Addis Ababa — The strong economic growth witnessed in many countries across Africa in recent years has only had a marginal impact on poverty, said Sarah Sinha, Chief of the Employment and Social Protection Section at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Mr. Sinha added that poverty in Africa since 1990 has declined much more slowly than in other regions in the world, stating "The poverty headcount ratio declined from 54.3 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2013. In absolute terms, the number of people in extreme poverty is stagnating at the 2002 level."

In other words, poverty, inequality and lack of productive jobs are declining steadily but remain the greatest challenges in Africa.

It is against this backdrop that ECA's Social Development Policy Division (SDPD) organized a two-day meeting to examine the interlinkages among poverty, inequality, and employment in Africa. The Expert Group Meeting (EGM) and Policy Forum on Poverty, Inequality and Jobs in Africa, kicked off Wednesday 6 May 2018 in Addis Ababa.

Addressing the experts, SDPD director, Thokozile Ruzvidzo, stated that "economic growth delivers less poverty reduction when initial inequality is high. So to reduce poverty rapidly, we need to keep inequality in check".

She further noted that"inequitable access to quality education and health across income groups, gender and location often leads to lack of social and economic opportunities in life, excluding the same individuals from development and participation in society at a later stage in the life cycle."

Africa is the world's second most inequitable region after Latin America and the Caribbean, which may explain the slow rate of poverty reduction on the continent as high inequality hampers the poverty-reducing effects of growth.

Despite strong economic growth on the continent since the early 2000s, there are few 'good' jobs, which offer secure employment and social protection, and an estimated 268 million people - nearly 63 percent of all those with jobs - were in vulnerable employment in 2016.

Ms. Ruzvidzo stated that inequality trends in Africa vary considerably across countries. However, she added, pervasive inequities in access to education, healthcare, and water and sanitation remain with marked differences across spatial, gender, and income groups.

The meeting is being held at the conclusion of the ECA 2015-2018 project that aimed to promote equality as a key driver of sustainable development and strengthen select countries' capacities to conceptualize, design and implement multidisciplinary public policies oriented towards greater socio-economic equality.

The project was implemented in two pilot countries - Tanzania and Cote d'Ivoire - in two phases to address the key constraints of limited national capacities to analyse and measure inequality in all its dimensions; and design and implement policies and programmes that foster social inclusion and contribute to reduce inequality through employment, social protection and access to social services.

There was a broad consensus amongst experts at the meeting that one-size-fits-all policy interventions cannot be a panacea to the challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment in Africa. Policies, therefore, should be contextual while taking into account the political economies of different countries and their institutional capacities.

The meeting brings together policy practitioners, academicians, senior researchers, civil society representatives, and government and UN officials.