Durban, South Africa. 09 October 2007. Ministers of Labour and Public Works from eleven African countries i.e. Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe attending a Ministerial meeting at the on-going 12th Regional Seminar for Labour-Intensive Practice committed to increasing investment in infrastructure with a high potential to create employment. In addition, they committed to supporting the creation of a conducive policy framework and appropriate institutional mechanisms and tools to ensure that the employment intensity of infrastructure investments is increased to their full potential. The Ministers also called for the development of employment impact assessment tools and methodologies to support investment policy decision making and resource allocation.

The statement followed a Ministerial meeting in which they critically analysed and discussed the potential of infrastructure and service delivery in creating decent productive employment opportunities for the unemployed, its impact in the reduction of poverty and contribution to social cohesion and political stability. This meeting took place after the Ministers participation in the deliberations of the Regional Seminar, which has attracted over 400 delegates from over 20 countries, as well as toured sites of the ambitious five year South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme targeting to create one million jobs.