TECHNICAL CONSULTATION ON ILO STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYMENT PROMOTION IN AFRICA Dakar, Senegal (21-23 September 2000) Conclusions and recommendations Following plenary sessions that led up to in-dept debates, group works and plenary restitutions, the following major conclusions and recommendations were reached: (I) Regarding ILO's institutional Framework and the co-ordination level, The identified priority interventions areas include: -Improving information on labour market. -Strengthening the links between employment and macro-economic policies. -Strengthening national capacities related to employment programmes and policy formulation and implementation. -Contributing to the creation of an environment which is favourable to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including the informal sector. -Improving security and working conditions. -Fostering job creation programmes for countries in crises. From these fields of intervention, based on ILO' strengths and weaknesses, the following recommendations were formulated: -A sounder management of human resources (through the inventory of profiles, recruitment procedures review, training and career management, etc.) -A better co-ordination of interventions between Headquarters and the field, including technical co-operation projects and programmes -The setting-up of "centre of competences" as regards employment ­ putting Employment, Enterprise, Training and HIMO specialists together ­ at multidisciplinary teams level. -The responsibility of the field in the employment promotion strategy and policy formulation at the sub-region level. -A better capitalization of experiences and an improvement of knowledge (through research, analysis of trends, etc.) - Finally, the taking into account of JFA programme as one of ILO's strategic elements in the employment promotion in Africa and its mainstreaming in ILO' structures; thus appealing to an effective involvement of the multidisciplinary teams in its implementation. (II) Regarding resource mobilization and Partnership: The identified major constraints include: -The Lack of coherence between available programmes and resources. -Too prudent a resource management during the biennium involving an improper utilization of " Slippages" at the end of the biennium. -The lack of co-ordination between the different ILO units for resource mobilization and its utilization. -The heaviness of administrative procedures which are sometimes misunderstood. -ILO's weak participation in programming exercises of donors and partners like UNDAF, CCA, PRSP, etc. The following proposals for action were formulated: - Developing internal synergy through joint programming. -Adopting a regional strategy for resource mobilization with a definition of roles and responsibilities. -Developing external synergy ­ donors and other development partners ­ taking into consideration ILO's comparative advantages through information exchange, participation to programming exercises, and common development of products. -Setting up, strengthening and interacting with national and sub-regional networks. (III) As regards the collaboration between the different filed structures, the following major recommendations were formulated: -The need for consensual approach in determining roles and responsibilities. -The need for a co-ordination mechanism between ILO's units, In focus programmes, EMDs and technical co-operation projects (through programming and follow-up meetings). -A part of the available resources must be allocated to collaborative activities between Headquarters and the field. -Finally, a better collaboration between different structures in the research and analysis of trends. * InFocus Programme on boosting employment through small enterprise development