ILO to boost technical cooperation projects in Africa

ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) – More than 50 technical advisors and program coordinators working for the ILO in Africa gathered in Maputo, Mozambique for a Strategic Management Meeting of Technical Cooperation aimed at improving the impact of projects in the region.

Key issues discussed include the new strategy for technical cooperation in Africa, better results and auditing performances, the collaboration with the tripartite constituents, the field structure review, the importance of the staff security and health, and the role of technical cooperation in the “Ouagadougou+10” process.

Around 600 ILO technical cooperation programmes and projects, with a total budget of more than US$550 million, had been implemented in Africa during the past decade. Some 200 ILO projects were currently being implemented and technical cooperation remained the most important means of promoting and implementing the Decent Work Agenda in Africa.

Despite the fact that the ILO had offices in only 13 of the 54 African member States, an increasing share of extra-budgetary resources had been mobilized locally since 2006. In 2012, the figure had been approximately 50 per cent and that trend was likely to continue in the years ahead.

Technical cooperation projects in Africa cut across the four ILO strategic objectives (Rights at work, employment, social protection and social dialogue), focusing on mainstreaming decent work in national policies, promotion of labour-intensive infrastructure investment, and skills development, particularly for young people.

Long term social dialogue projects, including capacity building for social partners and exchanges of experience between constituents in the region is also high on the agenda of the technical cooperation agenda. The ILO continues to be active in fragile States, and interventions on the elimination of child labour had intensified since 2000. Funding for employment-related projects in the region had been increasing steadily since 2000, while funding for work related to standards and social protection remained relatively stable.