Session 8 - 18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practitioners

Summary of the discussions at the 18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practitioners held in Tunisia on September 9-13, 2019

News | 02 March 2020
18th Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practioners “Towards sustainable and inclusive local development: local resource-based approaches and decent job creation”, 9-13 September 2019, Tunis, Tunisia.

Session 8: Alternative and Innovative Technologies to create jobs in developing quality infrastructure, works and supplies - Thursday, September 12


1. Mr. Ignatius Ariyo from Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in the Republic of South Africa presented the history and operational function of the Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) in the country that was launched in 2004. The initiation of this government-funded program derived from the aim to reduce poverty by focusing on four sectors (i.e. infrastructure, non-state, environment and culture, and social) through multi-layered institutional arrangements, he explained. The successful continuation of the Programme, he underlined, resulted from a clear policy framework that comes from the cabinet, which stood the challenges of time and political changes, emphasizing the importance of national streamlining.

2. Mr. Faycal Zanhar from the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment of Tunisia presented his experiences in engaging local municipalities for effective entrepreneurship trainings. He elaborated on the concrete process of the provision of vocational trainings through 1) the identification of local municipality to be engaged and given decision-making authority, 2) budgeting alongside the responsible Ministry, 3) holding workshops to reach mutual understandings, 4) building entrepreneurship capacity through trainings, and 5) contracting with local municipalities.

3. Mr. Nhlanhla Sithole from the National Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa presented a broader policy context to complement the presentation by Mr. Ignatius Ariyo on the EPWP by introducing the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 that proposes multi-dimensional approach. He elaborated on the government’s efforts to empower youth through public works to contribute to community development and to enhance social cohesion.

4. Mr. Bacem Kahouach from Urbanist Architecture ITAUT of Tunisia presented a pilot project in Gafsa which was implemented in partnership with the ILO, and the project’s “eco-design” of the construction works with the local resource-based approach and engagement of local communities. He called for further research on the “eco-construction” to build up evidence base, and the actions to develop a systematized training mechanism on the eco-construction method, with the view also to strengthening its link with SMEs development, which is urgent in the country.

5. Dr. Monia Trabelsi from the Médecine de Travail of Tunisia articulated the aspects of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in discussing the EII approach, noting the risk of occupational death more frequent in the construction sector than the others, whose number is increasing in the country. She underlined the importance of tripartite social dialogues on OSH and rigorous law enforcement both at national and local level.