PESCA Y ACUICULTURA

Project for a Rational and Sustainable Development of the Fishing Sector (INT /07/16M/SPA)

This project aims to support the rational development and sustainable fisheries and improve the social and working conditions of workers in the sector, with particular reference to gender equality, promotion of youth employment, the right to a decent work, training in fisheries and aquaculture, the promotion of good practices.

The project is being conducted by the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Branch (SECTOR), its Sub-Regional Office for Andean Countries, based in Lima (Peru), its Sub-regional Office for West Africa and the Sahel, based Dakar (Senegal), and the ILO Office in Madrid, Spain. It is funded by the “Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino” of Spain, through the “Secretaría General del Mar”, under a collaboration agreement signed on 28 December 2007.

The main activities include training courses, workshops, seminars and preparation of a diagnosis and sectorial study for the beneficiary countries of Africa (Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal) and Latin America (Ecuador and Peru).

A workshop on "Decent Work in the Fishing Sector" was held in Dakar, Senegal in October 2008. Government officials, and representatives of workers and employers of the fisheries sector, from Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal attended the workshop.

A workshop on Decent Work in the Fishing Sector was held in Lima, Peru in October 2008. Government officials, and representatives of workers and employers in the fisheries sector, attended the workshop from Ecuador and Peru.

These workshops provided the opportunity to present the national studies prepared for each country and to have these studies validated by the participants. The workshop also provided the opportunity to discuss draft action plans for further work in each country, based on the priorities identified by the participants. There was also discussion of the process to be followed for ratification and implementation of the Work in the ILO Fishing Convention 188 in each country.

The project has also funded the training of officials of the fisheries administration of Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal on the extension of social security to groups of fishers, and, has established a database of specialists in the fishing sector in six countries. A study on generating employment in the aquaculture sector in Senegal is also under preparation.