Tanzania kicks off dialogue on ILO “Future of Work Centenary Initiative”

DAR ES SALAAM (ILO News) - The ILO, in collaboration with the Government as well as workers’ and employers’ organizations of Tanzania, organised the first National Forum on the future of work in the East African country.

The Forum - officiated by Mr Joseph Nganga, Assistant Director of employment on behalf of the Minister, Prime Minister`s Office, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability, Hon. Jenista Mhagama (MP) - attracted more than 150 participants from research institutions, universities, government, employers, private sector, youth and workers organisations.

The objective was to give participants the opportunity to air out their views about the future of work in Tanzania, including on issues related to decent jobs, organisation of work and production, governance of work, and work and society.

Mr Nganga assured the ILO of the government’s full support towards the decent work agenda which is key to fostering development in the country.

“The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania together with social partners are committed to the implementation of the Decent Work Agenda for inclusive growth and sustainable development”, he said.

He further mentioned some of the challenges related to full implementation of decent work including unemployment rates (at 10.3% while youth unemployment stands at 11.7%), growing of the informal sector (4.3m or 21.7% of the employed population), precarious employment (30% of the wage employed population), extension of social protection for all, transformation of agriculture and economic prosperity which need not to be overemphasized.”

Mr. Nganga explained that Tanzania has future plans to solve the unemployment scourge, especially for the youth, saying that the country is moving towards industrialised economy where manufacturing is projected to contribute 40 per cent of all jobs in the country.

Dialogue on Future of Work

Contributing to the future of work dialogue, one of the panellists, Prof. Sylvia Temu, Director of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational training said education alone won’t lead Tanzanians to decent work saying skills play a key role in accessing decent work.

“We are in a process of having curriculum which will help University graduates to have better skills for their future work. We must admit there is a skills gap amongst youth in Tanzania compared to the needs of the labour market,” she said.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Mary Kawar, Director, ILO Country Office for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, commended Tanzania for setting its long term objectives through vision 2025 and the FYDP II targeted at attaining middle income status, with the plan focusing on economic transformations through industrialization and human development.

Mary Kawar also called the participants to know some of the key drivers for change globally and for Tanzania in order to tackle the future of work agenda. These include technological advancement, globalisation and environmental degradation, shifting employment relationships and overpopulation.

She said the conversation will equip the organization to successfully take up the challenges into its second century and better serve partners in Tanzania and elsewhere.

On his part, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez said Tanzania is highly an agricultural predominant country but still the majority especially those in rural areas are still suffering with unsafe jobs and minimal wages.

“Today the majority of Tanzanians are still involved in low productive informal jobs which are insecure and hardly provide a living wage,” he said.

“The integrated labour survey (2014) cited that 11.7 per cent of youth are unemployed. So our meeting today questions this paradox of growth without prosperity for the majority of the population. Tanzania is a young nation and as such we need to think carefully and open dialogue on the future of work.” Mr. Rodriguez added.

Background information

The forum was held in response to the launch the Future of Work Centenary Initiative by the ILO Director-General, Mr. Guy Ryder, during the International Labour Conference in June 2015, in Geneva, where he called for global debate on the future of work by considering major transformations which are taking place all over the world.