The Sixth Regional Seminar for Labour-Based Practitioners in Sub- Saharan Africa took place over a five-day period, from 29 September to 3 October 1997, in Jinja, Uganda. It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Works Transport and Communications (MoWTC), the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MPED) of the Uganda Government, in partnership with the ILO/ASIST programme. The theme of the workshop was The right tool for the job — A review of tools and equipment for labour-based infrastructure works. The seminar was the sixth in a series of reviews of current practices in labour-based technology. The present seminar provided a forum for the stakeholders in labour-based infrastructure works in Sub-Saharan Africa to discuss and share experiences. The wealth of experience shared, the new ideas and innovations presented, the discussion of problems and how various programmes and countries are tackling them – all made for a useful learning-teaching interaction between participants. This interaction is expected to stimulate further debate and possibly solutions to some of the problems encountered in the applications of labour-based technology. At the end of the day, the process should lead to further development as well as to the diffusion of new ideas. This in turn may result in the Labour-based Technology — A Review of Current Practice / Proceedings 1997 Page 9 deployment of improved, effective and efficient labour-based techniques in infrastructure works. The Sixth Regional Seminar advocated the extension of labour-based practices and technology beyond the roads sector, where the emphasis has been in the past, to other sectors dealing with civil works.
