Rwanda hosts a sub-regional employment forum
Prime Minister Anasthase Murekezi of Rwanda called for joint efforts to tackle youth unemployment in East Africa
26 April 2016
Kigali/Dar es Salaam (ILO News) – The Ministry of labour and Public service of Rwanda (MIFOTRA) and its partners, in collaboration with the ILO, organised a regional employment forum in Kigali from 25-26 April under the theme “promoting productive employment by supporting young entrepreneurs”.
The Prime Minister of Rwanda, H.E. Anasthase Murekezi who officiated at the event called for joint efforts to tackle youth unemployment. The Prime Minister stressed on the government`s efforts towards achieving decent work for all as it is reflected in Rwanda’s Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2).
Hon. Murekezi encouraged governments to continue supporting the growth of the private sector and promoting technology and innovation in key sectors while extending opportunities to both men and women.
The annual employment forum brought together the world of work of Rwanda to deliberate on employment issues. The platform provided an opportunity to advocate for creating decent and sustainable jobs as well as sharing experiences on how best to achieve inclusive and productive employment.
The forum which was also supported by the German cooperation - Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) - and Private Sector Federation (PSF) brought together more than 250 participants from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana and Namibia representing both public and private sectors including research institutions and youth.
The event also featured testimonies from young entrepreneurs, beneficiaries of various projects from their respective countries.
In her keynote address, Mary Kawar, Director, ILO Country Office for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, commended Rwanda for efforts and initiatives being taken to address the issue of youth unemployment.
Mary Kawar encouraged the Rwandan government to continue collaborating closely with the employers and workers through social dialogue in order to address the youth unemployment problem in an efficient manner.
According to Ms. Judith Uwizeye, Minister of Labour and Public Service, Rwanda, “the future of work will require modernizing agriculture, increasing productivity, training the labour force with quality skills and developing and ensuring growth of private sector in creating an enabling environment.”
Ms Uwizeye narrated that a future of work needed by the community is a future with successful young entrepreneurs, provides conducive environment for productive work for the youth and women, and supports efforts of eradicating poverty and securing sustainable development.
Commenting on the subject, a representative from the private sector federation (PSF) in Rwanda said the private sector have a crucial role to play and in their perspective the future of work will consist of free movement of labour across the region, harmonization of mechanisms and structures and most importantly regional integration which will require promotion of national and regional laws.
He further mentioned that steps are already being taken to strategize and set various programmes in order to adapt to context.
During the discussions, it was revealed that, so far, 1,650 former street vendors and hawkers comprising of youth and women were mobilized into cooperatives and supported to access decent work premises and start-up capital while 1,591 received start-up toolkits.
Further it was noted that there are 7,484 Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) which have been supported through Business Development Advisory services and 6,316 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) supported to access finance.
Participants took stock of current policies that are being implemented in Rwanda and the East African Community (EAC) and also discussed coordination mechanisms required by all key stakeholders in order to achieve desired results.
A number of recommendations were made at the end of the forum including, making use of the available labour market trends statistics, to support informed policy and programme interventions, provision of accurate information so as to prepare informed policies, create platforms for employers, engage private companies in the promotion of work place learning, and fast tracking harmonization of labour laws, practices and employment promotion strategies.
According to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook 2015, although education attainment is improving in numbers in most developing countries, skills gap still exists between education acquired and the nature of jobs available.
The Prime Minister of Rwanda, H.E. Anasthase Murekezi who officiated at the event called for joint efforts to tackle youth unemployment. The Prime Minister stressed on the government`s efforts towards achieving decent work for all as it is reflected in Rwanda’s Second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2).
Hon. Murekezi encouraged governments to continue supporting the growth of the private sector and promoting technology and innovation in key sectors while extending opportunities to both men and women.
The annual employment forum brought together the world of work of Rwanda to deliberate on employment issues. The platform provided an opportunity to advocate for creating decent and sustainable jobs as well as sharing experiences on how best to achieve inclusive and productive employment.
The forum which was also supported by the German cooperation - Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) - and Private Sector Federation (PSF) brought together more than 250 participants from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana and Namibia representing both public and private sectors including research institutions and youth.
The event also featured testimonies from young entrepreneurs, beneficiaries of various projects from their respective countries.
In her keynote address, Mary Kawar, Director, ILO Country Office for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, commended Rwanda for efforts and initiatives being taken to address the issue of youth unemployment.
Mary Kawar encouraged the Rwandan government to continue collaborating closely with the employers and workers through social dialogue in order to address the youth unemployment problem in an efficient manner.
Future of Work Initiative
Ms Kawar invited participants to air out their views on the Future of Work Centenary Initiative after explaining what it means for Rwanda and the whole region as it relates to decent jobs, organisation of work and production, governance of work, and work and society.According to Ms. Judith Uwizeye, Minister of Labour and Public Service, Rwanda, “the future of work will require modernizing agriculture, increasing productivity, training the labour force with quality skills and developing and ensuring growth of private sector in creating an enabling environment.”
Ms Uwizeye narrated that a future of work needed by the community is a future with successful young entrepreneurs, provides conducive environment for productive work for the youth and women, and supports efforts of eradicating poverty and securing sustainable development.
Commenting on the subject, a representative from the private sector federation (PSF) in Rwanda said the private sector have a crucial role to play and in their perspective the future of work will consist of free movement of labour across the region, harmonization of mechanisms and structures and most importantly regional integration which will require promotion of national and regional laws.
He further mentioned that steps are already being taken to strategize and set various programmes in order to adapt to context.
Building skills and promoting entrepreneurship
The Employment forum discussed several sub themes including creating and enabling environment for the private sector, equipping young people with quality skills through workplace learning; internships, apprenticeships and industrial attachments, coaching and mentoring SMEs which should be mainstreamed in the policy framework.During the discussions, it was revealed that, so far, 1,650 former street vendors and hawkers comprising of youth and women were mobilized into cooperatives and supported to access decent work premises and start-up capital while 1,591 received start-up toolkits.
Further it was noted that there are 7,484 Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) which have been supported through Business Development Advisory services and 6,316 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) supported to access finance.
Participants took stock of current policies that are being implemented in Rwanda and the East African Community (EAC) and also discussed coordination mechanisms required by all key stakeholders in order to achieve desired results.
A number of recommendations were made at the end of the forum including, making use of the available labour market trends statistics, to support informed policy and programme interventions, provision of accurate information so as to prepare informed policies, create platforms for employers, engage private companies in the promotion of work place learning, and fast tracking harmonization of labour laws, practices and employment promotion strategies.
According to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook 2015, although education attainment is improving in numbers in most developing countries, skills gap still exists between education acquired and the nature of jobs available.