Improving occupational safety and health and access to social protection in Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber sector

ABIDJAN (ILO Info) – From 26 to 29 August 2025, two major events were held in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, as part of the ILO–Eni project, “Improving Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and Access to Social Protection for Workers in the Rubber Value Chain.” These activities reaffirmed the joint commitment of the ILO, Eni and national partners to strengthening worker protection in Côte d’Ivoire.

On 26 August, the Project Steering Committee (PSC) held its second meeting and adopted the Committee’s Terms of Reference, thereby confirming the project’s governance structure. Members also agreed to broaden the composition of the Committee to include new institutional stakeholders and sector representatives, ensuring inclusiveness and adequate stakeholder representation within the project. In addition, the ILO presented the PSC members with the findings of the assessment of enabling factors and constraints to improving occupational safety and health (OSH) and access to social protection for workers in Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber seed value chain. Participants fully endorsed the study’s findings and the main interventions proposed under the project.

From 27 to 29 August, a workshop to reflect on the project’s operational framework brought together 45 representatives from central and decentralized institutions, technical services, social partners and workers in the rubber sector. The main objective was to strengthen inter-institutional coordination and mobilization to improve OSH and access to social protection for workers in the sector. Among other things, the sessions enabled participants to:

• share their institutional mandates and operational processes;
• identify entry points for developing concrete synergies on OSH and social protection among institutions working in the areas of occupational safety and health, social protection, labour inspection, health and agricultural extension services;
• develop joint action plans to operationalize collaboration on OSH and social protection, both at the national level and in the pilot regions of Indénié-Djuablin, Haut-Sassandra and Cavally.

The workshop represented a key step towards translating the recommendations of the assessment of enabling factors and constraints for improving OSH and access to social protection for workers in the rubber sector into concrete measures. Discussions focused on four strategic areas: labour inspection and compliance, training and awareness-raising, expanding social protection coverage, and resource mobilization. The analysis and discussions resulted in a clear roadmap based on operational activities on OSH and social protection involving all stakeholders.

Together, these two events represent an important milestone in the implementation of the project in Côte d’Ivoire. They strengthened dialogue among all stakeholders and paved the way for concrete action to improve OSH conditions and practices and expand access to social protection in the rubber seed value chain and beyond.