Promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment, decent work and income-generation opportunities (Africa)

In Africa, promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, remains one of the most daunting challenges. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth on the African continent had not been inclusive and fast enough to absorb the growing labour force in the formal economy, hence the unprecedented rise in the informal economy and associated decent work deficits. The lack of sufficient full, productive and decent jobs is complicating efforts to end poverty on the continent and ensure prosperity for all SDG 1, and many other related SDGs. Achieving full and productive employment requires the development of comprehensive national employment policy frameworks that that are gender inclusive and promote structural transformation as well as strengthening conscious integration of decent employment in all macroeconomic policy frameworks. Overall the quality of jobs created are as much important as the quantity of jobs created. This five-week workers’ academy was designed to empower workers’ organizations to influence and taking concrete actions on their own to promote universal social protection through full appreciation of the ILO framework on social protections system, policy development and implementation, tripartite social dialogue, and collective bargaining. It allowed collaborative learning and knowledge-sharing of relevant experience to accelerate workers’ organizations’ country actions on social protection. OBJECTIVES This regional online training aimed at strengthening the capacity of trade unions to promote the implementation of pro-decent employment policies and strategies at national level. Key topics in this training included the International Labour Standards (ILS) relating to decent employment, trade union led initiatives for the ratification of the relevant Conventions related to employment; the role of trade unions in pro-employment policies and job creation plans; integration of trade union policy positions in the development, implementation, monitoring of national employment policies and strategies; trade union proposals for alternatives and inclusive pro-employment national policies for social dialogue at tripartite and bipartite levels. Specifically, the training aimed at enabling participants to: 1. Understand and articulate the importance of pro-employment macro and sectoral policies and national employment policies; 2. Articulate the role of policy coherence in implementation of effective pro-employment policies; 3. Share good practices and experiences on how to ILS and other global frameworks to develop policy recommendations and demands towards a coherent regulatory framework for promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment, inclusive structural transformation, decent work and income-generation opportunities, which trade unions can bring in tripartite and bipartite discussions and public policy debates at the national, sectoral levels and enterprise levels; 4. Replicate successful global, regional, national, sectoral and enterprise trade union initiatives and strategies in promoting pro-employment and inclusive growth; and, 5. Develop priority trade union strategies and actions to promote pro-employment macro and sectoral employment policies. CONTENT The course covered four deep learning modules through synchronous and asynchronous learning modalities. These include: (i) Employment trends: Realities, Challenges and Opportunities; (ii) ILS and global frameworks that promote decent employment; (iii) Pro-employment macro and sectoral strategies: lessons and insights; and (iv) Advancing social justice, promoting decent work: national employment policies through social dialogue. Learners spent an average of 40 learning hours to complete the self-guided learning modules, participate in the live teach-ins/webinars, posting weekly assignments on the online forum and interactions with co-learners. ECAMPUS The activity was delivered via the E-campus, the education platform of the International Training Centre of the ILO. The platform was used to distribute course information, training material, learning tasks, exchanges of good practices and experiences, feedback and multimedia content.