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The twin problems of high unemployment and pervasive poverty have continued to constitute development challenges in Africa. Poverty is endemic in the region, with more than half the population in sub-Saharan Africa living in absolute poverty. The recent economic recovery has not been sufficient in most countries to prevent the continued growth of unemployment and underemployment in both the urban and rural areas. Opportunities for decent employment and income are extremely scarce for the vast majority of the population in Africa. The ILO seeks to create employment and reduce poverty through targeted investment. The Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) is a sub-programme within the Employment Sector of the ILO. It focuses on introducing employment objectives into mainstream investment programmes, by promoting cost-effective, labour-based investments. The Employment Intensive Programme is concerned with how public and private investments in infrastructure can be oriented towards the creation of productive employment, and establishing a capacity in the domestic construction industry by developing small enterprises that are able to apply labour-based or employment-intensive construction and maintenance methods. Cost-effectiveness, technical feasibility and quality standards, alongside decent working conditions and economic and social sustainability have become the criteria for the choice and application of labour-based methods. Apart from ILO/SAMAT, support to Employment Intensive Investments to the Southern African sub-region is given by the ILO/ASIST programme. ASIST (Advisory Support, Information Services and Training) is a project under the EIP. The aim of both ILO/ASIST and the EIP specialist in ILO/SAMAT is to provide technical support to:
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