President Uhuru Kenyatta meets Aeneas Chuma, ILO Regional Director for Africa

">H.E. President Uhuru Kenyata to emphasize the existing partnership and dialogue with the tripartite constituents in Kenya.

The objective of the courtesy call - 25th June in Nairobi, Kenya – facilitated by Alexio Musindo, Director of the Country Office for Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, was to discuss issues of mutual interest for Kenya’s development and to highlight the key priorities of the International Labour Office in the region.

The promotion of Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, the extension of the Social Protection Floor, the governance of Labour Migration, the development of Labour Market Information Systems and the support to Fragile States are top priorities for the ILO in Africa.

During his official working visit in Kenya, Mr Chuma also met high level representatives from the tripartite constituents (Ministry of Employment/Labour, Workers’ and Employers’ delegates) as well as reps of key lines Ministries of both countries to strengthen the existing cooperation.

Two weeks ago, Kenya was elected Vice-President of the Annual ILO’s International Labour Conference. Mrs Jacqueline Mugo, Executive Director of the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), was acting as one of the Vice-Presidents.

Mr Chuma’s visit to Kenya was also designed to get first-hand information on programs and projects operating in Kenya.

According to a 2013 ILO report, Kenya needs to adopt a coherent national employment strategy in order to achieve a more equitable economic growth.

GDP growth in Kenya has increased in recent years, (it is expected to reach 5.7 per cent this year), but this has not translated into improved labour market conditions, especially for youth – a growing segment of the population.

One of Kenya’s vision now is to mainstream labour market policies into development planning.