Making African voice heard in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

In September 2013, at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Member States will discuss fundamentals of the new development agenda to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Africa - the continent that is most affected by poverty - will submit its common position to have a say in how the future should evolve post-2015.

African Heads of State and Government requested in 2012-2013 that consultations involving all stakeholders be undertaken to identify African priorities on what the post 2015 development agenda should constitute. In their common position, African leaders pointed out the emergence of new challenges to sustainable development like youth unemployment, which the post-2015 development agenda as an overarching framework should address.

The ILO has a very clear message; the post 2015 agenda needs to have at its heart an explicit and distinctive objective of decent work and job creation. That objective needs to be quantifiable, simple and it must be understandable.

The High Level Panel (HLP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda which was recently released has proposed a new goal No 8: Create Jobs, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Equitable Growth. This new and positive development emphasizes the centrality of decent work to sustainable development.

Eradicating extreme poverty and achieving sustainable development in Africa

“Despite significant strides in economic growth and development, a number of African countries are struggling to achieve the MDGs and, at the current rate of progress, are unlikely to achieve most of them by 2015, especially in poverty reduction as the absolute number of poor people has increased in the continent though progress has been made.

The limited involvement of developing countries, in general, and Africa in particular, in the formulation of the MDGs has contributed to weak ownership and slow progress. In addition, to the extent that the MDGs were not aligned with both continental and national programmes in Africa this has created an additional burden for countries both in terms of data production and monitoring. The focus should be on structural economic transformations to make development sustainable. While the approaches of different countries will differ, all must focus on fundamentals such as building the skills base of their workers, supporting small enterprises, investing in research and development, and finding new ways to innovate.

“Creating an environment where the private sector produces more good and decent jobs is also critical - especially for our continent's large youth population”, noted Amoussouga Gero, African Senior Economist and researcher. The ILO has made a renewed commitment to work on the MDGs acceleration framework in three African countries: Tanzania, Ghana and Niger.

Prioritizing employment creation and social protection

To Africa regional consultations led by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Union Commission, African Development Bank and United Nations Development Programme confirm that health, education, water and sanitation and the environment remain high priorities for African countries. In addition, stakeholders have identified inclusive growth that creates employment and livelihood opportunities, especially for the continent’s young as a major area of operation. Stakeholders have identified structural economic transformation, human development, financing and partnerships, and technology and innovation as the priority areas for responding to these challenges in the post-2015 development agenda.

The High Level Panel argue that a post-2015 development framework must promote “Inclusive Social protection” which would ensure subsistence to all people who need it, whenever they need it. In 2014, the continent will be reviewing the implementation of the plan of action of the Ouagadougou process (adopted in September 2004) that put job creation at the heart of social and economic development of Africa. Most of the 11 key priority areas of the Ouagadougou Plan of Action respond to the MDGs.

There is therefore a major opportunity for African countries to link it now to the new post-2015 process to ensure coherence and allow African tripartite partners to develop and share their stories to enrich the 2015 development Agenda.