Tanzania hosts a national Symposium on Youth and the Future of Work

DAR ES SALAAM (ILO News) - The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its tripartite constituents hosted a national youth symposium on the Future of work to better prepare the marking the ILO’s Centenary in 2019.

The symposium which was officiated by the Director of Country Office for Dar es Salaam, Ms Mary Kawar, attracted more than 60 youth with various backgrounds and organisations and from different parts of the country. The meeting was presided over by Professor Elisante Ole Gabriel who is also the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports.

Elaborating on the objective of the symposium, Ms Kawar pointed out that the meeting is aimed at recognising the work of youth, obtaining their views on the future of work trajectory and create a platform to share the ILO’s thinking and international trends on the future of work in Tanzanian context.

She further added that Tanzania faces a challenge of high youth unemployment rate which stands at 11.7% to-date, however it is interesting to note that “Tanzania has been doing well in the economic sphere, with highest economic growth rates in the sub-region for several years running” she said.

Youth Employment

Professor Gabriel’s presentation was centred on four keys areas namely; challenges facing the youth, macro environment forces of future of work, gaps of the future of work and recommendations to ILO.

Focussing on employment challenges, he pointed out that based on Integrated Labour Force Survey reports, there are 16.2 million youth in the country of which more than 70% constitute active labour force. Concerning the future of working culture and dynamics Prof Elisante mentioned some of the challenges facing the youth including stagnant mind sets, inability to add value to activities they perform and lack of access to capital to be able to invest in businesses.

He further pointed out gaps that ought to be dealt with in order to curb challenges facing youth in the world of work. They include poor education and training which results to a mismatch with labour market demands. Additionally he urged for the ILO to frame its responses effectively to a fast changing and transforming world of work.

“The ILO as a key driver of the decent work agenda need to continue creating programmes that will help youth worldwide and its constituents to be able to balance political, economic, social and technological forces that directly affect work” he said.

This will include formulation of good working culture for youth, establishment of incubation centres for youth as well as push for solid links between industrial and educational communities. He also challenged the youth to note that they are solely responsible for both national and their own development particularly since country’s future economic growth rests on their shoulders.

Strategic partnerships

The ambassador of Sweden Embassy in Tanzania, H.E Ms Katarina Rangnitt, who was in attendance at the symposium contributed to the future of work debate, stressing that government ought to focus more on sectors with potential of job creation and move towards a distributive economy that includes manufacturing rather than concentrative economy that relies on a single or very few non-manufacturing industries which limits absorption of youth entering the labour market.

Some of the key concerns raised by the youth included poor quality of education in comparison to labour demands, skills mismatch that worsen youth burden in search for jobs, lack of resources and opportunities that are sustainable so as to encourage youth to be self-employed. Some were of the opinion that decent work for all is far from being attained both now and in the future in the country, and this calls for more efforts to be put in promoting the agenda.

“To-date many of the employed youth are still unaware of their rights at work or even work in environments where their rights are constrained as a result of job scarcity,.. This affects their living standards” one of them commented.

Background Information

The ILO launched ‘The Future of Work Centenary Initiative’ FWCI in June 2015 as one of the activities to mark the ILO’S Centenary in 2019. This is meant to provide the ILO and its constituents the opportunity to understand and respond effectively to the fast and big transformations that are taking place in the world of work. The initiative aims at thinking through the overall dynamics and direction of change and what this requires of the Organization.