promotion of good governance and democracy; human resource development and employability; working conditions; and human rights and international labour standards.

Poverty constitutes a major challenge in Africa, with an average of more than 50 per cent living below the poverty line. As regards governance and democratization, the Report stresses that although positive changes are taking place in the region much needs to be done. Political instability, discrimination and gender inequality are still present — all of which have direct repercussions on poverty.

Working conditions, social protection and occupational safety and health are unreliable in Africa, particularly in the rural and informal sectors. Exploitation of child labour is prevalent. In the formal sector, long years of crisis in the region have not helped to improve working conditions; the overriding concern has been to boost economic
recovery and this has encouraged the infringement of minimum
working standards.

Concerning human rights and international labour standards, the Report lists a number of obstacles in Africa: weak institutional capacities of bodies responsible for ratification and implementation; financial costs of implementing the instruments; poor internal communication within government structures; insufficient capacity of the social partners; and, in some instances, inconsistencies between the requirements of the Conventions and the provisions of national legislation.

Chapter 3 describes the ILO Programme for Africa, referring to various projects and meetings in the region. Employment-intensive programmes have always been part of the overall ILO strategy to promote employment creation, private-sector development and poverty alleviation in Africa. This chapter highlights some of the flagship programmes in Africa, such as Jobs for Africa, Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) and organizational and cooperative support to grass-roots initiatives (ACOPAM). It also points out that much remains to be done to improve the occupational safety and health conditions of workers and the working environment and to provide workers with greater social protection. The action advocated by the ILO has been inspired by a concern to ensure better social benefits within the framework of existing structures and, above all, by a desire to ensure that greater account is taken of the needs of the majority of workers who carry out their activities outside the modern sector.

Chapter 3 also highlights the urgent need to reassess and reform social protection systems in Africa. Social security systems in Africa are affected by limited coverage, inadequate financing systems and inappropriate policies. In many countries less than 10 per cent of the total labour force — corresponding to specific categories of wage-earners in the formal sector — is covered. The transition to market economies and the need to attract foreign investments have forced many States to lower the existing safety and health standards and the minimum requirements regarding working conditions. The last part of the chapter reviews human and financial resources.

Chapter 4 details specific activities for workers' and employers' organizations. Employers' and workers' organizations have become increasingly involved over the years in various aspects of labour relations: participation; gender mainstreaming; the campaign against child labour; awareness-raising and education, in particular among their membership; and participation in national and regional consultations.

1.

Development situation of the African region: General context

 

Macroeconomic context

After nearly two decades of economic stagnation, the economic performance in several African countries has improved substantially during the past five years. This came after the deterioration of the socio-economic conditions in Africa during the 1980s, a decade widely regarded as Africa's "lost decade" of development opportunities. The turnaround started in the early 1990s, and is fairly widespread, taking place in countries that account for about half of Africa's population and output.

A host of factors caused the acute economic crisis of the 1980s, including: poor economic policy management leading to inflation; unemployment; rising fiscal deficits; and capital flight. These were exacerbated by external factors, particularly: low and falling primary commodity prices; declining terms of trade; dwindling capital flows into Africa that resulted in mounting current account and balance of payments deficits; and an escalating internal and external debt stock.

Confronted with these problems, most African countries have, since the 1980s, been implementing Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) recommended by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as antidotes to the economic crisis. SAPs were presented as programmes that would restore stabilization in the short term and sustainable growth in the medium to long term.

From 1994 to 1998, most African countries experienced economic growth; this was the case for 37 out of the 48 sub-Saharan countries. Average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for sub-Saharan Africa was 2.9 per cent in 1995, climbing to 3.4 per cent in 1997 and reaching 3.2 per cent in 1998. Economic growth averaged 3.8 per cent between 1995 and 1998.(1) The number of countries with improving performance has been growing in recent years. In 33 countries, economic growth exceeds population growth with the result that per capita incomes are now increasing — in some countries for the first time in decades.

As shown in table 1.1, the average macroeconomic indicators are improving in the region. Macroeconomic disequilibrium was reduced through lower public deficits, improvement of balance of payments, reduced inflation, increased monetary discipline, etc.

Table 1.1. Africa: Macroeconomic indicators, 1990-98
 

Indicators

1990

1995

1996

1997

1998

1. Real GDP growth rate (%)

2.5

2.9

5.5

3.4

3.2

2. Real per capita GDP growth rate (%)

-0.3

0.2

2.7

0.7

0.6

3. Inflation (%)

17.0

33.0

25.1

13.7

12.0

4. Investment ratio (% of GDP)

22.0

20.0

18.9

18.7

20.0

5. Fiscal balance (% of GDP)

-4.3

-3.0

-2.5

-1.8

-2.7

6. Growth of money supply (%)

20.1

22.6

18.4

15.8

12.4

7. Export growth, volume (%)

4.8

9.2

8.1

4.4

-0.7

8. Import growth, volume (%)

4.8

7.3

3.2

7.9

4.8

9. Terms of trade (%)

5.0

-0.6

2.5

1.5

-5.7

10. Trade balance ($ billion)

7.1

-4.6

4.4

2.2

-11.4

11. Current account ($ billion)

-8.9

-13.5

-4.4

-4.2

-19.0

12. Current account (% of GDP)

-1.9

-2.7

-0.8

-0.8

-3.4

13. Debt service (% of exports)

21.9

23.0

22.2

18.8

22.5

Source: ADB: African Development Report, 1999 (Washington, Oxford University Press, 1998).

The number of countries experiencing positive real GDP growth increased significantly from 1990 to 1998. As shown in figure 1.1, the number of countries experiencing negative real GDP growth declined from 21 in 1990 and ten in 1995 to four in 1998.

While world output grew by 2.2 per cent in 1998 compared to 4.2 per cent in 1997, output changes from Africa remained relatively stable, declining from 3.4 per cent in 1997 to 3.2 per cent in 1998.(2) This was partly due to the increase in the number of countries experiencing real GDP growth and the region's limited integration in the global financial system. Figure 1.2 shows the trends in output changes for Africa, compared to other regions in the world. Globalization provides new opportunities but also creates risks for African workers, enterprises and economies as a whole. As the region cannot stop or slow the process, it is necessary to ensure that the benefits achieved are maintained and to identify policies to contain the social, economic and political risks asociated with this new world order.

However, despite the favourable macroeconomic performance in the region, SAPs have led to a decline in living standards for a vast proportion of the population, mounting unemployment and increasing poverty. The constraints to development still remain to a great extent in Africa.

The economic environment in most countries in the region is not yet conducive to private investment, due to institutional blockages and difficulties in accessing credit. These constraints have seriously hampered growth and the implementation of economic reforms. The level of saving, investment and domestic consumption has remained low in most countries. The burden of debt is still an obstacle to development; the debt service is still high and, in some countries, it accounts for an important share of exports. The external vulnerability of African economies remains high despite the implementation of reform programmes. Conflicts and civil strife persist in several countries.

Although economic growth has, as stated above, been positive, the poorest sections of the population have yet to reap its rewards. The cost reduction measures associated with the reform programmes have had a direct consequence on living standards. Social conditions of the people have continued to deteriorate, with more than 50 per cent of the people living in absolute poverty.

Despite the diversity of situations that characterize Africa, the democratic overtures that began at the end of the 1980s continued right through the 1990s, accompanied in the majority of countries by the revision of constitutions and electoral laws, the setting up of institutions (e.g. independent electoral committees, courts of audit, supreme courts, social and economic councils, etc.), political parties and trade union pluralism, the organization of elections and the diversification and proliferation of independent media.

The first half of the 1990s thus witnessed the implementation and strengthening of the democratization process against a background of economic crisis, structural adjustment and a variety of other reforms. During the second half of the decade, while it was recognized that some progress had been made, it also became clear that the region needed peace and stability to consolidate its democratic structures, its integration and the upturn in economic growth, and to avoid marginalization at a time when globalization was gaining pace.

The democratization process in Africa is expected to result in more participatory styles of government, thus building up confidence in the region and attracting increased domestic and foreign investment. On the other hand, countries that are politically unstable and embroiled in civil wars face the risk of capital flight and lack of confidence — and in these countries job creation prospects are dim.

Furthermore, the large number of armed conflicts in the region have serious repercussions on prospects for employment promotion, poverty reduction and socio-economic development as a whole. During the first half of 1998 alone, there were about 17 intra-state armed conflicts which had serious repercussions on most of the subregions, in particular, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region, Central and West Africa. These conflicts also pose a major challenge to the region's future in human terms, as they usually result in an increase in the number of refugees and disabled and displaced people. There are refugees in almost all African countries and the African continent has the lion's share of refugees in the world.

It is also worth noting that greater political stability in the region would allow leaders and communities to focus more on critical development issues, rather than, as at present, devoting much of their attention to settling conflicts. Poverty is among the root causes as well as the effects of armed conflicts which erode socio-economic development, destroy workplaces, undermine working conditions and training opportunities.

The current process of democratization has led to increased participation of the civil society in the formulation and implementation of economic and political policies. This was acknowledged by the tripartite participants of the latest Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners, held in February 1999; they stated that although consultations were still not very widespread, governments in several countries were now consulting with national stakeholders.

This process has also led to the emergence of civil "watchdogs" such as human rights associations and NGOs, which are contributing to the development process and to the decentralization processes of decision-making. Although their presence is not very strong in some countries, these "watchdogs" are gradually gaining strength.

The social situation in Africa has been, to a large extent, marked by increasing poverty, bad governance, corruption, civil strife and the negative impact of HIV/AIDS. Africa has more than 30 countries classified as least developed countries (LDCs), with an average population growth of 3 per cent. Since 1995, however, some of these countries have been recording economic growth that is exceeding their population growth. None the less, the majority of the people in these countries live under conditions of absolute poverty.

In Africa, women are disproportionately poor — and bear a disproportionate share of the responsibility of the household. Despite the fact that more women are involved in subsistence agricultural activities, in most countries women do not own land under customary laws. In addition, SAPs have tended to discriminate against non-tradables; hence women have tended to be more negatively affected by this bias, as they are more involved in non-tradable activities. Furthermore, African women are more illiterate when compared to their male counterparts.

Increased rural-urban migration has resulted in communities settling in the outskirts of towns, which is an increasing cause for concern. The urbanization rate does not match the availability of facilities in these areas. Unemployment and underemployment — particularly of young people —, high competition and the reduction in the pool of jobs from the formal sector are all common features in most urban areas.

Generally speaking, urban communities appear to be less poor than those in the rural areas. However, the number of poor in towns and their outskirts is high. Despite decreasing job prospects, towns continue to attract many rural inhabitants, as it is assumed that they offer better conditions than rural communities.

For a general overview of the social situation, the UNDP's composite human development index (HDI) is a useful tool (table 1.2). This indicator, based on real GDP per capita, life expectancy at birth and level of education extends the economic concept of well-being. Africa experienced a slight progression in human well-being during the first two decades of independence in terms of per capita income, education and training, and life expectancy. After 1980, the situation changed in a number of countries, with per capita income falling until the middle of the 1990s. This gave rise to the concepts of Afro-pessimism and lost generations, despite the fact that overall the HDI continued to rise very slightly and that some countries, while restricted, experienced sustained dynamism.

Table 1.2. Principal development indicators in Africa compared
to other regions (1997)
 

 

Sub-Saharan
Africa

Least developed
countries

Develping
countries

Industralized
countries

World   

HDI

0.463

0.430

0.637

0.919

0.706

Life expectancy (years)

48.9

51.7

64.4

77.7

66.7

Real GDP per capita (PPP)*

1 534

992

3 240

23 741

6 332

(Women)

1 063

731

2 088

17 660

4 253

(Men)

2 004

1 258

4 374

30 050

8 103

Population without access to safe water 1990-97 (%)

50

41

28

—

—

AIDS cases per 100,000 population

111.1

69.1

28.9

99.1

39.7

Population without access to sanitation 1990-97 (%)

56

63

57

—

—

Infant mortality (% per thousand)

105

104

64

6

58

Education index

0.54

0.46

0.67

0.96

0.73

Daily per capita supply of calories

2 226

2 090

2 129

2 986

2 336

* Purchasing power parity.

Source: UNDP: Human Development Report 1999 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1999).

In the 1998 UNDP Human Development Report, only three African countries were classified as having high human development (Seychelles, Mauritius, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya); 13 had medium human development and the remainder had low human development. In the 1999 report, no African country was in the high HDI cluster, 29 were in the medium cluster and the rest were in the low human development index group. According to UNDP data, Africa (sub-Saharan Africa, in particular) has the world's lowest level of human development. The lowest 20 countries in terms of the HDI index are all African.

Since HIV began spreading, an estimated 34 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa have been infected with the virus. Some 11.5 million of those people have already died, a quarter of them children (UNAIDS, 1998). Sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of less than 10 per cent of the total world population, is home to 66 per cent of HIV infections (UNAIDS/WHO, 1998). The HIV epidemic in Africa, despite efforts to contain it, continues to pose major challenges in the workplace and society as a whole. It is a human tragedy of immense proportions. AIDS is directly affecting the well-being of people, enterprises and the economies. HIV/AIDS is no longer just a health issue, but a development issue.

As of the end of 1998, it was reported that HIV-related illness is the commonest cause of death in the 15-49 year age groups. Thus, one of the characteristics of the epidemic is that those infected with AIDS tend to be in their prime productive years. The impact on the social and productive areas of the economies and societies cannot be underestimated since it is on this age group that all nations rely for support of families, production and, ultimately, the standard of living.

Sadly enough, it appears that the recent economic upsurge in Africa has not been accompanied by a similar trend in employment creation in the formal sector. Data is not available in most countries to provide firm evidence. The macroeconomic results of structural adjustment are generally seen as positive, but to a considerable extent the constraints on development remain and the social consequences are negative. The reforms that have taken place in the framework of structural adjustment programmes have led to a reduction in workforce numbers both in the public service and in the formal private sector, and to an increase in informal sector employment, which is often precarious from the point of view of working conditions and remuneration and lacks any social protection.

Although unemployment problems are serious in many countries, a relatively small percentage of the active population is actually registered as unemployed. The concept of unemployment is usually associated with those employed in the formal sector — but these barely exceed 20 per cent in some countries. Relatively low recorded rates of open unemployment mask the real magnitude of the employment problem in Africa. Given the extreme poverty and absence of unemployment benefits in a number of African countries, workers cannot afford to be unemployed in the strict sense of the term; they are engaged in survival activities, even if these do not provide full employment or generate sufficient income.

With an average of over 3 per cent annual population growth rate, Africa has the fastest growing population in the world, which has in turn resulted in a rapid labour force growth. Estimates depict that the rapid labour force growth in the 1990s is likely to continue into the early twenty-first century. The ILO World Employment Report 1998-99, projects a 2.9 per cent growth of the economically active population between 1997 and 2010. In other parts of the world, the predicted growth rate is lower: 1.9 per cent for South-East Asia, and 1.8 per cent for Latin America. With the 2.9 per cent growth of the economically active population, 8.7 million new jobseekers enter the market every year.

In some countries, less than 10 per cent of the labour force is employed in wage employment in the formal sector, the vast majority being employed in the urban informal sector and the rural sector. Unemployment is rapidly rising in the large African cities — ranging from 15 to 35 per cent in some large cities. Young people (15 to 24 years) account for between 60 and 75 per cent of the unemployed and often lack any professional qualifications. At the regional level, underemployment is a further major concern which particularly affects the rural and informal sectors.

Table 1.3 gives the rate of growth of total employment in selected African countries. As highlighted in the table, employment growth in most countries has been lower than labour force growth. A large proportion of new jobs created has been in the informal sector, where productivity and working conditions are poor. The African Employment Report 1997-98, suggests that this might be attributed to the adoption of SAPs by most African countries, which have led to widespread retrenchments and the displacement of workers.

Table 1.3. Labour market indicators for selected African countries
 

 

Unemploy-
ment rate 1

Annual employment
growth rate 1

Annual labour force
growth rate 1

Annual GDP
growth rate 2

 

1989 3

1995 4

1987-95 5

1992-95 6

1987-96 7

1993-96 8

1993-96 9

1997

Algeria

17.0

23.8

1.0

0.7

4.1

4.2

2.5

3.2

Benin

—

—

-6.4

7.3

2.7

2.6

4.9

—

Botswana

—

—

5.6

1.1

2.8

2.5

4.5

—

Burkina Faso

—

—

4.1

3.1

2.1

2.1

3.8

—

Burundi

—

—

-2.6

—

2.6

2.6

-6.7

—

Egypt

6.9

11.3

0.5

2.1

2.7

2.8

4.6

5.0

Kenya

—

—

3.3

—

3.0

2.7

3.2

1.3

Mauritius

5.0

6.0

2.3

—

2.1

3.3

4.9

—

Morocco

—

—

3.6

2.8

2.6

2.6

5.1

—

South Africa

—

5.1

—

—

2.2

2.0

2.7

1.7

Swaziland

—

—

2.1

1.5

3.4

3.8

2.8

—

Tunisia

16.2

—

3.2

—

2.9

3.0

4.5

5.6

Zimbabwe

—

—

2.3

1.4

2.8

2.3

3.8

—

— = not available.

1 ILO for employment and unemployment and World Bank for labour force; for Mauritius, national sources. 2 World Bank and IMF. 3 Tunisia (1988). 4 Algeria (1992); South Africa (1996); Mauritius (1997). 5 Benin and Burkina Faso (1987-92); Burundi and Kenya (1987-91); Egypt (1989-95); Mauritius (1987-97); Morocco (1989-92); Swaziland (1987-93); Tunisia (1989-94); Zimbabwe (1987-94). 6 Algeria (1991-95); Benin, Burkina Faso and Morocco (1991-92); Swaziland (1992-93); Zimbabwe (1992-94). 7 Mauritius (1987-97). 8 Mauritius (1995-97). 9 Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia (1993-97).

Source: ILO: Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1997 (Geneva, 1997); IMF: International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1997 (Washington, DC, 1997); World Bank: World Development Indicators 1998 (Washington, DC, 1998).

Given the lack of opportunities in rural areas, the urban labour force is growing due to increased rural-urban migration. In many sub-Saharan countries, the urban labour force is expected to grow at an average rate of 6 per cent per annum.

In Africa, a large share of the population derives their livelihood from agriculture. Labour market conditions have not improved in the rural areas, despite the rural-urban migration. In fact, in some countries, agricultural output has declined, leading to an overall decline in food output per capita.

The majority of the sub-Saharan labour force is engaged in agriculture, although there is a wide disparity in figures; these range from 17 per cent in Mauritius to 92 per cent in Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Burundi. An average of 68 per cent of the African labour force is in the agricultural sector.(3)

Formal employment has been declining in Africa over the last few years. SAPs have resulted in retrenchments in both the public and private sectors. This has led to an increase in the informalization of the economies and increased unemployment and underemployment.

Between 1980 and 1995, labour force productivity, calculated according to output per worker or the GDP rate in relation to the active population, fell consistently due to a combination of factors: the low economic growth rate; the high growth rate of the working population; and the contraction in investment. The fall in the average labour force productivity level, compounded by rapid inflation, led to a fall in real income.

The low rate of investment growth and the rapid rise in the number of jobseekers has caused a reduction in the capital-employment ratio in some sectors. It should be noted that income erosion is more pronounced in the public sector than in the private sector, given that the reduction in the wage bill in the public sector is one of the main objectives of SAPs. Despite the economic recovery which is being consolidated in the region, the positive effects on employment, wages and income are not sufficiently discernible.

The labour force participation of women has been decreasing due to the negative effects of SAPs, the prolonged economic crisis and retrenchments in the civil service. The situation is worsened by the fact that women are already suffering from occupational segregation, educational disparity and cultural factors. Most women are therefore concentrated in the labour-intensive agricultural and informal sectors which have poor working conditions, low levels of technology and education skills and lower remuneration.

In Africa, women dominate the urban informal sector and peasant agriculture — both of which have the lowest productivity levels. The ILO African Employment Report 1998-99 reviews a number of studies on female participation rates in the labour market. According to The World Development Report 1996 (World Bank), in 1994, females accounted for 44 per cent of the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa and 28 per cent of the labour force in North Africa and the Middle East.

Unemployment rates are particularly high among young people — especially school drop-outs. More recently, in some countries, they have been high among graduates which has given rise to the problem of educated unemployment.

The problem of youth employment reflects the contraction of jobs in the formal sector. It is also linked to the fact that many African countries continue to record high population growth rates, with the population structure being relatively young. Children of school age in some countries account for more than half of the population. In most countries, despite the informalization of the economy, there is no straightforward transition from school to self-employment in the urban informal sector.

Basic education for young people and the elimination of adult illiteracy remain challenges for many countries. In 1995, the adult literacy rate was 57 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa; the percentage of children of school age in full-time education was 75 per cent for primary education and 25 per cent for secondary education. The working population and those preparing to take up employment do not always have the indispensable foundations for acquiring the qualifications necessary to promote efficient enterprises, irrespective of the sector under consideration. In a number of countries, governments are no longer able to raise revenue to finance primary education of any quality.

The employment prospects for Africa in the years ahead will be contingent upon a number of factors that include: sustained economic growth; macro and sectorial policies that are sensitive to employment creation; overall and sectorial capital labour ratios; labour market flexibility and mobility; ability of the economy to innovate and adapt imported and appropriate technology; and elasticity of employment with respect to output. Furthermore, African countries need to adjust the pace of their economic reforms to reflect particular national realities.

1. African Development Bank (ADB): African Development Report, 1999 (Washington, Oxford University Press, 1998).

2. ADB: African Development Report, 1999, ibid.

3. ILO: African Employment Report 1998-99 (Addis Ababa, 1999).

2. Major African challenges

Countries in the African region are facing a multitude of challenges: they have to find ways to boost their fragile economies, increase the value of human capital through education, training and health and provide food security; but they also have to contend with high population growth and accelerated urbanization, environmental deterioration, high levels of poverty, debt burden, low productivity levels, small markets and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The region continues to be afflicted by ethnic conflicts and civil wars, exacerbated by economic failures. Two decades of structural adjustment have produced no significant break in a familiar vicious circle. Poverty and inequality generate social conflict and violence; these lead to political instability and uncertainty which, in turn, lead to low investment and slow growth — thus deepening poverty. The economic situation in the region as a whole remains fragile, with private investment as a share of GDP still below the levels of the 1970s. The social situation remains critical, with more than 50 per cent of the population living in absolute poverty. However, as stated above, in recent years several countries have made significant progress towards greater social participation, public accountability of the State, and sustainable economic policies.

Most of these challenges have been the subject of global summits which go beyond the concerns unique to Africa, but Africa nevertheless has played an important role in them, as has the ILO within the framework of its mandate: the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro), the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo), the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing), the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen), the Conference on Human Settlements (Istanbul) and the Conference on Child Labour (Oslo). The major challenges in the spheres focused on by the ILO concern: governance, democratization and the case of countries involved in conflicts or emerging from them; poverty and employment; working conditions; human rights and international labour standards.

Poverty constitutes a major challenge in Africa. On average more than 50 per cent of the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa live below the poverty line, which constitutes the highest percentage in all regions of the world. Half the continent's population lives on less than US$1 per day. According to current trends, almost 400 million people in Africa will be living below the poverty line as the world approaches the next century. The macroeconomic indicators that have been favourable in recent years do not translate into a significant reduction in poverty and the fate of the majority of the population remains deplorable. Of 47 countries classified in the world as LDCs, 33 are African. An evaluation of poverty in these countries reveals that:

In the coastal countries bordering the Sahel it is the northern regions which are most affected by poverty. However, poverty is far from absent in other rural regions, even if it does not manifest itself quite so acutely. Pockets of poverty are reported in the rural world even in regions with recognized agricultural potential. The same holds true for certain coastal and forest areas in coastal countries. The existence of these pockets is often explained not by the absence of natural resources that could be developed, but by certain restrictive factors: enclosed areas, lack of credit for the financing of new activities, lack of organization of local markets, etc.

The outskirts of towns are an increasing cause for concern. These areas are confronted with a rise in underemployment — particularly of young people —, high competition, a reduction in the pool of jobs deriving from the formal sector and high immigration. Although, generally speaking, towns appear to be less poor than the rural areas, the growth rate of the population in the poor and very poor social strata of these outlying urban areas is also very high. It goes without saying that the greater the poverty in rural areas, the higher the migration towards urban areas. In spite of the fall in the job creation potential, towns continue to attract large numbers of rural inhabitants.

Although the macroeconomic results of structural adjustment are generally considered positive, constraints on development still remain to a great extent and there are bound to be social repercussions. The reforms that have taken place in the framework of SAPs have led to a reduction in the workforce, both in the public service and in the formal private sector, and to an increase in informal sector employment, which is often precarious from the point of view of working conditions and remuneration and lacks any social protection.

Particular attention should therefore be paid to the problems raised by the informal economy, which accounts for about 60 per cent of the urban labour force in the region. Though it provides vital employment, the informal economy raises major concerns for ILO constituents. Trade unions worry that informal labour practices will both undermine labour legislation and reduce levels of formal employment; employers are concerned about "unfair" competition from informal producers; and governments wish to preserve the growth benefits of the informal economy while providing adequate protection for their workers, in the form of decent working conditions, occupational safety and health and social security.

ILO constituents in Africa stress the need to increase employment and remuneration. This will require a multifaceted approach; emphasis must be placed on the promotion of vocational training and small enterprises, as well as productivity increases, while fostering economic and social security, combating child labour and responding to acute social and political crises.

ILO constituents also consider that an important reason for poor economic performance has been the lack of appropriate policy advice. Many followed the recommendations of the Bretton Woods institutions, sometimes reluctantly, and adopted a wide range of reforms. These involved liberalization, deregulation, privatization and reducing the role of the State. Nevertheless, while it is accepted that reforms are necessary, many constituents now want advice on reform programmes that are both market-oriented and socially sensitive and more geared to the specific context of African economies.

Constituents in the region need better labour information systems and programme management capacities in all priority fields of ILO activities in Africa. This need applies to both the administration and social partners, since a sound analysis of information is required for planning and implementation of programmes and policies.

The economic crises, social upheavals and armed conflicts which endure in Africa can largely be attributed to institutional failings. Various studies emphasize that the institutional capabilities are the missing link in African development and this institutional weakness has repercussions on peace and stability, macroeconomic management and social and cultural development. Improvements to the institutional framework must focus on fundamental elements such as the rule of law, public interest and the healthy management of public affairs, transparency and the struggle against corruption. Within the democratization process it may be observed that despite pluralism (the multi-party system, the media), the institutions which could counterbalance the executive power and strengthen the sense of responsibility (legislative power, judiciary, social partners, media) are weak; a number of laws have not been taken up by the population.

The weakness or the absence of a counterbalance perpetuates the patrimonial State, and political and personal loyalty is rewarded more than merit. One important aspect of the reforms is therefore to lift the constraints weighing down a very unfavourable macro-institutional form of governing. Also, in the framework of social dialogue programmes set up in the region, the approach consists above all of carrying out an "inventory" followed up by high-level tripartite seminars for an exchange of experiences at the subregional level in order to outline plans of action. The "Bata Declaration" (Central Africa, 1998) states that the governments, represented by their labour ministers, and the social partners reaffirm "the importance of promoting social dialogue, the guarantee of social peace, of democratic and responsible management of the economy, of harmony and serenity in the social climate ... (and intend) to bring national positive laws into line with the relevant provisions of the principal ILO Conventions to which each of the States is a party ...".

The lack of a consensus between the various social strata on how to respond to the major challenges of the individual countries and the continent must be overcome and the organizations of civil society should be consolidated; furthermore, the trade unions and workers' and employers' organizations should be strengthened in order to promote positive social dialogue, acknowledging that tripartite participation and the development of democratic institutions constitute the sine qua non of the effectiveness, transparency and responsibility which underlie good governance. Only by strengthening these institutional structures will Africa achieve effective development and quell the numerous conflicts and challenges it currently faces.

Sustained recovery and employment growth in Africa will also require political stability, good governance and democracy. ILO constituents in Africa have requested the ILO to contribute to good governance and development by helping minimize labour and other social conflicts. This assistance would involve such areas as labour administration, industrial relations, tripartite consultation, settlement of disputes, labour legislation and labour standards.

Gender inequality is a common feature in many labour institutions in the region. In some countries, this already begins at primary-school level, where female drop-outs are relatively high compared to their male counterparts. Social security systems also tend frequently to identify the family breadwinner as male. Labour market segmentation along gender lines generates structural differences between men and women that are difficult to address in conventional labour markets.

Discrimination on grounds of age, sex, ethnic origin, national extraction and religious or political beliefs as well as other grounds such as physical disability and HIV infection, continues to prevent certain categories of the population from achieving equal access to training, employment, factors of production and financing. Moreover, certain forms of forced labour still exist. These problems are exacerbated in countries afflicted by armed conflicts. The integration into national law of international labour standards on fundamental workers' rights, and particularly their application, still gives rise to problems. Violations of freedom of association still occur in some countries in the region.

African constituents also feel that regional and subregional integration would contribute considerably to better governance and sustainable growth. The ILO will therefore consider regrouping various activities aimed at supporting regional integration to achieve greater impact and visibility.

In the current globalization process the employability of individuals depends to an ever-increasing extent on qualifications and, at the macroeconomic level, the competitiveness of national economies. Basic education for young people and the elimination of illiteracy for adults remain challenges for many countries. As globalization gathers pace and economic and social needs change, countries are faced with the task of: improving the efficiency of the labour force by making training policies and programmes more relevant to the needs of the population; making training more effective to meet the objectives of improved employability and productivity at work; developing the cost-efficiency of training; and ensuring equality of access to human resources training and development opportunities.

In 1995, the adult literacy rate was 57 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa; the percentage of children of school age in full-time education was 75 per cent for primary education and 25 per cent for secondary education. The working population and those preparing to take up employment thus always do not have the indispensable foundations for acquiring the qualifications necessary to promote efficient enterprises, irrespective of the sector under consideration.

Furthermore, the evolution in vocational training systems seen in Africa in recent years reveals major dysfunctions and impairments:

Working conditions, social protection and occupational safety and health are unreliable in Africa, particularly in the rural and informal sectors. Underemployment, precarious income and exploitation of child labour prevail. The use of pesticides and chemical products, the introduction of new technologies, pollution and environmental deterioration expose workers to hazards that are even more serious in view of the fact that people often are unaware of them. In the formal sector of enterprises, long years of crisis have not helped to improve working conditions because the concern for economic recovery at any price has encouraged the infringement of minimum standards. The intensification of globalization and competition and the development of export processing zones raise fears of worsening working conditions. The problems of alcoholism and drug abuse at the workplace should not be overlooked.

In some countries, social protection systems cover less than 10 per cent of the labour force, and this coverage is for a limited number of hazards. The overwhelming majority of the working population in the rural sector and the urban informal sector have no social protection. Despite progress seen in recent years, most African countries need innovative and better targeted programmes in the spheres of safety and health at work, and should reform and extend their social protection systems. Supported by ILO programmes such as ACOPAM and STEP, local experiences with mutual health and solidarity insurance companies offered to certain categories of people not covered by the public system are still limited in scope.

African member States have always recognized the importance of Conventions, ratified or not. Conventions have always been an inspiration to the development of national legislations and practices. The ILO has always stated that it is not enough to ratify Conventions; the Conventions must also be used to improve the lives of the people of the respective countries. However, numerous structural weaknesses reduce the efficiency of the bodies responsible for ratifying and applying international labour standards. The ILO's Committee of Experts indicates that a third of the countries in the region do not send reports on the application of ratified Conventions or transmit information in response to its observations. Furthermore, in 1999, only five of the 53 countries had ratified the seven fundamental Conventions: 18 had ratified six; 13 had ratified five; five had ratified four; seven had ratified three; three had ratified two; and two countries had not ratified any.

The transition to pluralism is not easy for workers' organizations which often have to cope with violations of freedom of association. Fundamental ILO standards must be promoted at both the level of the social partners and at that of the subregional and regional institutions and the development partners.

Women must also be helped to benefit from the legislative improvements introduced following the transition to pluralism and the Fourth World Conference on Women, in order to have better access to employment and working conditions. Rural women, for instance, should participate to a greater extent in tripartite institutions at all levels in African countries.

The African region has to cope with problems of a technical and substantive nature. The technical obstacles include: weak institutional or material capacity within ministries which oversee the ratification and reporting process; the financial costs of implementing the instruments; poor internal communication within government structures; and insufficient capacity of the social partners and the tripartite bodies covering labour matters. The substantive problems include: inconsistencies between the requirements of the Conventions and the provisions in national legislation; the lack of national legislation altogether; or the complexity of the standards.

Ministries of Labour in Africa generally have few or poorly qualified staff and do not have sufficient resources to fulfil their mission. Their influence on the major policy guidelines for economic and social reforms is relatively limited and the confidence of employers' and workers' organizations is often tested. This situation explains the hurdles, delays and complaints which arise when it comes to the revision of legislation (Labour Codes, Social Security Codes), the ratification process and the application of standards. These difficulties also relate to the workings of the labour inspectorate and the public employment services.

With regard to child labour, 40 per cent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 years are forced to work. Thirty-two per cent of working children worldwide are African. The exploitation of child workers, particularly in agriculture, the informal sector and domestic service — and even as combatants — is a major problem in many African States. Even the protection available to them under certain forms of apprenticeship is usually inadequate. Altogether, some 16 million children work in Africa, often in dangerous conditions and subject to extreme forms of exploitation such as slavery, the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, prostitution and the trafficking of young female domestic workers.

In 1998, only 57 countries in the world and 11 in Africa had ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). The deterioration in the social fabric and in traditional values, economic difficulties and the pauperization of large sections of both urban and rural society, shortcomings in the education and training systems, are all causes put forward to explain this phenomenon.

3. The ILO response to African challenges

The ILO response to the challenges outlined above and to the priorities of the region identified by its constituents is based on its knowledge base and advisory and other services. It is mainly channelled and implemented through its technical cooperation activities. The priorities of the region are identified in consultation with the tripartite partners of the ILO, also taking into account recommendations of world summits on development (box 3.1).
 

Box 3.1. Priorities of the ILO programme in Africa

Based on the challenges outlined in Chapter 2, the priorities of the ILO programme in Africa for the period under review are determined using a general framework, described in the report.

The priorities during the period were:

1. Poverty alleviation through employment promotion

  • Integration of employment issues into economic policies and programmes
  • Employment and enterprise promotion
  • Promotion of training systems and programmes

2. Protection of workers

  • Improving working conditions, environment and the health and safety of workers
  • Strengthening and extension of social protection

3. Promotion of human rights, social dialogue and international labour standards

  • Promotion of human rights
  • Elimination of child labour
  • Promotion of social dialogue and participation

4. Strengthening of information, planning and programming systems

  • Provision of information for all activities to assist in the planning, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes

Through its technical cooperation activities, the ILO provides concrete assistance to constituents for the promotion of social justice. The Active Partnership Policy (APP) has aimed to enhance synergy among all ILO means of action and to ensure that technical cooperation programmes are built on a real partnership with constituents and respond rapidly and efficiently to their needs, while being centred on the Organization's mandate and values.

The ILO's resource mobilization strategy was adopted by the Governing Body at its November 1997 meeting. This is updated in response to the changing environment and outlines various measures through which the Office seeks to promote relevance, coherence, quality and capacity to deliver a sound technical cooperation programme. The main activities implemented by the ILO programme in Africa are described below.

Poverty alleviation through employment promotion is and has been the primary priority of the region, as highlighted in the current and previous Programme and Budgets. The creation of jobs and the reduction of poverty remain the major concerns of all countries in the region despite the recent encouraging economic growth achieved in more and more countries. Unemployment and poverty have not been significantly reduced as a result of this growth. Thus, the action taken in recent biennia can make only a partial contribution towards resolving the problems identified. In particular, this action has been targeted on strengthening national competencies through the application of various means: institutional support, advisory services (studies, recommendations), training and technical cooperation projects.

Steps have been taken to ensure that the economic reforms introduced are designed to achieve sustained growth which is favourable to employment promotion in terms of quantity and quality of jobs. The reforms concern both the formal, the informal and rural sectors. When jobs are created, measures should also be taken to guarantee appropriate remuneration as well as proper social protection.

Activities during the period under review included:

Box 3.2. Main message from the Sixth ILO BiennialMeeting
of African Employment Planners (1999) 

Economic and social reforms (notably structural adjustment programmes) should be based on social consensus; tripartite structures should manage international commitments; employment should be a key component of economic and social policy, including at the subregional, regional and international levels. The burden of adjustment should be shared more equally among the different groups in society, making it possible for a national consensus to be formed. Debt relief is not just a moral issue, but a real economic problem, as the debt hampers growth. States should protect to a certain extent their emerging dynamic and export-oriented national industrial fabric; caution should be exercised in trade liberalization and internal restructuring, and appropriate social protection systems are a prerequisite to opening up to foreign markets.

Subregional and regional economic integration has been found to promote investment and job creation and could be facilitated through the effective implementation of a legal and regulatory framework for the free circulation of persons and goods, the harmonization of business laws, the development of negotiation and bargaining capacities and participation in international economic debates such as the Uruguay Round and UNCTAD. Fundamental international labour standards should be ratified and implemented. Employment promotion for women enhances democracy, equity and respect of human rights and ensures sustained growth and the well-being of the population as a whole; tripartite human resource development policies should be strengthened.

Box 3.3. Jobs for Africa programme

The Jobs for Africa (JFA) programme has been launched by the ILO as a contribution to the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995. The main objective of the JFA is to provide an alternative policy framework for employment-intensive growth, including an action programme for job creation with emphasis on poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa.

To concretize the JFA, a jointly funded ILO/UNDP three-year regional project entitled "Jobs for Africa: Poverty reducing employment strategies for sub-Saharan Africa (JFA-PRESSA)" is being implemented by the ILO. The project seeks to achieve a fundamental shift in macroeconomic policies towards more investment-led economic growth strategies that focus on poverty reduction and quality employment creation/promotion for vulnerable segments of the population.

The JFA-PRESSA objective in the immediate term is to develop and strengthen the capacity of national and regional institutions and networks in the ten participating countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and to assess, design and advocate alternative policies for poverty reducing employment strategies. In the long run, the objective is to implement investment-led macroeconomic policies explicitly targeted towards the poorest segments of the population. The ten countries in the initial phase include: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, C๔te d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The implementation of JFA-PRESSA is under way. To facilitate the effective implementation, coordination and monitoring of JFA-PRESSA activities in the participating countries, national network secretariats (NNSs) and national network advocacy groups (NNAGs) are being created. The NNAGs are aimed at generating dialogue for promoting and sustaining pro-employment, pro-poor growth strategies and policies within each participating country. National network coordinators have been recruited to manage the NNSs in all the participating countries.

In countries where the activities have been launched, the process of identification of national experts/consultants to undertake the Investment for Poverty Reducing Employment (IPRE) study is under way. This study will seek to provide a well publicized assessment of the employment effects of past and current public and private investments and to propose new directions for raising the quantum of investment and improving its allocation.

The relevance and uniqueness of JFA-PRESSA's approach in addressing the twin challenges of unemployment and poverty have been support for its extension to additional countries to cover not only other countries in sub-Saharan Africa but also countries in North Africa. To concretize the above willingness, JFA has been extended to Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania.

ILO activities have made countries, donors and other development partners in the region more concerned about the need to integrate employment and manpower issues into economic management and to promote and support employment-oriented investments. An increasing number of requests are being made by member States for the ILO to assist them in formulating national employment policies and enhancing national capacities to implement employment creation schemes and programmes.

One area in which the development partners in the region are showing greater coherence of approach is in their recognition of the need to take into account the effects of investment options on employment, with priority given to cases of employment-intensive methods. The more harmonized approach adopted on this and other issues resulted in part from ILO studies and experience and the conclusions of two tripartite meetings, on the socio-economic consequences of the devaluation of the CFA franc, held in Dakar in 1994 and Yaound้ in 1997. These tripartite meetings also reviewed the employment situation in the subregion and recommended a number of strategies for employment creation and enterprise development, social protection and dialogue.

With regard to the improved observance of fundamental rights and reform programmes, special initiatives resulted in a better understanding between the ILO and the international financial institutions. Following consultations between the ILO and the World Bank on the reform of labour codes in Africa, held in Washington in October 1995, an ILO/World Bank seminar on the role of social partners in the revision of labour codes was organized in Abidjan in June 1997. As a result of the meeting, it may be expected that work-related rights will be taken into account more fully in the process of the reform of labour legislation as a follow-up to the restructuring programmes supported by the Bretton Woods institutions.

Employment-intensive programmes have always been part of the overall ILO strategy to promote employment creation, private sector development and poverty alleviation in Africa. These programmes encourage worker protection and democratization of the systems through transparent contract systems, enhanced popular participation, promotion of relevant ILO standards and the improvement of basic working conditions. Although the ILO has proved to have a comparative advantage in the area of labour-intensive programmes, labour-based techniques are still not widely known in the region. The African component of the Advisory Support and Information Services and Training (ASIST) programme based in Harare and Nairobi is supporting important labour-based infrastructure programmes in East and southern Africa. Cost-effective labour-intensive works have been implemented in Botswana, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia (box 3.4).
 

Box 3.4. ASIST

ASIST is a subprogramme under the Employment-Intensive Programme, whose objective is to increase the use of cost-effective labour base technology, with fair working conditions, in infrastructure development throughout sub-Saharan Africa, thereby promoting employment creation and income generation in rural and urban areas.

ASIST was established in 1990 and now has three components: rural infrastructure works; urban infrastructure works; and access to rural employment. The programme is active in more than 15 countries in East and southern Africa. The services provided by ASIST include: advisory support; information services; and training.

In the area of cooperatives, the organizational and cooperative support to grass-roots initiatives (ACOPAM) programme continued to be a major instrument in helping governments and partners' organizations in West Africa establish successful cooperative and associative forms of organization in support of grass-roots development. The programme is scheduled for completion in 1999 and the ILO has been taking concrete steps to capitalize on the experience by integrating it into a broader regional programme (PACDEL). ACOPAM has attracted substantial additional parallel funding from the World Bank, the European Union, UNDP and USAID. According to the data registered during the implementation of the programme, ACOPAM has helped to create more than 50,000 jobs, out of which 30,000 are self-employed. The interregional network programme for the development of human resources in development (COOPNET) continued to provide support to cooperatives and associations, particularly through training activities in Africa. A newsletter on topical issues concerning cooperatives has been issued for the regional coordinators of the programme in Africa and abroad.

In Africa, the promotion of employment essentially involves the development of small enterprises (including micro-enterprises), their organizations and cooperatives. Therefore, assistance should be extended to small enterprise owners and workers to enable them to meet the challenges of globalization and competition through: productivity improvement, increased management efficiency, better access to financing, technology, the required competencies and infrastructure as well as strengthened links between the formal and informal sectors. The assistance should also be directed towards the strengthening of productive capacities and self-employment of disadvantaged groups in the agricultural and informal sectors.

Assistance has been provided in the form of microfinance. Microfinance plays a key role in helping the poor against income fluctuations and to make very small investments in income-generating activities and micro-enterprises. It is therefore an indispensable component of empowerment, poverty reduction and job creation strategies, as evidenced by the design of the JFA programme.

There is also a need to monitor closely the development of the labour market to take account of new skills requirements and to evaluate vocational training and retraining needs, with the emphasis being placed on the workers' competencies in the context of evolving enterprise needs and their continuous employability.

Major efforts have been made in the following areas:

Box 3.5. The Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme

The SIYB programme is part of the International Small Enterprise Development Programme (ISEP). ISEP was developed by the ILO to assist member States implement the Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189). The Recommendation is a comprehensive and coherent set of guidelines that specifically promotes employment through SMEs. ISEP's goal is to unlock the job creation potential of small enterprises by addressing the numerous constraints that prevent small enterprises from achieving their full potential in a systematic and integrated manner.

The objectives of the SIYB programme are twofold: to improve the effectiveness of the management training undertaken by training providers and to develop the entrepreneurial acumen, business start-up proficiency, and the managerial expertise of the owners and managers of small enterprises.

The SIYB component helps entrepreneurs with a concrete business idea develop that idea into a viable business plan. It therefore gives the entrepreneurs the knowledge and skills to take advantage of business opportunities.

Its component also assists in meeting one of the major constraints that entrepreneurs face in the business start-up process — namely access to finance. A key aspect of the SIYB component is to facilitate linkages between the training providers and the financial institutions to enable the trained entrepreneurs to access finance easier.

The SIYB component imparts knowledge and skills to owners and managers of existing small enterprises to enhance the competitiveness and productivity of these enterprises. The SIYB programme is now focusing more on identifying and assisting owners and managers of sustainable, competitive and productive small enterprises — which over time provide sustainable and quality jobs. The jobs thus created will provide acceptable working conditions, at least a living wage, and adequate social protection.

The SIYB programme in Africa is now focused on addressing both qualitative and quantitative aspects of job creation. With this objective in mind, it is now trying to link with other training programmes that have developed further down this path such as the WISE programme.

Through the ISEP programme, ENT/MAN makes available to small enterprises the wealth and diversity of ILO experience in this sphere: conceptual frameworks and general policy documents on the development of small enterprises; documentation and dissemination of experience acquired and methods used; and measures to ensure that jobs created are of the required quality. This has been achieved through design, supervision and evaluation of projects to strengthen the local capacity to provide services. ENT/MAN ensures technical backstopping of regional and action research projects and programmes such as productivity and mutual health insurance in the informal sector (United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda), support programmes to strengthen the private sector (Benin, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger), support for the informal sector (Burkina Faso, Mali), promotion of food processing enterprises headed by women (Benin), SIYB/GERME (southern, East and West Africa), productivity improvement through the Enterprise Africa programme (West and southern Africa), promotion of micro and small enterprises through the Maghreb programme (Morocco and Tunisia).

Greater emphasis must be placed on the experience acquired by certain regional programmes to combat poverty and develop local employment. Thus after several years of work in the field of technical cooperation in West and Central Africa, support for grass-roots development, in particular through subregional PA-SMEC and ACOPAM programmes and national programmes (ACODEP in Mali, CUROR in Cameroon, COOP/Zinder project in Niger, the programme to strengthen the capacities of local and regional development actors and operators in labour-intensive techniques in Madagascar, SOGVERS in Togo, the poverty reduction programme in Kenya, etc.), the ILO has developed a high quality partnership for the promotion of producer organizations.

The approach used has been essentially participatory: it has been developed around several themes within the framework of the fight against unemployment through the creation of jobs and development at the grass-roots and local levels, including the management of community irrigated areas, cereal banks, land management, grass-roots financing, gender, local development, health insurance mutual funds, cooperative reforms, decentralization and the emergence of local communities.

Both by the variety and relevance of the spheres they cover and the originality and efficiency of their approach, these programmes are generating growing interest from an increasing number of interlocutors:

The approaches and strategies used by these programmes have often included: the participatory identification of problems; the participatory definition of means likely to resolve the problems encountered; the design of methodologies and tools; the testing of tools in real situations; capitalization; and dissemination among other partners.

Innovative participatory methods have in this context been drawn up and validated within the framework of field action. They have become enriched over time and acquired a global perspective with the initiation of activities of a strategic kind.

The forms of intervention have enabled genuine networks of partners to be established. They have also increased the intervention capacities of the technical cooperation programmes thanks to the availability of partners whose competencies have gradually been strengthened, thus opening up new opportunities for jobs and the development of local competencies.

The idea of these networks is furthermore very strongly encouraged by the competent authorities in the countries of intervention, namely the ministers responsible for employment, the rural and informal sectors, the promotion of women and the environment, amongst others.

Most of these programmes are currently at a decisive stage of transfer, capitalization and dissemination; efforts are being made to demonstrate their effectiveness through the capacity of their partners to ensure the continuity of the activities and the networks.

The process of democratization has continued in Africa despite economic problems which have weakened parties to collective bargaining. The ILO has helped consolidate this process by providing advisory services and organizing seminars at the national, regional and subregional levels on various issues such as: the application of standards; working conditions; occupational safety and health; labour relations; and freedom of association.

Since 1994, there has been an enhancement in ILO programmes and activities in the areas of labour law and labour relations in the region. Labour law reforms, the promotion of social dialogue and a variety of activities to promote democratic and representative institutions, consistent with the relevant international standards, formed part of the main priorities of the majority of African States. During this period, practically all African member States sought ILO assistance in labour law reforms and in promoting systems and practices of sound labour-management relations at the national level.

Technical assistance was provided in drafting labour laws, making comments on draft legislation and taking comparative advantage of the ILO to provide relevant data on experiences and practices of other countries and regions. The ILO has pursued the overall aim of promoting effective and equitable pay policies and provided various forms of technical assistance ranging from national level pay policy concerns to enterprise level pay administration issues.

Under multi-bilateral technical assistance programmes, over 30 countries in the region have received technical assistance in promoting social dialogue and tripartism in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies. These activities have been carried out in the form of: studies identifying major problems hindering social dialogue and tripartism; dissemination of relevant information to the social partners; the organization of seminars, meetings, training courses and symposia; and direct advisory services at national, subregional and regional levels. These activities have always underlined the existence and recognition of interest groups in society with whom the States should negotiate. They have discouraged state monopoly of power for social and economic policy decisions and helped employers' and workers' organizations and the growing number of civil groups contribute to the strengthening of tripartism and to the overall advancement of democracy.

Technical assistance programmes and activities in the areas of labour law and labour administration have been provided in line with the basic principles embodied in the fundamental Conventions and Recommendations of the ILO.

As regards the promotion of social dialogue, the participants at the Sixth Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners reported that progress had been made over the years. However, measures taken to promote equal opportunity and treatment have so far fallen short of what is needed.

In addition to providing training activities on international labour standards in the field, the ILO has organized seminars in a number of countries to help them meet their reporting obligations and familiarize themselves with these standards. Workshops have been carried out in the region on international labour standards in the context of globalization and the concept of social labelling. Technical support has been provided for the ratification and effective application of standards, with emphasis on human and trade union rights. Dissemination of information on international labour standards through NATLEX and ILOLEX databases has also been regularly carried out in the region.

In 1995 the Director-General launched a campaign to promote the ratification of the seven fundamental Conventions of the ILO:(2) As of July 1999, eight of the 53 countries had ratified the seven fundamental Conventions, 16 had ratified six, 13 had ratified five, five had ratified four, five had ratified three, three had ratified two, and two countries have ratified none of the Conventions. Figure 3.1 shows the situation of ratifications of the fundamental Conventions in 1995 and in 1999. Encouraging results have been noted in the ratification process. During the period under review, there were 91 new ratifications in Africa compared to 64 during the years preceding the Eighth Regional Meeting.

In general, the results of the systematic information and promotion campaigns, advisory services, training measures and seminars organized in a number of countries have been as follows:

A fundamental component of the ILO-IPEC programme is the support given to the development and application of national action programmes to prevent and eliminate child labour. The ILO-IPEC programme is based on a multifaceted partnership between the constituents of the ILO, other agencies from the public and private sectors, the civil society and NGOs (box 3.6).
 

Box 3.6. The ILO-IPEC programme

In 1990 ILO-IPEC launched a five-year Statistical Information Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), an interdepartmental programme, managed by IPEC with technical assistance from the ILO's Bureau of Statistics. This programme is designed to assist member States in the collection, use and dissemination of detailed quantitative and qualitative data and serve as a basis for child labour data analysis and use in planning.

At the beginning of 1999, the situation of the ILO-IPEC programme in Africa was as follows:

Participating countries (Memorandum of Understanding signed):

    Kenya (since 1992); United Republic of Tanzania (since 1994); Egypt (since 1996); Benin (since 1997); Uganda, Senegal, Madagascar, Mali, South Africa (since 1998); Burkina Faso (since 1999).

Countries preparing to participate:

    Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

As a result of all these meetings, conferences and awareness-raising, three subregional projects in Africa have been initiated and received funding from different donors. All three subregional projects started in 1999. These are as follows:

    (a) Programme to prevent, remove and rehabilitate children from hazardous work in commercial agriculture in eastern and southern Africa . A preparatory workshop took place in July 1999.

    (b) Trafficking of children for exploitative labour in West and Central Africa . Nine countries started inOctober 1999 with the first phase of the project; an analysis of the situation of the trafficking of children in their country.

    (c) Developing a strategy for the elimination of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in four selected East African countries . Phase one of the project has started with an analytical report in the four countries.

In those countries which already have a country programme, ILO-IPEC action is focused on preventing and withdrawing children found in exploitative and hazardous types of work, in both the informal and formal sectors. In Africa, the main programme areas include: commercial agriculture/plantations, child domestic work, street (working) children, children working in hazardous informal workshops, child trafficking and children in mining and stone-crushing.

In those countries which do not yet have any programme to combat child labour but which have expressed their interest in the subject, the ILO-IPEC action is focused on preparatory activities with a view to launching national programmes, including national surveys, the preparation of policies and programmes, the strengthening of capacities, and pilot activities. The key concern is to strengthen impact by improving the programming, supervision and evaluation procedures.

The joint OAU-ILO initiatives in the African region, with the support of IPEC and in collaboration with UNICEF (and with the participation of employers' and workers' organizations), have made a major contribution to bringing the question of child labour in Africa to the forefront of attention, and to the formulation of strategy proposals at the national, regional and international levels. For instance, meetings were held in Arusha and Pretoria to prepare for the Oslo conference, as well as in Kampala in 1998. In addition to the regional discussions held on child labour in plantations, there was a meeting in Cotonou in 1998 on young female domestic workers and a subregional seminar, held in Abidjan in 1999, of the French-speaking countries of Africa on the preparation of national and sectoral plans to fight against child labour.

As a result of an interregional (Africa, Asia, Latin America) study carried out with IPEC support, effective educational initiatives to combat child labour at the national level were identified. These initiatives are clearly useful for Africa where successful projects can be duplicated and developed (in programmes incorporating their strong points). The studies analysed the reasons and ways in which education keeps children away from the world of work. It was observed that the most effective programmes had adopted an integrated approach based on participation and had succeeded in effectively preventing child labour or freeing children from the worst and most dangerous forms of exploitation by proposing viable alternatives in the sphere of education as well as support services such as remunerated activities. They not only fulfilled the educational needs of the working children or children at risk but also guaranteed survival and met the basic socio-economic needs of their families. The most productive programmes are also those which are based on synergy and actively involve children, their parents, trainers and communities. The education programme was implemented in Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania and Egypt and is in an implementing phase in the five French-speaking countries participating in IPEC.

Headquarters and the Regional Office provide direct support to national activities so that the most useful lessons for all the African countries concerned can be applied as quickly as possible and greater resources mobilized. The Regional Office has also strengthened its capacity by the establishment of a focal point (persons/resources) to coordinate IPEC activities in the region.

In the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, some progress has been made in the region. With the support of promotional, information and technical assistance activities, a number of countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali and United Republic of Tanzania, have developed and implemented national and sectorial policies to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for women. Several countries in the region have established ministerial structures responsible for implementing these policies (box 3.7).
 

Box 3.7. More and Better Jobs for Women

This international programme, More and Better Jobs for Women , is the ILO's contribution to the Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. The programme was endorsed by the Governing Body at its 265th Session and launched in 1996. The programme is a catalyst to the ILO's long-standing priorities to promote full, productive and remunerative employment in conditions of equality and, at the same time, contributes to the successful follow-up to the Beijing Conference.

The programme's overall objectives and strategy is to promote partnerships in development by incorporating wider benefits for women, families, societies and economies. It strives for an acceptable and feasible balance between more and better jobs and is based on the premise that more jobs for women does not mean less jobs for men, that better jobs can benefit both women and men, and that women's productive and remunerative employment helps families, societies and economies. More jobs are to be generated by a variety of strategies which include the following: employment creation; human resource development and entrepreneurship development; improved access to labour markets and to productive sources; enabling legislation focusing on equality of opportunity; and programmes addressing poverty alleviation.

Better jobs are to be created through: equal pay; occupational desegregation; occupational safety and health; improvement in conditions of non-standard employment; social security; family-friendly workplaces; and protection for vulnerable workers.

The programme also involves technical cooperation and policy-oriented and applied research. Participating countries will develop their own action plans in accordance with national priorities, but the distinguishing feature is that all national programmes require an integrated and comprehensive approach. At the international level, the programme has facilitated the sharing of information and experiences between countries and regions. It has mobilized political will and broad-based support for more and better jobs for women; and promoted collaboration and coordination with other international organizations.

The programme works closely with the technical departments and field structures as well as the ILO's tripartite constituents and other sections of civil society. It has been reinforced by the ILO's various regular budget and technical cooperation activities for women. Two countries, Burkina Faso and United Republic of Tanzania, have been chosen in Africa for the pilot implementation of More and Better Jobs for Women .

Positive results have been achieved but they still fall short of the proposed objectives of equality and social justice. The main results of the action taken can be summarized as follows:

As part of its contribution to creating greater gender awareness and creating a better balance in education and training systems, the ILO published a study on the situation of women teachers in technical and vocational education and training in four French-speaking countries of West Africa in 1995. A synthesis report of the outcomes of four national workshops held in the countries concerned was published in 1996.

Training is increasingly being considered by all countries in the region as the main instrument for applying employment and enterprise promotion policies. The requests concern the adaptation of existing systems to a broader and diversified demand, rather than just geared to the modern sector, with account being taken of the needs of SMEs, the informal sector and the rural sector, and encouragement being given to the involvement of enterprises themselves and all training participants.

Vocational training policies for the formal and informal sectors have been formulated with ILO assistance in Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Seychelles, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Technical advisory services were provided during the period under review for the introduction and adoption of legislation, regulations and financing systems in Benin, Chad, Senegal and Uganda. Strategic action plans for the development of vocational training have been established or are under way in Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The ILO presented a summary report on training policy in Africa to the Sixth Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners in February 1999.

A pedagogical training kit for vocational training planners and trainers has been produced, and an "enterprise development" component introduced into the technical teaching and vocational training programmes; this component has been disseminated and used for training in North and West Africa. A regional programme for the promotion of cooperative culture and entrepreneurship in schools and universities, in collaboration with ISPEC, the Pan-African Institute of Education and Cooperative Training, is under preparation.

The importance of human resource development and training is now better understood by entrepreneurs who themselves have been trained to analyse "training needs"; on-the-job training and apprenticeships are being developed, for example, in Guinea.

In preparation for a report on human resources to be submitted to the International Labour Conference in the year 2000, a Regional Tripartite Human Resources Development and Training Meeting was held in Harare in May 1999. The meeting raised major issues of training policy and programme development in the context of globalization and structural and technological change in African economies, examining the changing roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders in human resource development (HRD) and reviewing the policy and institutional frameworks that will assist African countries in making their training policies and programmes more relevant, effective, efficient and equitable.

Training is also an important element in post-conflict programmes. The successful reintegration of ex-combatants is a key factor for the stability of post-conflict countries. The ILO has worked in this area in Angola and Mozambique. In Angola, a project launched in 1996 with funding support from UNDP, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, successfully tested a decentralized strategy involving innovative approaches and institutional mechanisms which have been effective in reducing training costs. Of the 14,000 ex-combatants targeted for training, some 5,900 subcontracts — representing more than 42 per cent of the total potential trainees — have been signed with local training centres. According to the provisional results of a recent survey of some 2,000 micro-enterprises in all provinces of the country, training preferences reflect quite closely the content and geographical distribution of the training packages offered by the Institute for the Socio-Professional Reintegration of Ex-Military Personnel (IRSEM). The experience acquired in dealing with the reintegration of ex-combatants led to the publication of a manual on training and employment options for ex-combatants.

In the maritime sector, tripartite national seminars on maritime labour standards were held in Egypt in December 1996 and in South Africa in December 1997. The ILO also participated actively in various regional meetings organized by maritime administrations on the harmonization of the inspection of social and labour conditions on board foreign-registered ships in line with the ILO Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 [and Protocol, 1996] (No. 147) (Casablanca, Tunis, Lagos). As concerns improved training systems, the pilot project on port development in United Republic of Tanzania and Kenya was completed at the end of 1998. This project, which produced 30 modules of a training programme, should make it possible to establish effective and systematic training schemes designed to improve cargo-handling performance, working conditions and practices and the safety and health and welfare of port workers. Technical advisory services, including instructors' workshops, are being undertaken in ports in South Africa and Mauritius. Efforts for further dissemination in the region are under way. In Mauritius a joint UNCTAD/ILO survey on training needs of ports and the maritime sectors has been undertaken (joint UNCTAD/ILO project proposal: "Establishing a training programme and human resource development policy for the port community of Mauritius"). The ILO has also assisted the member States of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) in preparing a survey of training needs and facilities available in the port sector.

In recent years, technical advice on teacher management and support has been given to governments and teachers' organizations of member States participating in the principal regional organization concerned with education reform — the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). Advice on legislative and policy frameworks was provided at the regional meetings of the Working Group on the Teaching Profession (WGTP) held in Accra, Ghana in July 1995 and in Zanzibar in July 1998.

Another contribution to social dialogue focused on follow-up activities to the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational Personnel (April 1996). The conclusions and resolutions of the Meeting, as well as ILO technical advice, were widely distributed as policy guidelines to government educational authorities, private school employers and directors representing employers' organizations and teachers' unions from seven French- and Portuguese-speaking countries of West Africa at the joint ILO/UNESCO symposium on structural adjustment and the status of teachers, held in Dakar in June 1997. These conclusions were also distributed to the four North African countries participating in the ILO/UNESCO regional seminar on the status of teachers in Arab States, held in Amman, Jordan in October 1997.

Employers must, in consultation with workers and their organizations, take measures to improve working conditions and occupational safety and health — and governments must encourage the adoption of such measures. Similarly, social protection systems should also be established for categories of workers who are currently without such protection.

Much remains to be done to improve the occupational safety and health conditions of workers and the working environment and to provide workers with greater social protection. The action taken by the ILO has been inspired by a concern to ensure better social benefits within the framework of existing structures and above all by a desire to ensure that greater account is taken of the needs of the majority of workers who carry out their activities outside the modern sector.

The results of this action taken can be summarized as follows.

A number of support missions, seminars and training measures have helped make constituents more aware of the questions of occupational safety and health at work and to develop national legislation and competencies regarding health staff. The specific needs of the informal sector and rural workers are, however, still largely overlooked.

Mention should also be made of a number of sectoral studies on occupational diseases carried out in around ten countries (occupational hazards of rice growing and rice processing in Madagascar, occupational hazards of cotton growing in Chad and occupational hazards of hevea tree growing in Cameroon, etc.), a subregional meeting in Bamako and consultation missions in various countries.

The measures carried out with ILO support reflect the following positive developments:

The Conditions of Work and Welfare Facilities Branch (CONDI/T) has been extensively involved in the region and provided technical advice on working time arrangements. ILO assistance was provided to Eritrea (1994); Guinea (1997); Guinea-Bissau (1998); Malawi (1997); Mauritania (1994); Mauritius (1998); Mozambique (1996); Namibia (1999); Niger (1996); Rwanda (1995); Togo (1997); and Uganda (1999).

Training courses focusing on improving working conditions and productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises were organized for entrepreneurs and trainers in Swaziland (1995); Seychelles (1996, 1997); Mauritius (1997); Ghana (1997, 1998); and in Nigeria (1998). With UNDP funding, training courses were organized in Uganda in 1997 and in 1998; in several districts, the WISE approach was introduced as a component of the Business Skills Development programme, with some 450 trainers trained nationwide.

Assistance was also provided in the updating of national legislation on occupational safety and health and the integration of international labour standards (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Swaziland, Zambia) and in the preparation of a regional code (SADC) on safety in the chemical industry.

Activities related to knowledge-based training in the sphere of occupational safety and health were implemented for trade union representatives, health and administrative staff (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Togo).

The ILO assisted in the establishment and strengthening of professional associations and structures providing occupational safety and health services (North, West and Central Africa), and in the development and/or revision of labour laws in several countries. For example, extensive assistance was provided by the South African Government in drafting its Employment Standards Act in 1996 and in 1997.

With regard to HIV/AIDS, the ILO has produced reports on the impact of AIDS on the labour force (United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia), helped in the preparation of national codes on HIV/AIDS and supported SADC countries in the drafting and adoption of a subregional code on HIV/AIDS. Activities are being planned for a gradual and more effective implementation of subregional and inter-agency cooperation within the framework of UNAIDS. A meeting was held in May 1999 with the UNDP Regional Programme on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the informal sector and, as a follow-up, studies have been launched on this subject. ACTRAV has also produced guides on HIV/AIDS.

There is urgent need to reassess and reform the social protection systems in Africa. Social security systems in Africa are affected by limited coverage, inadequate funding and inappropriate policies. In many countries less than 10 per cent of the total labour force — corresponding to specific categories of wage earners in the formal sector — is covered. The transition to market economies and the need to attract foreign investments have forced many States to lower the existing safety and health standards and the minimum requirements regarding working conditions.

Technical advisory services have been provided to member States to enable them to undertake reforms in their social security systems and to restructure existing social protection institutions. Considering that about 90 per cent of the total labour force in Africa is not covered, the ILO, loyal to its principle of social justice and equity, supports reforms based on economically and financially viable schemes which extend social protection coverage to rural sectors — including cooperatives and the informal sector. The ILO has attempted to advise constituents on the main issues concerning pension policies and explain its position on these issues.

Other initiatives have been undertaken in the region by the ACOPAM programme and the Turin Centre. They have published manuals and guides on health mutual benefit systems which aim to promote health protection in rural areas and in the informal sector. Furthermore, projects are being implemented in many countries to strengthen the factories inspectorate. In July 1996, a regional workshop on the protection of workers' rights and working conditions in export processing zones and the promotion of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy was held in South Africa.

Many studies, audit missions, advisory support missions, training projects and national or subregional seminars have contributed to the development of existing systems and the settling of problems and the search for solutions within a broader framework, with account being taken of the population as a whole, rather than merely workers in the modern sector. There have been the following encouraging results:

The results mentioned above should be seen in the context of the implementation of the Active Partnership Policy (APP), underpinning the whole of the ILO's activity during the period under review, both in terms of its relations with its constituents and within the Organization. The APP was adopted by the Governing Body in 1993. One of the main objectives of the APP is to enhance the coherence and quality of technical services provided to the constituents by better responding to their needs and priorities, through increased involvement and participation in joint action with the ILO (box 3.8).
 

Box 3.8. The Active Partnership Policy

Implementation of the APP required the ILO to set up new structures to strengthen and develop relationships within the ILO and with its constituents in government and employers' and workers' organizations.

The purpose of the APP is to bring the ILO closer to its constituents in order to better understand their priorities and needs, thus enhancing the relevance of ILO activities.

The three structures highlighted all act as one during the programme cycles.

The three field structures in Africa consist of:
  • ILO Area Office: 12 offices located throughout the region, representing the ILO, promoting its full range of activities and maintaining relations with constituents.
  • MDTs: six offices in the region providing technical advisory services, programming and support.
  • Regional Office: determines the overall ILO priorities in the region and coordinates the programming and evaluation of the work in the region.

In March 1997 the Committee on Technical Cooperation recommended to the Governing Body that an evaluation of the APP should be undertaken. A Working Party, comprising three Government, three Employer and three Worker members, was set up and conducted its evaluation through discussions in Geneva, through the examination of documentation and through field trips to ILO member States — which included two African countries, Ethiopia and C๔te d'Ivoire. It noted evidence of the following positive developments:

On the other hand, the Working Party found out that even in the limited sample of countries visited, there were a number of constituents that were not yet aware of changes brought about by the APP.

Country objectives play an important role in the implementation of the APP. They help the ILO focus on priorities, promote tripartism in a concrete way and ensure that ILO programmes are responsive to the needs and priorities of the constituents. Social dialogue and tripartism are always emphasized in the implementation of the APP, and constituents have been encouraged to be involved from the commencement of the country objectives exercise. Country objectives must be flexible to be able to adapt to new developments in a country and not be overambitious; they must be in line with the human and financial resources available for their implementation.

The status of country objectives is shown in Annex 2. As of June 1999, 29 country objectives had been completed, 11 were ongoing, eight were on hold due to one reason or another and five had not yet started. Efforts are being made to update this exercise.

From 1995 to 1997 the network of area offices expanded with the setting up of the Pretoria Office in October 1995 and the rehabilitation of the office for the countries of the Conseil de l'Entente in March 1996. The region now has a large network of 12 area offices spread out according to the map shown in box 3.9.
 

Box 3.9. Network of offices and multidisciplinary teams

MDT

Offices

ILO member States

EMAO

Abidjan
Lagos

Benin, Burkina Faso, C๔te d'Ivoire, Niger, Togo
Ghana, Nigeria

EMAC

Kinshasa
Yaound้

Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, Democratic Rep. of the Congo
Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe

EMAS

Dakar

Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia

EAMAT

Addis Ababa
Antananarivo

Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia
Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles

SAMAT

Dar es Salaam
Lusaka
Pretoria

Kenya, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland

NAMAT

Cairo
Algiers

Egypt, SudanAlgeria,
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Tunisia

The region has six MDTs: the East Africa Multidisciplinary Team (EAMAT); the Central Africa Multidisciplinary Team (EMAC); the West Africa Multidisciplinary Team (EMAO) (countries of the Conseil de l'Entente plus Nigeria and Ghana); the Sahelian Africa Multidisciplinary Team (EMAS); the North Africa Multidisciplinary Team (NAMAT); and the Southern Africa Multidisciplinary Team (SAMAT).

The multidisciplinary approach is vital to the APP, as its purpose is to bring the ILO closer to its constituents and provide high quality technical services, thus ultimately developing a cohesive, coherent and well integrated approach to socio-economic development. The Working Party had mixed findings with respect to the multidisciplinary aspect. Some experts who had earlier worked in their own specific fields interacted well with those specializing in other areas and had a broad perspective of issues. Missions to draw up country objectives and participation in meetings and workshops involving different disciplines helped in this respect. Positive effects could also be seen at the level of the recipient country — whereas previously experts and advisers had performed different tasks in one country with very little interaction.

Technical cooperation expenditure on ILO programmes in general grew for five consecutive years between 1987 and 1991, rising to a high of US$169 million. The following year was marked by a decline that continued until 1996, by which time expenditure had dropped to a low of $98.2 million.

Between 1994 and 1998, expenditure on technical cooperation declined in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia and the Pacific, as shown in table 3.1. Throughout this period, Africa received the largest share, which remained relatively stable at an average of 39 per cent, as shown in figure 3.2.

Table 3.1. Expenditure on ILO technical cooperation programmes
by region
 

Region

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

Africa

46 594

42 498

36 749

42 077

35 357

Asia and the Pacific

28 723

28 288

24 733

23 500

19 339

Latin America and the Caribbean

14 287

12 584

10 162

13 282

12 727

Arab States, Middle East

1 409

2 696

2 625

4 083

2 341

Europe

6 232

8 814

6 072

6 804

5 238

Interregional

16 385

18 051

17 827

18 619

18 739

Total

113 631

112 930

98 167

108 363

93 742

Source: ILO.

The delivery rate for the African region improved from 53.2 per cent in 1997 to 57.7 per cent in 1998 (figure 3.3). In terms of expenditure by ILO technical field in 1998, enterprise and cooperative development had the second highest percentage share of 28.8 per cent of total expenditure (after development policies), including RBTC in Africa. The percentage shares of expenditure by technical fields is shown in table 3.2.

Table 3.2. ILO percentage of expenditure by technical field in Africa
 

 

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

International labour standards

0.9

1.1

0.9

1.6

0.7

Employment and training

15.4

14.1

15.7

19.4

17.0

Enterprise and cooperative development

30.8

29.1

30.9

30.9

28.8

Industrial relations

2.7

2.2

2.9

3.6

4.9

Working environment

2.2

5.3

5.6

4.2

5.2

Sectoral activities

4.0

3.2

2.7

1.3

1.4

Social security

1.4

1.3

1.3

2.4

2.2

Statistics

0.3

0.1

0.1

0.1

0

Development policies

34.4

35

31.7

26.7

29.7

International Institute for Labour Studies

0

0

0

0.2

 

Employers' activities

1.2

0.8

1.5

2.1

0.8

Workers' activities

3.5

4.3

4.7

5.5

6.1

Others

3.2

3.5

2.1

1.9

3.2

Source: ILO/PROPARTEC

The programme application methods include: technical cooperation projects; advisory service missions; the training of the constituents, seminars, workshops on the exchange of experience, conferences; and research, studies and publications. These different services are not all quantifiable and the services provided to constituents by ILO structures, whether from departments at headquarters or structures in Africa, are often difficult to separate from day-to-day tasks, since the structures are themselves conceived with the prime purpose of providing the support required by the constituents.

Many ILO cooperation programmes are part of a broader framework. The Special United Nations Initiative for Africa, which led to the Jobs for Africa programme, and the UNAIDS inter-agency programme are two examples of this. Conferences and meetings on child labour also include the joint OUA and ILO initiatives at regional level, with the support of IPEC, in collaboration with UNICEF and the participation of employers' and workers' organizations. At subregional level, SAMAT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SADC.

RBTC resources are generally used as seed money in a number of projects being implemented or in the pipeline. RBTC funds are allocated following requests received from governments, employers' and workers' organizations, within the framework of the implementation of country objectives and their action plans —where these exist. For the last three consecutive years (1996, 1997 and 1998), commitments totalled US$7,381,611; the distribution is shown in figure 3.4.

Between 1988 and 1999, the AFRIS database recorded more than 300 technical cooperation projects, including around 50 regional and interregional projects. The number of new cooperation projects proposed increased in the years 1991 to 1993, with the pace subsequently slowing down, although recently there has been a renewed increase in the volume of cooperation projects. The fields covered by the cooperation projects include: training for employment (55 per cent), enterprise/cooperative promotion (25 per cent), industrial relations (8.5 per cent), workers' protection (7 per cent) and labour standards/child labour (4.5 per cent).

The main donors are the agencies of the United Nations system (62.8 per cent) — mainly the UNDP and to a decreasing extent the UNFPA and bilateral partners (34.2 per cent) — in particular Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and United States; last but not least are the World Bank and the ADB (3 per cent).

The AFRIS database shows that 49 regional and interregional projects were registered in Africa between 1994 and 1998, with 100 national projects in operation during the same period. The distribution of regional and national projects is indicated in figures 3.5 and 3.6.

Among the means of action used by the ILO, advisory services have without doubt undergone a major increase with the application of the APP and the establishment in Africa of six MDTs (figure 3.7).

In the 1992-93 biennium, a total of US$12.8 million was allocated from the regular budget for the financing of 27 regional advisers posted in Africa. This figure increased to US$14.9 million for the financing of MDTs in the biennium 1994-95 and to $18.4 million for the biennium 1996-97 (for a total of 46 specialist posts). These figures in themselves clearly reflect the strengthening of the ILO's presence in the field in Africa which has enabled the development of the advisory support provided permanently to constituents in the region at their request.

The missions undertaken by officials of ILO structures in the region in response to the needs of constituents provide a good indication of the kind of support which is being provided. They have covered all the ILO's spheres of competence — but special emphasis has been placed on the priority themes of the region.

The mission report database for the period 1994-98 contains a total of 998 mission reports distributed as follows: 1994 (73), 1995 (254), 1996 (234), 1997 (141), 1998 (296).

The missions have been classified according to the ILO's major spheres of intervention. Table 3.3 shows the respective weight of the ILO's major spheres of intervention in the missions listed in the ALIS database for the period 1994-98.

Sphere of intervention

1994
(%/73)

1995
(%/254)

1996
(%/234)

1997
(%/141)

1998
(%/296)

Industrial relations/social dialogue

30.1

25.6

39.3

27.7

35.5

Workers' protection

13.7

19.7

10.3

9.2

17.9

Employment

17.8

22.1

11.5

14.9

10.8

Training

10.9

21.2

19.7

22.7

14.5

Enterprise

19.2

14.2

12.4

5.7

11.5

Labour standards

9.6

11.4

14.1

13.5

9.5

Note: Since the same mission may include more than one sphere of intervention, the columns do not total 100.

Source: ALIS.

A major part of ILO activities is devoted to strengthening national competencies by training, a task in which technical cooperation programmes, the MDTs, the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, and the International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) in Geneva all play a role. Furthermore, the regional centres of the member States, and in particular ARLAC and CRADAT, also contribute to training. Mention will be made here only of training provided within the framework of formal courses, such as those organized by the Turin Centre and the IILS; but training is also provided in the form of many seminars, national, regional or subregional workshops, to which the Regional Office, the area offices, the MDTs and the technical departments at headquarters provide technical and financial support.

The period 1995-97 saw the transition, now consolidated, of ARLAC and CRADAT towards the direct management of the regional centres by member States, with ILO assistance taking the form of technical and financial support. The transition period resulted in a temporary drop in activities, but the years 1997 and 1998 witnessed a renewed and clear upward trend.

The IILS has developed courses within the framework of its programme of educational and intersectoral activities, from which trainees from African countries in particular have benefited. The Turin Centre also receives many trainees from the countries of Africa, and organizes training on the continent. The programming of these courses takes greater account of the needs expressed directly by the region and a joint Regional Office/Turin Centre programme is implemented for each biennium to cover the priority training needs related to the implementation of the ILO programme in the region.

This joint programme consists of the organization of training courses, workshops and seminars on such priority subjects as: competitive craft activities, programmes for countries emerging from conflicts; labour-intensive approaches in infrastructure investment programmes; young persons on the labour market; social security reform; the restructuring of vocational training machinery; and the role of the social partners in the revision of labour codes.

In its task of promoting social justice, adapting its action to the specific needs of its constituents and providing methodological instruments to its partners to achieve shared goals, the ILO makes considerable use of studies and research carried out in the field, generally in collaboration with researchers or practitioners from the countries of the region.

Almost all the subregions have been the subject of national or subregional studies (Annex 4). The studies cover the ILO's major spheres of concern. The establishment of MDTs has resulted in the increased production of publications based on studies, workshops or seminars, which are subsequently made available to all the partners concerned in Africa. Thus more than 130 documents (reports, methodological or pedagogical documents) have been produced by the ILO structures in the region during the period under review, essentially for the purposes of the constituents.

The Regional Office has initiated a process of developing activities for capitalizing on experiences and methodologies and for promoting their dissemination through the publication of documents and the organization of exchange procedures (technical consultations, communication network, workshops, training).

An important function of the Regional Office is the dissemination of information on the work and principles of the ILO to constituents throughout the region. This function is fulfilled in a number of ways. These include the publication of a regular regional bulletin and the provision of access to the databases of the African Labour Market Information System (ALIS) which contains socio-economic data on African countries as well as ILO information on technical cooperation, advisory and training activities in the region. ALIS is based on a network of cooperation between all offices, MDTs and technical cooperation projects which collect the data to be fed into the database and is available in all the structures of the region. It is mainly used to report on activities in the region and to prepare the programme and budget.

One of the main information tools in the region is the ILO Africa bulletin which has been published twice a year in English and French since 1995. A survey carried out among constituents requesting their opinions and suggestions on the bulletin gave rise to a new-style issue which first came out at the beginning of 1999. A large section of the bulletin is reserved for the "world of work" in the region, where constituents and partners of the ILO are given the opportunity to express their views on labour-related issues.

Some Office, MDTs and regional programmes also regularly publish information bulletins. The Antananarivo Office, for example, publishes an information bulletin reflecting the activities of the ILO in the countries of the Indian Ocean, while SAMAT also issues a bulletin on its activities.

The MDTs have made a particular effort to produce publications which reflect the results of their research and investigations or experiments carried out in the countries which they cover. These publications are systematically distributed to the ILO's constituents and partners in the region and at seminars and conferences (Annexes 4 and 5).

The region also has a network of documentation centres established in all the field structures to which constituents have access. Efforts have been made to provide training to those responsible for the centres, including the organization of two training seminars during the past four years.

1. By way of example, the World Bank has requested technical support from the ILO/ACOPAM programme for carrying out, over several years, a series of consultations for the promotion of socio-occupational organizations within the framework of the integrated development programme for irrigated agriculture in Mauritania. This is also the case with Canadian partners interested in activities to disseminate the Single Act on cooperative and mutual societies within the framework of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). As regards health insurance mutual organizations, financing possibilities have been announced by various organizations, with a view to improving the social coverage of members, subject to the availability of relevant expertise.

2. The seven fundamental Conventions are: Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98); Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100); Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111); Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29); Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105); Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

4. Specific activities for employers and workers

ILO activities in the region are targeted towards its tripartite partners — the governments and employers' and workers' organizatons — which generally have the same objectives, but different needs; the ILO has therefore developed activities that are specific for each group. Despite their specific activities, workers' and employers' groups participate in all ILO tripartite workshops, seminars and meetings.

Activities to strengthen the institutional capacity of the social partners continued during the period under review, with the results indicated below. The focus was on a new approach to the promotion of social dialogue through specific programmes targeting all three partners, and on establishing and strengthening permanent machinery for social dialogue as well as fostering exchanges at the subregional level. Requests for such assistance are now being received from most of the main groups of countries in the region.

However, only a modest amount of extra-budgetary technical cooperation resources is allocated to activities for the social partners. Appropriations under the regular budget for technical cooperation (RBTC) of the ILO are therefore an important source of funding for technical cooperation activities in these fields, which are essential from the standpoint of ILO principles, but which do not attract adequate extra-budgetary resources.

Activities for employers focused on analysing the structures and activities of their organizations in order to strengthen their strategic role in economic and social development (box 4.1). Employers' organizations thus acquire the capability to own their strategic planning process, and are able to participate fully in social dialogue and improve the services provided to their members. A list of employers' organizations in Africa is shown in Annex 6, table 9.
 

Box 4.1. Employers' activities

Assistance provided through advisory services to employers' organizations accounted for 25.5 per cent of all advisory assistance to constituents during the period under review.

Advisory assistance was provided to employers' organizations in the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, C๔te d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger and Togo. Strategic audit missions for employers' organizations were carried out in Benin, Cameroon, C๔te d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Togo.

In addition to seminars, national workshops and community-based follow-up activities were organized for employers' organizations of the Indian Ocean in Mauritius, those of West Africa in Abidjan and those of Central Africa in Libreville and Douala. These subregional conferences were aimed at improving industrial relations between the social partners, strengthening cooperation among national employers' organizations and developing common strategies to meet the challenges of globalization and productivity enhancement. Employers thus have a better grasp of enterprise renewal for improved productivity and competitiveness and more effective tripartite consultation.

The activities also included training and study tours for leaders of employers' organizations. Training continued to be provided under the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme in southern Africa and East Africa, and these modules were introduced in the French-speaking countries. A subregional programme is now operational in Dakar, covering seven West African countries. In addition, the Turin Centre has developed training modules and courses on the management of employers' organizations. Study tours were organized for leaders of employers' organizations, for example in Mauritius for leaders from Benin, Cameroon, C๔te d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Guinea, Mali and Mauritania and in Tunisia for those from Burkina Faso and Burundi.

Employers' organizations are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about structural adjustment programmes and more aware of the relationship between productivity and industrial relations, as well as of their responsibility with respect to job creation. They are developing their ability to benefit from the economic environment and play a part in social reform; in some cases they form subregional groupings, foreshadowing the integration of States, and exchange experience at the subregional and regional levels; it is also worth mentioning the publication and dissemination of a practical guide on strategic management of employers' organizations.

During the period under review, the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities has implemented a total of 40 technical cooperation projects which have benefited trade union organizations in all five subregions of Africa. These projects have focused, inter alia, on: training in general workers' education; leadership training; and specialized training in industrial relations issues such as occuptional safety and health, the environment and collective bargaining. Ten projects are still ongoing, with some in the second and third phases of implementation (box 4.2).
 

Box 4.2. Workers' activities

During the period under review, various types of assistance (in particular in the field of workers' education) were provided to workers' trade union organizations to build their analysis, research, planning and management capabilities and equip them to be credible partners in permanent social dialogue.

Advisory services provided to national, subregional and regional trade union organizations accounted for 32.7 per cent of the ILO's advisory services in Africa. These services covered a variety of subjects such as: seminars on topics of common interest; structural audits of workers' organizations to enable them to broaden their activities while improving services to members (Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal...); increasing women's participation in the trade union movement (Guinea, Mali, Senegal...); consolidating information and documentation systems of trade union organizations (Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon...); strengthening the capacity of trade unions to combat unemployment (Ghana, Nigeria...); and support to workers' organizations for the application of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 (Nigeria).

Workers' education continued to be conducted on the subjects traditionally covered, such as international labour standards (for example, Benin, Cameroon, Rwanda, Togo, Zimbabwe...), collective bargaining (Gabon), equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and remuneration (all the French-speaking countries).

The workers' education programme also focused on topics of special relevance today such as trade union strategies for the global economy (Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal...) and the social dimension of structural adjustment (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Togo...). Several trade union officers obtained training fellowships at the Turin Centre.

While emphasizing collaboration with national trade union confederations, the ILO strengthened cooperation with regional organizations (OATUU, AFRO/ICFTU), to which it provides technical and financial support. ILO representatives participated actively in the meetings and conferences held by these organizations. In addition, representatives of these regional organizations often take part in seminars or conferences on different subjects held at the subregional or regional level for trade union leaders (devaluation of the CFA franc, productivity, etc.) and in regional tripartite meetings (on the elimination of child labour, social protection, meetings of African employment planners, etc.).

As a result, workers' organizations in most countries of the region are making an increasingly effective contribution to greater worker participation in development, by gradually adapting to the new context of economic liberalization and globalization; they are now in a position to develop social and economic activities (Benin, Burkina Faso, C๔te d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Niger, North-West Africa...). They are helped to inform, educate and train their members on the issues facing the trade unions in the global economy.

5. Conclusion

Africa's development strategy owes much to the Lagos Plan of Action adopted in 1980 (OAU: Lagos Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa). This Plan of Action, based on progressive integration of economies and societies and rational utilization of human and natural resources, was designed for the long term (1980-2000) and has been reinvigorated by numerous mid-term initiatives by various countries, the OAU, the United Nations system and development partners.

The ILO's objectives, as set out in its mandate and reaffirmed by successive sessions of the International Labour Conference and the different labour commissions of the OAU, are also long-term objectives and obviously cannot be achieved entirely in the space of a few biennia. However, this Report highlights the concrete nature of the ILO's activities and the numerous tangible signs of progress towards the achievement of these objectives, as regards social dialogue, plans of action for the elimination of child labour, the promotion of SMEs and cooperative reform, the rehabilitation and extension of social security and other areas referred to above. Progress will depend on the political will of the States and the active participation of the tripartite constituents within the framework of social dialogue which is gradually becoming institutionalized.

Despite the conflicts that still persist, "Afro-pessimism" is receding. At a time of rising hopes for sustainable development in Africa, it is essential for the recovery of growth to be further consolidated and that such growth be highly employment-intensive; it also deserves to be supported by more equity and democracy, respect for human rights, and justice for all categories of persons, in particular vulnerable groups such as women, persons with disabilities, conflict-affected persons, migrant workers and children working before the legal age. These key issues will be examined by the Regional Meeting, both when it assesses the activities that have been undertaken and in its debates on orientations and prospects for the future.

Africa is still a priority region in view of its problems and needs; this priority is clearly reflected in the ILO's efforts in the field of technical cooperation, which will be intensified in a constant effort to maximize the impact of the activities undertaken.

The ILO has presented to its constituents in Africa a labour agenda based on the four strategic objectives outlined in the Programme and Budget proposals for 2000-01 and the Report of the Director-General to the 87th Session of the International Labour Conference, Decent Work. These proposals were approved by the Governing Body in March 1999. The four strategic objectives are: promote and realize fundamental principles and rights at work; create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income; enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

Under each strategic objective, a number of International Focus (InFocus) programmes of high priority, relevance and visibility have been identified. A regional perspective on the implementation of the strategic objectives and the InFocus programmes has been prepared. This strategic framework will be the basis for the ILO's activities and labour agenda in Africa for the next decade.

Bibliography


Updated by VC. Approved by RH. Last update: 26 January 2000.

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