GENEVA (ILO News) - Noting that employment creation has become "an explicit and central objective" of Africa's economic and social policies, Nigerian President HE Olusegun Obasanjo today urged the continent's development partners to join it in making the decent work agenda of the International Labour Organization (ILO) a global goal.
"It would also be desirable for the Millennium Plus Five Summit to follow the example of the African Union and seriously consider making decent work a global goal", said Mr. Obasanjo, who is also the current chairman of the AU. "It is understood that the jobs we are striving to create have to be meaningful and dignifying if they are to have the desired effect, and this is where the decent work agenda of the ILO becomes relevant."
Leaders of the African Union (AU) have endorsed the call of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization to make decent work a global goal.
In introductory remarks, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said "Mr. President, you have taken the lead in what is the greatest claim of ordinary people - not only in Africa, but throughout the world - the opportunity for a fair chance at a decent job."
The President of the Republic of Nigeria also made a strong appeal for debt cancellation for low-income countries, saying "We are serious about reform and about building new paths to growth and development, but without debt relief these would be impossible.
"I urge our development partners to establish firm timetables for increasing their Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the target of 0.7 per cent of GDP and also to give serious consideration to the various innovative proposals that have been made in this regard", he said.
"Even though debt relief would have the effect of freeing up much needed resources for development, it will not provide the minimum financial outlay required to speed up progress towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals", he insisted before some 3,000 representatives of governments, employers and workers.
"Meaningful sustainable development in these nations would require significant debt reduction and debt cancellation", added Mr. Obasanjo.
At the African Union Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in September 2004, Heads of State and Governments recognized "employment creation as an explicit and central objective of our economic and social policies at all levels" that should also be included among the indicators for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the NEPAD initiative.
Concerning the MDGs and future prospects for Africa, the Nigerian President noted that "the Commission for Africa (…) has released its report on what should be done to tackle poverty in Africa and I expect Prime Minister Tony Blair to bring the Commission's findings up for discussion at the G8 Summit taking place next month in Scotland".
The report of the UK Commission for Africa recommends "100 per cent debt relief" for low-income countries on the continent.
According to Olusegun Obasanjo, "what is needed now is the political will to move forward to implementation".
"The leaders of the developing world will gather in Doha next week for the 2nd round South Summit", he said. "I would expect therefore the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization taking place in Hong Kong in December 2005 will contribute to ensuring a true development outcome to the on-going Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations."
"Reducing poverty is the most critical challenge we face today," President Obasanjo said, adding that "youth unemployment remains a major challenge and unless we address this in a fundamental way, our developmental goals may be undermined." He also noted that the AU had taken up the challenge by "emphasizing skills building, agriculture, the expansion of the private sector, small and medium scale enterprise development, and retraining as ways of creating jobs for our unemployed youth and under-employed adults."
"We cannot achieve these objectives on our own alone as the process is very much dependent on investment flows, trade, international migration, the increasing integration of production systems and the construction of productive partnerships," he said.
However, he said, "stereotypes, misinformation and refusal to acknowledge ongoing changes in Africa have continued to negatively affect investment in Africa, save for a few countries."
President Obasanjo urged Governments to play their own part by ensuring that "ILO has the resources to carry out the programmes and activities that we have entrusted in the organization."
"Let me leave you with the assurance that we are collectively building a new Africa that is anchored on democratic practice, dialogue, inclusion, tolerance, accountability, human rights, gender equality and social justice", the President said.