GENEVA (ILO News) - Facing an unemployment level that has risen to an estimated 85 per cent, Liberia requires immediate support to create sustainable conditions for peace and development, H.E. Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, told the annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) here today.
"Unemployment has risen to an unbelievable and unbearable estimated 85 per cent", Ms Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female Head of State, told a special session of the International Labour Conference, adding that youth facing "unemployment and idleness... have a propensity for social disenchantment. For us, employment is synonymous to peace".
Recalling the consequences of the civil war, the Liberian President underlined that "each day I see the face of a woman returning from a refugee and displaced camp, children victimized by war".
Following her address to the Plenary, the President signed the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 adopted by the ILO in February of this year to provide a new global labour standard for the global maritime sector. Liberia, one of the world's leading nations in the shipping sector, thus becomes the first country in the world to have signed this international labour standard.
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, in introductory comments, acknowledged that "Liberia is facing a jobs crisis that is virtually unprecedented anywhere in the world today. More than four out of five citizens are unemployed".
"This is a real call to action", the Liberian President said speaking to some 4,000 delegates representing governments, employers and workers from ILO member States. "I want to challenge this audience to attend this call with urgency."
"Today, Liberia faces an urgent development challenge which calls for stepped up international action", ILO Director-General underscored.
"Your presence here sends the strongest possible signal to the world community and development cooperation partners to give urgent focus to the priority of immediate job creation in Liberia", Mr. Somavia said.
According to President Johnson Sirleaf, the ILO Conference "must build on this renewed opportunity of tripartism to restore hope in our devastated populations, restore their dignity and build a new partnership".
Liberia's national agenda "encapsulates a vision deeply rooted in our determination to humanize and restore dignity to the Liberian labour force", said President Johson Sirleaf, with a special focus on areas of priority such as child labour, human trafficking, women empowerment and labour relations.
"I come to advance a different agenda and partnership with the ILO on behalf of Liberia and other nations", President Johnson Sirleaf said by mentioning the development of an Emergency Employment Program leading to a long term Employment Action Program.
"These labour intensive initiatives are expected to deploy more than 1,500 persons per month in several areas of rehabilitation and reconstruction. We need the support and resources. The rebirth of our nation will rest on the emergency program in the short run", Johnson Sirleaf added.
"I call upon the ILO for a covenant which will assist Liberia in the design and development of a Decent Work Country Programme", the President said.
"We stand with you in developing a comprehensive Decent Work Country Programme for Liberia. We stand with you in taking immediate and concrete action to advance LEEP - the Liberian Emergency Employment Program", Mr. Juan Somavia told the Liberian high official.
"Decent work is one of the democratic demands of people everywhere. The Decent work agenda is an agenda for development that provides a sustainable route out of poverty", concluded President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.