Sallu Swaray
6 September 2008
The Ministry Of Labour in partnership with the organization' Realizing Rights; the Ethical Globalization Initiative, and the International Labour Organization will convene a high level forum on the promoting Decent Work in Africa from 8-9 September 2008 in Monrovia.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Realizing Rights' President Mary Robison, former President of Ireland, and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will attend the forum. It is the first of its kind in Liberia and in the sub-region.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Labor spearheaded a press conference at the headquarters of UNMIL to announce the holding of the conference, and to give an insight on it.
Deputizing for Labor Samuel Woods, Mr.Wonde said the forum would provide opportunities for women and men in Africa to obtain decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom equity, security and human dignity.
According to him, it will gather wide spectrum of representatives of government employees, workers associations, donor community, the private sector and civil society organizations.
He indicated that the right to good working conditions and sufficient income to sustain a decent life in Africa would be at the heart of the debates among participants.
Minister Wonde said discussions would also focus on a wide range of issues affecting nations across the region, including the challenges of promoting decent work approaches and practical examples of post conflict reconstruction and job creation.
He said participants would also look at policies to promote employment and economic growth, gender dimensions of employment, job-intensive investment approaches for reconstruction and recovery, social protection and safety nets as well as social dialogue.
The Deputy Labour Minister emphasized that the two-day forum will serve primarily as a platform where participants will review and share policies and programmes for realizing decent work at the national level.
Minister Wonde further indicated that the forum will encourage what he called "concrete plans" by the different stakeholders for taking forward decent work agenda in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa."
Mary Robinson, the President of Realizing Rights and a member of the Elders, would lecture on the theme "Decent Work in September."
On the issue of what participants would to get involved in, he said they would visit some project sites in Liberia to get first-hand information and measure the impact of how policies can translate into benefits among workers at the grass roots level.
Mr .Wonde stressed, "One of the main outcomes they expect from the forum is a decent work programme for Liberia."
"It is important that these discussions offer increased benefits on the ground, where formal and informal jobs for people in Liberia, and across the continent, will lead to improvement in working and living conditions," he quoted Minister Kofi Woods as saying.
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