International Labour Organization (Geneva)
8 September 2008
press release
Monrovia — The Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Liberia, in partnership with the organization "Realising Rights (RR): The Ethical Globalization Initiative" and the International Labour Organization (ILO), will convene a high-level forum on promoting Decent Work in Africa from 8-9 September 2008 in Monrovia, LIBERIA.
The high-level forum, which will be attended by Liberian President H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Realizing Rights President Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is the first-of-its kind to be held in the sub-region.
The Monrovia Forum on Decent Work - opportunities for women and men in Africa to obtain decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity - will gather a wide spectrum of representatives (+ 60) from governments, employers and workers associations, the donor community, the private sector and civil society organizations.
The right to good working conditions and sufficient income to sustain a decent life in Africa will be at the heart of the debates among participants from several countries.
The workshop will build on existing sources including the commitment framework from the 2004 African Union Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation and the follow-up given at the 2007 ILO African Regional Meeting in Addis Ababa, the employment program design for Liberia presented to Development Partners at the June 2008 Liberia Poverty reduction Forum in Berlin and the lessons learned from existing Decent Work programs in other countries in the region.
Discussions will 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. Participants will also look at coherent policies and strategies 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 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. It will encourage concrete plans by the different stakeholders for taking forward the decent work agenda in Liberia and, potentially, elsewhere in Africa," said Mary Robinson, the President of Realizing Rights and a member of The Elders, whose Every Human Has Rights campaign marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is featuring the theme of Decent Work in September.
Participants will also visit some of the project sites in Liberia to get first-hand information and measure the impact of how policies can translate into benefits among workers at the grassroots level.
"One of the main outcomes we expect from the forum is a decent work programme for Liberia," emphasized Liberia's Labour Minister Samuel Kofi Woods, II.
"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," concluded Mr. Woods.
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