Opening Session - 18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practitioners
Summary of the discussions at the 18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practitioners held in Tunisia on September 9-13, 2019
18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practioners “Towards sustainable and inclusive local development: local resource-based approaches and decent job creation”, 9-13 September 2019, Tunis, Tunisia.
Opening Session – Monday 9 September
The opening session included keynote speeches and opening remarks by four speakers.
The session started with the national anthem of the Republic of Tunisia. This was followed by a short ceremony in which a representative of the Government of Ethiopia (which hosted the 17th edition of the Seminar) handed the presidency of the Seminar over to a representative of the Government of Tunisia.
A keynote speech set out the central theme of the conference (sustainable infrastructure, local resource-based approaches and decent job creation) and was delivered by Ms Mito Tsukamoto, Chief of the DEVINVEST Branch of the ILO (click here to read the speech). Ms Tsukamoto introduced the theme of quality and sustainable infrastructure and referred to recent high-level international events addressing infrastructure development in developing countries. She touched upon actual and relevant development challenges such as unemployment and climate change adaptation and placed the conference in this context. Ms Tsukamoto linked these challenges to the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and referred to international partnerships and development cooperation as a means to address these challenges (click here to download the statement).
A statement by the ILO's Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon followed the keynote speech (click here to read the statement). Ms Samuel-Olonjuwon thanked the Government of the Republic of Tunisia for accepting to host the Regional Seminar. The Regional Director talked about the ILO’s Centenary, the Future of Work and the promotion of social justice and linked these issues to the EIIP strategies. She reminded the audience that the ILO has been promoting employment, social justice and labour standards in Africa for 60 years but that despite progress more needs to be done in this field. She explained the ILO’s approach in addressing current gaps in the world of work. Ms Samuel-Olonjuwon identified poor infrastructure and unemployment as twin deficits in Africa and explained that the EIIP can tackle these issues together. She ended with reiterating three key things that we must continue doing in support of the structural transformation necessary for Africa (click here to download the statement).
His Excellency, Mr Mokhtar Hammari, Minster of Local Affairs and the Environment gave a statement on behalf of the Government of Tunisia. He emphasized the needs for social solidarity for the future generation, and the fact that there are a number of examples for south-south/triangular cooperation between African countries.
His Excellency, Mr Zied Laadhari, Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation officially opened the Seminar, underlining the importance of the seminar as an opportunity to exchange the experiences and successful practices to realize the labour intensive approach towards development objectives.
The opening session was closed with the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) (represented by Ms. Boutheina Ben Yaghlane, the Director General) and the ILO (represented by Mrs. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, Regional Director for Africa) in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Ridha Chalghoum, Minister of Finance of Tunisia. The two parties agreed to work closely together to promote the development in disadvantaged regions in Tunisia. They also agreed to support local pilot projects related to local infrastructure development using local resources with alternative technologies, investments in forestry in support of export facilitation and the promotion of the social and solidarity-based economy with high societal values, generating employment opportunities.
At the end of the opening session, an agreement for the Seminar was signed between the Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation and the ILO. This was followed by a group photo.
Opening Session – Monday 9 September
The opening session included keynote speeches and opening remarks by four speakers.
The session started with the national anthem of the Republic of Tunisia. This was followed by a short ceremony in which a representative of the Government of Ethiopia (which hosted the 17th edition of the Seminar) handed the presidency of the Seminar over to a representative of the Government of Tunisia.
A keynote speech set out the central theme of the conference (sustainable infrastructure, local resource-based approaches and decent job creation) and was delivered by Ms Mito Tsukamoto, Chief of the DEVINVEST Branch of the ILO (click here to read the speech). Ms Tsukamoto introduced the theme of quality and sustainable infrastructure and referred to recent high-level international events addressing infrastructure development in developing countries. She touched upon actual and relevant development challenges such as unemployment and climate change adaptation and placed the conference in this context. Ms Tsukamoto linked these challenges to the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and referred to international partnerships and development cooperation as a means to address these challenges (click here to download the statement).
A statement by the ILO's Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon followed the keynote speech (click here to read the statement). Ms Samuel-Olonjuwon thanked the Government of the Republic of Tunisia for accepting to host the Regional Seminar. The Regional Director talked about the ILO’s Centenary, the Future of Work and the promotion of social justice and linked these issues to the EIIP strategies. She reminded the audience that the ILO has been promoting employment, social justice and labour standards in Africa for 60 years but that despite progress more needs to be done in this field. She explained the ILO’s approach in addressing current gaps in the world of work. Ms Samuel-Olonjuwon identified poor infrastructure and unemployment as twin deficits in Africa and explained that the EIIP can tackle these issues together. She ended with reiterating three key things that we must continue doing in support of the structural transformation necessary for Africa (click here to download the statement).
His Excellency, Mr Mokhtar Hammari, Minster of Local Affairs and the Environment gave a statement on behalf of the Government of Tunisia. He emphasized the needs for social solidarity for the future generation, and the fact that there are a number of examples for south-south/triangular cooperation between African countries.
His Excellency, Mr Zied Laadhari, Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation officially opened the Seminar, underlining the importance of the seminar as an opportunity to exchange the experiences and successful practices to realize the labour intensive approach towards development objectives.
The opening session was closed with the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) (represented by Ms. Boutheina Ben Yaghlane, the Director General) and the ILO (represented by Mrs. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, Regional Director for Africa) in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Ridha Chalghoum, Minister of Finance of Tunisia. The two parties agreed to work closely together to promote the development in disadvantaged regions in Tunisia. They also agreed to support local pilot projects related to local infrastructure development using local resources with alternative technologies, investments in forestry in support of export facilitation and the promotion of the social and solidarity-based economy with high societal values, generating employment opportunities.
At the end of the opening session, an agreement for the Seminar was signed between the Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation and the ILO. This was followed by a group photo.