Promoting Decent Work in key sectors

In Egypt, many sectors of the economy are facing increasing pressure to boost their performance and international competitiveness. To achieve these goals, human resources must be upgraded, since this is a key determinant of competitiveness, and one that needs advancement in Egypt. The ILO Subregional Office for North Africa, Cairo has chosen to focus on three sectors; namely Textiles, Construction and Tourism, due to their high labour intensity, their share in the economy, and their visibility. The objective is improve the performance and competitiveness of a specific sector through an upgrading of its human resources, as well as working conditions, based on tripartite social dialogue at national, local and enterprise levels.

• Textiles and Garment (TG)

  With the advent of China as WTO member, and the end of the Multi Fiber Agreement (MFA), the Egyptian textile and garment industry is under to pressure to boost its competitiveness. Human resource development is an essential upgrading component. SRO Cairo has proceeded in several steps:

  • Evaluating strengths and weaknesses of this sector;
  • Finalizing a National report on textile industries to be used in the frame of the Multi-fibre Agreement (MFA), in March 2006;
  • Developing a National Action Plan for the sector;
  • Submitting the National Action Plan to donors, in June 2006;
  • Encouraging the adoption of the Plan for the sector;
  • Organizing a tripartite workshop, in June 2006;
  • Applying decent work pilot programmes for TG industries, since July 2006.

• Construction

  Construction is one of the major sectors for employment in Egypt, yet it faces many challenges related to its performance and competitiveness. To tackle these challenges, Egyptian constituents have identified specific areas where the ILO needs to focus its activities; especially 'formalizing the sector'. SRO Cairo has initiated several steps to achieve these objectives:

  • Organizing a tripartite meeting, in September 2004, to launch the programme, discuss activities to be included, and set up a Steering Committee;
  • Submitting a Plan of Action for vocational training and OSH, in March 2006;
  • Promoting training and certification for construction workers, with special emphasis on raising OSH standards, and "formalizing the sector", since construction is largely dependant on informal workers;
  • Finalizing a project document, April 2006;
  • Submitting the project document to donors, in July 2006.

• Tourism

  This sector is one of the largest ones in Egypt; accounting for over 1/3 of Egypt's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Upgrading this sector will largely contribute to boosting Egypt's economic performance and enhancing the sector's capacity. Constituents in Tourism have identified several work priorities, including: preserving and promoting employment, developing social protection for the labour force, and promoting social dialogue among all stakeholders in tourism and public authorities. SRO Cairo has been taking a sequence of steps to facilitate attaining those priorities, which include:

  • Submitting a National Action Plan for training, based on needs identification by a tripartite structure, in March 2006;
  • Developing training in management for small enterprises;
  • Optimizing employment and promoting services in tourism, based on tripartite participation;
  • Promoting continuous dialogue among all partners, and public authorities;
  • Finalizing a national report on the tourism sector, in December 2006.