ILO to support UN/AU partnership for Africa’s sustainable development

ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) - The ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships, Gilbert Houngbo, and the Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, Aeneas Chuma, will attend high-level meetings of the 2016 Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa) on 2-3 April 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The two-day meeting – organized on the margins of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development - will be an opportunity to discuss the theme for this year’s session: “United Nations Support to the African Union (AU) for the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals”.

High level officials from the African Union Commission (AUC), African Development Bank (AfDB), NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), UN system agencies and organizations working in support of Africa, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as Partners and friends of RCM-Africa, are expected to attend the Seventeenth Session of Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa.

Migration, Youth and Gender Empowerment

One of the conference’s key side events is scheduled on 2 April to address international migration in Africa from key issues and challenges to opportunities.

The side event will be co-chaired by Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gilbert Houngbo, Deputy Director-General for Field Operations & Partnerships at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Panellists include:

• Aisha L. Abdullahi, AU Commissioner, Department of Political Affairs
• Laura Thompson, Deputy Director General, International Organization on Migration (IOM)
• Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency
• Engida Getachew, Deputy Director General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Mabingue Ngom, UNFPA Regional Director for West and Central Africa

Participants will be looking at migration as a key factor for inclusive and sustainable development and share experiences on how it affects economic, social, political, and governance issues in countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants.

With some 19 million migrants in Africa, the implementation of the Joint Labour Migration Program (AUC/ILO/IOM/ECA) on labour migration governance in the region will also be reviewed as the most effective international action to protect migrant workers and their families.

The panellists will examine migration and its integration into development planning for Africa while proposing ways of making the phenomenon a vector of investment on the continent.

Financing Social Protection in Africa

The Conference’s other key side event is also dedicated to opportunities and challenges in financing Social Protection in Africa. The session is scheduled for Sunday 3rd April 2016, from 16:00-18:00, at CR5 in the United Nations Conference Centre.

One of the main characteristics of social protection interventions in Africa is its poor governance capacity with the lack of effective coordination among key stakeholders and actors. This affects planning activities as well as financing strategies.

The high-level event on financing social protection will discuss strategies for achieving the targets of the Agenda 2063 and the SDGs on social protection and social security among others.

The ILO will be represented by its Deputy Regional Director for Africa, Dayina Mayenga and Anne Drouin, Chief, Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics.

Background information

The United Nations now considers migration as one of the key dimensions of globalisation. The UN set up the Global Migration Group (GMG) which is expected to produce a comprehensive report that would help member states zero-in on the opportunities of migration.

Established in 2006, the GMG – chaired by the ILO in 2014 - brings together the heads of 15 agencies of the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to promote wider application of relevant international instruments and standards relating to migration. The body also encourages more coherent, comprehensive and coordinated approaches to international migration with governments, social partners and stakeholders.

RCM-Africa, is a platform for the UN system to support the African Union (AU) and its organs in the implementation of appropriate policies to promote Africa’s development in accordance with the purpose and principles of the Constitutive Act of the AU and its NEPAD programme. Furthermore, through the mechanism, the UN supports the AU and its member States in building the capacity to implement global, and continental development goals.