ILO Director-General Guy Ryder at the 50th Anniversary of the African Union

ILO’s Guy Ryder supports African renaissance

ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) - The Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr. Guy Ryder attended the official ceremony of the 50th Anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) - African Union (AU) on 25 May 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Bilateral Meetings between ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and President of Republic of Senegal, H.E. Mr Macky Sall at the 50th Anniversary of the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 May 2013

Mr Ryder – who was accompanied by Mr Gilbert Houngbo, ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships – met with African leaders including Heads of State of Burkina Faso, Malawi and Senegal to reaffirm ILO’s readiness to support Africa’s renaissance and socio-economic transformation agenda.

"Everywhere in the world, the issue of youth employment is a priority and the President (of Senegal) has requested our cooperation to jointly develop strategies to deal with this issue," Ryder said after a meeting with the Head of State of Senegal, H.E. President Macky Sall.

The Director-General of the ILO and President Sall also agreed to move forward on social protection with a view to strengthen the ILO/Senegal cooperation on universal health coverage and pensions schemes.

High on the African agenda was also the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action (2004 - 2014) on Employment Creation and Poverty Alleviation. The African Heads of State and Government Summit on “Ouaga + 10” is scheduled for 2014 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Bilateral Meetings between ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnership, Gilbert Houngbo and the President of Republic of Burkina Faso, H.E. Mr Blaise Compaoré at the 50th Anniversary of the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 May 2013

In that framework and spirit, Guy Ryder and the President of Burkina Faso, H.E. Blaise Compaoré discussed the "Ouagadougou + ten" process designed to review progress in employment and eradication of poverty in Africa.

“Africa is a region that is experiencing strong growth, and I think we need to translate this growth into decent work, so that all people can benefit from it", ILO Director-General said.

"Since the Ouagadougou summit, there have been advances in the field of work, but we can do more, and it is with this objective that we will meet in the Burkinabé capital," Ryder underscored.

The POST-2015 Development Agenda

During the AU Summit, African Member States were invited to provide inputs and contributions towards the elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) were urged to support, promote and build alliances for the African Common Position to enable Africa to speak with one voice during the September 2013 discussions at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Meeting between ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Mr Carlos Lopes at the HQ of UNECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 24 May 2013

Africa is confronted with key challenges, such as persistently high youth unemployment rates as well as uneven patterns of growth across the continent but countries must seize new opportunities and redefine priorities in realizing Africa’s renaissance.

“We have a very clear message; the Post 2015 agenda needs to have at its heart an explicit and distinctive objective of decent work and job creation. We have to work out how we define that objective. It has to be quantifiable, simple and it must be understandable”, Guy Ryder stated.

The ILO Director-General also met the new Executive Secretary of the Un Economic Commission for Africa, Carlos Lopes to discuss issues of mutual interest including Employment and Social Protection In Africa.