African Parliament, International Labour Organisation to sign agreement on labour right

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are set to sign an MoU to advance labour rights and standards in Africa.

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A statement from the ILO indicates that the purpose of the agreement is to provide cooperation and to facilitate collaboration between PAP and the ILO.

The agreement will also further their shared goals in Africa.

The partnership which will be signed in Pretoria South Africa on Friday, 2^nd September,  is in line with the goals of the  African Union Agenda 2063-“The Africa We Want”, the 2019 ILO centenary Declaration  for the Future of Work as well as the Abijan Declaration –“Advancing Social Justice: Shaping the future of work in Africa”.

The document according to the statement, will focus on the priority areas identified by the two organisations to respond to the emerging issues in the areas of advancement of labour rights and standards among others.

Other interest include, the promotion of fundamental principles and rights at work, promotion of relevant international labour standards on child labour and forced labour as well as the Violence and Harassment Convention 190 signed by member countries of the ILO in 2019.

Also to be covered in the agreement are, “full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all (including issues related to skills and life long learning, formalisation of the informal economy, sustainability enterprises and productivity.

“Ensuring adequate protection for all workers (including social protection, labour migration management, gender and non- discrimination approach.) Statement added.

ILO’s Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa Ms Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon will sign on behalf of the ILO while the Pan African Parliament will be represented by its newly elected President, Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira.