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Employment Creation in Eastern and Sourthern African Subregions
(ILO)
East and Southern Africa Subregional Follow-up Conference to the World Social Summit
15-17 March, 1999 Nairobi, Kenya

1. Background

1. The World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) took place in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 1995. The Summit Declarations committed the 186 participating states to, inter alia, "promoting the goal of full employment as a basic priority of economic and social policies, and to enabling all men and women to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods, through freely chosen employment and work". (UN, 1995). The collective reaffirmation of the goal of full employment was an expression of solidarity with all those suffering under poor working conditions and unemployment. The ILO had adopted this goal as an international standard some years before as specified in ILO's Convention No. 122 (date of entry into force is 15.07.1964) and the endorsement of this goal at the Social Summit was a significant advance for the concept.

2. This paper seeks to review employment generation in the countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions from 1995 (at the time of the Social Summit ) to the present. More specifically, it is designed to provide an assessment of the extent to which countries have put into effect the more important actions as mentioned in the Copenhagen Programme of Action, and made progress in moving towards the goal of full employment (commitment 3). Although these countries have many common features, they also represent a highly diverse group in terms of size, level of development and economic structure as well as in their labour markets and employment structures.

3. Following the African economic crisis in the 1970s and the early 1980s, stabilization-cum-adjustment programmes were put in place designed to arrest the decline in job creation and improve the overall employment situation. Standard measures under SAPs included a reduction in public expenditure in order to control the deficit, retrenchment of public sector employees, economic liberalization, currency devaluation and privatisation of public enterprises. However, the combination of slow economic growth rates, a rapid growth of the population and labour force combined with slow formal/wage employment growth, and declining per capita incomes produced limited opportunities for adequate employment creation. In this context, the employment problem in the 1990s became a much more difficult challenge than in earlier decades. Sub-Saharan Africa thus entered the 1990s in a situation of deep economic and social crisis.

4. In 1993-1994, economic recovery began to be registered in Sub-Sahara Africa. By 1995, the African region was recording appreciable improvement in the annual economic growth rates, and the Gross Domestic Product, rose by 2.3 per cent compared to 2.1 % in 1994 and 1.8 in 1993 (UNECA, 1996). The improvement in the overall regional development, however, concealed significant variations in economic performance among Africa's subregions and individual countries. The Eastern and Southern Africa subregions registered growth rates in excess of the regional average as a result of improved performance in the agricultural and mining sectors, with a GDP growth rate of 3.3 percent in 1995 compared to 2.9 per cent in 1994. The overall GDP growth rate in Eastern Africa was 4.8 per cent in 1995 compared to 4.2 per cent in 1994, while in the Southern Africa subregion, it was 2.9 percent in 1995 and 2.6 per cent in 1994 (see table 1, in annexes). In 1995, five countries in the Southern Africa subregion and seven in the Eastern Africa subregion recorded growth rates in excess of the population growth rate. Nevertheless, the rapid growth rate of the population and labour force, and widespread unemployment especially among the youth and women remained critical and worrisome. The 'employment content' of the renewed growth was generally low. At the time of the convening of the WSSD in 1995, the employment and poverty situation in the African region was really critical.

5. The employment challenge existing in 1995 could be viewed from the angle of supply and demand. First, labor supply was characterised by a rapid increase in active population that entailed a large number of new entrants to the labour force. The labour force was increasing at an annual growth of about 3-3.5 per cent per annum or more in Eastern Africa and 2.5 per cent in Southern Africa. The rapid rate of growth can be expected to continue in the forceable future despite the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS. From the demand side, which is dependent on the structure and growth of the national economies, slow economic growth and little structural change were reflected in declining or stagnating levels of wage employment, decreasing real wages and deteriorating living conditions for about 30-50% of the population. The situation was compounded by negative effects of increased debt burden and deteriorating terms of trade with some countries spending more than half of their export earnings for external debt servicing.

6. The employment problem in the subregions was structural in nature and tended to be aggravated by low growth of the economy. The majority of the population (80 per cent or more) were engaged in low productivity economic activities in subsistence agriculture, and the urban and rural informal sectors. In this respect, labour force growth was accommodated through expansion of low productivity self-employment in agriculture and in the urban and rural informal sectors, or in open unemployment, particularly in urban areas. In the rural areas and in the urban informal sectors, under-employment rather than open unemployment was usually the major problem. There was considerable cross-country variability in open urban unemployment rates, with some countries in the subregions reporting rates that averaged 15-25 per cent or more. In the Southern Africa subregion, national unemployment rates,were typically higher with about one fifth of the labour force being unemployed (using strict definition of unemployed as those seeking work and not finding it). Official estimates of the rate of unemployment put the figure at 21.5 per cent in Botswana (1995), 19 per cent in Namibia 1993/94, 15.9 per cent in South Africa (1995) and 20% in Zambia (1993). A disproportionate share of the unemployed consisted of the youth and women.

7. The modern sector share of employment remained small in the subregions at about 10-20% of the labour force, except in Southern Africa where the figures were higher, reaching 36 and 38 per cent in Swaziland and Botswana respectively. The role played by the modern sector in job creation was thus usually drastically curtailed. Moreover, the job security which was a major feature of modern sector employment with adherence to conventions relating to minimum wages, social security and opportunities for training and retraining had been eliminated. The low level of demand for labour in the modern sector also had an adverse impact on the levels of wages and salaries, which were eroded significantly. Consequently, the quality of employment declined, while the expansion of the informal sector exacerbated the situation. Compounding the problem associated with the informalization of labour markets in Southern Africa, was the growth of atypical or irregular forms of employment, such as part-time work, contract labour, homework, casual work, unregistered self-employment, and family businesses. Although these forms of employment had grown in most cases, arising from industrial restructuring, they also shared some characteristics of the informal sector, such as poor wage and other inferior employment conditions.

8. The informal sector had become one of the most important labour sponges in the subregions. Over 75% of new entrants into the urban labour force were absorbed in the informal sector. In the early 1990s, the informal sector in Africa accounted for about one quarter of the labour force and over 60 per cent of the urban labour force. The relative size of the urban informal sector tends to be low in Southern African countries when compared to Eastern Africa. Obviously, the informal sector as a labour sponge had a finite capacity for absorption of labour and it appeared increasingly to be operating as a refuge which eased the extent of open unemployment by transforming it into underemployment. The sector was hard pressed to cope with the rapid rate of rural urban migration which continued unabated in the subregions averaging 5-7 per cent or more per annum. Moreover, various ILO studies had shown that the entry requirements into micro enterprises and informal business entrepreneurship were quite high in terms of maturity, experience, skills and personal savings. Consequently, the transition from school into self-employment in the informal sector was a long and difficult process; and the widespread belief that unemployed youth could be easily settled in informal sector self-employment was often based on an incorrect understanding of the functioning of the informal labour markets. Serious attempts were non the less being made in the subregions in the area of policy and institutional framework, aimed at improving employment creation and economic performance of the informal sector (Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia etc.) in the first half of the 1990s.

9. The employment of women and youth remained critical just as it does today. Youths had three times as many chances of being unemployed as the adult population. Yet the proportion of persons aged between 15 and 24 years in Africa as a proportion of total population was expected to rise in the following 30 years. It was also estimated that less than one third of the students from the primary level proceeded to secondary education and just over 10 per cent from the secondary went on to the tertiary level. Consequently, between primary and tertiary level, 90 per cent of the youth were forced to enter the labour market with a preference for largely unavailable modern sector jobs. Therefore, unemployment had crept up the education ladder which implied that a substantial proportion of scarce resources which were spent on human resources development were not yielding the expected social returns. Given the economic reform programmes, governments were unable to continue guaranteed employment schemes for graduates who had to join the ranks of the unemployed in the subregions.

10. Women and female youths were even more disadvantaged, on average, experiencing relatively higher unemployment than their male counterparts. Despite having made some gains in participation in the labour market in the 1970s and 1980s, women had been disproportionately adversely affected during that period of restructuring and retrenchment of the civil service. Since women tended to be concentrated in the lower end of the occupational hierarchy, they were the first among those who were retrenched. The outcome of those developments was that the majority of women who entered the labour force tended to be concentrated in the informal sector.

11. In 1995 therefore, at the time of the Social Summit, the overall employment prospects facing the subregion, were quite grim. World Bank projections for the 1990-2000 period showed extremely modest per capita income growth for the African region, with poverty incidence expected to rise to 50% by the end of the decade. ILO's own review of the situation suggested that prospects for employment were likely to deteriorate. Therefore, a comprehensive and major effort to accelerate job creation, and improve sustainable livelihoods was considered urgent and necessary. Mere acceleration in economic growth was considered inadequate to ensure a substantial alleviation of the employment crisis in Africa. Despite the African Heads of State and Governments OAU Summit Declaration in Abuja on the African Employment Crisis (1991), little progress had been made to reverse the situation by 1995. Hence, there was a need to renew efforts and determination as embodied in the Copenhegn Declaration of 1995.

12. The Social Summit momentum clearly recognised that macro-economic reforms, although they might have been necessary, had a strong negative impact on the levels of employment and living conditions of the majority of the population. It stated that macro-economic policies alone are not enough to reach the overall objectives of full employment and sustainable livelihoods. These considerations formed the basis for the political commitments, for achieving full employment.

At the World Summit for Social Development, the world's leaders committed themselves to "promoting the goal of full employment as a basic priority of our economic and social policies, and to enabling all men and women to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods through freely chosen productive employment and work".

13. In Africa, the primary objective of social development is eradicating poverty and meeting basic needs. As the WSSD recalled, full, adequately and appropriate remunerated employment is an effective method of combatting poverty and promoting social integration. Special attention should be paid to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women, youth, and disabled people who constitute the bulk of people living in poverty. The promotion of human rights with a view to eradicate the discrepancies faced by these groups in access to employment and social services has been recognised as an essential condition.

14. In a world of increasing globalization and interdependence among countries, national efforts need to be buttressed by international cooperation . Commitment 3 also states that the international level should endeavour to : "Foster international cooperation in macroeconomic policies, liberalization of trade and investment so as to promote sustained economic growth and the creation of employment, and exchange experiences on successful policies and programmes aimed at increasing employment and reducing unemployment". Employment generation requires not only the support of international actors but also that the State, the social partners, workers and employers, and all the other parts of civil society at all levels cooperate to create conditions that enable everyone to participate in and benefit from productive work.

 "Expansion of Productive Employment and Reduction of Unemployment"

15. Monitoring employment creation and trends requires relevant and current data on employment, unemployment and labour markets. As might be expected, data on employment changes in the Southern and Eastern Africa subregions since 1995 are still quite scarce and outdated. A quantitative assessment of the extent of progress in employment creation must thus rely not only on the meagre direct evidence on employment that is available, but also on indirect indicators, such as the rate of economic growth, on which available data may be more comprehensive. Besides, a wide range of policies, programmes and institutional interventions have been attempted to enhance the prospects for economic growth and employment creation. Available evidence on the outcomes of these efforts is unfortunately inadequate to permit a firm assessment of the degree of success achieved in employment generation. For all these reasons, the conclusions reached must be regarded as tentative.

16. Considering the case of South Africa for which both GDP growth and employment data are available, it can be seen that despite positive economic growth in 1995, 1996 and 1997, total employment rose by 0.9 per cent only in the first year. In 1996, despite similar economic growth as in 1995 of more than 3 per cent, total employment actually fell by some 6 per cent and by another 1.0 per cent in 1997! Overall, some 500,000 jobs were lost between 1994 and 1997 as total employment fell from 8.6 to 8.1 million. Similarly, in Botswana, another country with pre- and post-1995 data on employment, total employment fell from 392,000 in 1993/94 to 345,000 in 1995/96 . In Namibia, although official figures are not yet available, there appears to have been only a marginal increase in total employment between 1993/94 and 1997. This lack of short term correlation between economic growth and changes in employment has given rise to fears that the growth recovery in the subregion may not be generating a high level of new jobs as in the past, i.e. the phenomenon of "jobless growth" may have been in evidence, at least in some countries.

17. An important success story in the subregion is Mauritius which has often been referred as an African miracle. All indicators since 1980s point to a society that has vastly improved its living standards, at the same time, extended socio-economic benefits such as education, health care and housing to virtually the entire population. An ILO analysis attributes much of the progress to the country’s functioning democracy and the stable social climate which prevails there. It also observes that there is little doubt that international trade and global markets played an important positive role in Mauritius’ recent success. Unemployment rates have declined sharply since the 1980s with trade related sectors accounting for most of the new jobs. However, the ILO study notes that there are new strains linked to the exhaustion of the export processing zone strategy which has been operating since the early 1970s. The unemployment rate has risen in the 1990s to 6 per cent according to official Government estimates and to over 10 per cent based on the international definition of unemployment.

18. While the economies of Eastern and Southern Africa subregions have achieved a degree of success in economic stabilization and in implementing economic reforms-cum-Structural Adjustment Programmes, some of the macro-economic policies instituted have resulted in contractionary effects on employment. Ethiopia has been implementing Structural Adjustment Programmes since 1992 after a long and drawn out civil war. In 1996, IMF stated : "In brief, substantial progress has been made with respect to both main objectives" (stabilizing the economy and deregulating economic activity). Although the Government of Ethiopia is committed to reducing poverty by achieving a broad-based economic growth in a stable macroeconomic environment, poverty is still strikingly high and employment has not significantly improved. The rapid expansion of the labour force at 3.5 % per annum is a significant challenge. Since Uganda introduced the Economic Recovery Programme (1987), remarkable political and economic recovery has been registered and Uganda is considered to be one of the success stories in Africa. However, the employment and poverty situation has not improved significantly. More than half of the population still lives below the poverty line. The economy must create about 300,000 new jobs a year to keep up with the growing labour force. Following the retrenchment of public servants and the restructuring of public enterprises, the development of productive employment has not kept pace with the rising labour supply. Real wages have also declined to such an extent that wage income alone is no longer sufficient to sustain a large number of households and wage earners. Although the wage decline has bottomed out in recent years with some evidence of a recent turn-around, current wage levels are still below the living wage.

19. On the other hand, the annual Economic Review for Tanzania states in 1998 : "Tanzania’s macro economic performance during FY98 was below satisfaction, ..." The assessment of the Government of Tanzania in the analysis of the national employment situation says : A ... the development of our economy has been far from satisfactory. Such development has led to the reduction of employment opportunities and a growing state of not only poverty but misery especially in rural areas. This state of poverty is amidst an environment of a growing number of unemployed people and abundant natural resources which are not exploited even to minimum level." The labour market has been registering a growing number of new entrants into the labour force, while demand for labour has been decreasing. The Government explains the limited capacity to absorb newcomers into the labour market as follows : (1) a decline in National income and a high population growth rate, (2) the retrenchment and cessation of new employment in the country, (3) a rapid increase of youth who complete different training institutions and who can no longer be employed by the Government, (4) a shift from labour intensive to capital intensive techniques of production in some industries.

20. From a gender angle , reliable estimates are inadequate in most countries and very few countries with official employment figures disaggregate these data by sex. However, it may be said that the formal, wage employment sector, including public and parastatal sub-sectors, has been a limited source of employment in the region, and has been dominated by men. Only Mauritius has a relatively important manufacturing sector. Women have largely benefited from the growth of two occupations, secretarial work and teaching, which have gone to the better educated. Women are also more likely to be in the public sector, where they are concentrated in lower occupational and skills levels. Despite the relatively low level of economic activity of women through out the region, it is worth noting that the number of women seeking an independent source of cash income is growing. Women have been migrating to urban areas in greater numbers in search of employment during the past decades. An increased proportion of households, especially in certain countries, are headed - de jure or de facto - by women or heavily dependent on women’s income for survival.

21. This bleak picture regarding success in employment creation since Copenhagen is confirmed by available evidence on changes in the rate of unemployment, which show some deterioration. The rate of unemployment in South Africa rose from 15.9 per cent in 1995 to 21.7 per cent in 1997, using a strict definition of unemployment. With an expanded definition, unemployment rose from 27.7 to 36.0 per cent of the labour force (Statistics South Africa, 1998, p. 71). In both Botswana and Namibia, however, the rate of unemployment remained about the same before and after 1995.

22. In Tanzania, about 30 % of the labour force is either unemployed or underemployed. In Kenya, there was a marked slow-down in the growth of formal wage employment which accounted for an unemployment rate increase to around 25 percent. A similar proportion of the labour force is underemployed. Unemployment is rampant among women, youth and school leavers graduating from institutions of higher learning, tertiary and other training institutions.

23. In Uganda, the magnitude of the employment challenge is further aggravated by the need to increase productivity of some 3.9 million under-employed nationals particularly in the rural areas. Employment trends in the country indicate that without a concerted effort to tackle the problem of un- and underemployment, the situation could get worse. Slow or negative formal sector wage employment growth and the likelihood of more retrenchments suggest that the modern sector’s role in the absorption of new entrants to the labour force is likely to remain marginal accounting only for a small proportion of the increment of the labour force. This implies that the new entrants to the labour force and retrenchees will have to be absorbed in the rural sector or the urban informal sector, or face open unemployment or underemployment.

24. As discussed previously, it appears that informal sector activities continue to be the leading source of employment opportunities despite serious problems of low productivity, low level of remuneration and quality of work.

1. Adoption and Implementation of Initiatives of Macro and Sectoral

25. The past trends of economic reform and stabilization programmes are yet to bring about sufficient employment growth in several countries in the subregion. Thus countries have began to understand that measures must be taken beyond traditional stabilization policies.They have now also realized that the creation of productive employment on a major scale and the reduction of mass poverty cannot be achieved and sustained without a steady and sustained rapid growth in per capita GDP of the country. It is believed that growth patterns and the necessary incentive structures must be designed to ensure adequate job generation and to reflect the comparative advantages in domestic productions. Employment creation has begun to be considered as an integral part of development strategy and an independent objective of national development planning. There is an increasing awareness by top policy makers and leaders of political, employers and workers organizations, of the urgent need for an adequate response and comprehensive approach to tackling the unemployment problem. As a result, macro and sectoral policies and strategies are being instituted in the Eastern and Southern subregions of Africa.

26. Since employment is a multi-dimensional issue, it has been considered from the perspectives of national macro-economic, sectoral and micro policies. A comprehensive policy on employment is thought to be critical to specifically address the issue of employment. Thus, several countries in the subregions have begun the process of putting comprehensive national employment policies in place. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda are at an advanced stage in the process of adopting their National Employment Policy documents whose major thrust is to promote the goal of full employment as a priority in national, economic and social policy, and to enable all men and women who are available and willing to work, to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods through freely chosen, productive employment and work. Tanzania has formally adopted its comprehensive national employment policy. Zimbabwe is in the process of adopting a national employment policy, while South Africa has recently convened a national "job summit" to evolve a national strategy on job creation.

27. Though the above initiatives are too early to have the desired significant impacts, the general trend shows that countries have now begun to make a concerted and determined effort to address the ever growing unemployment problems in the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions. While watching these positive signs, one should also not lose sight of the political instability which exists in some countries of the subregions. This situation is known to have a negative effect on planned initiatives to create employment. External or internal political conflicts create unfavourable climate for foreign investment, and frustrate local entrepreneurial initiatives. Weak and unstable governments are less likely to carry out the necessary economic and employment reforms that would impact positively on employment growth.

28. The achievement of popular democracy and its natural extension to the workplace has been a major objective of ILO technical assistance and cooperation in the two subregions. The most important instrument by which the ILO contributes to the legal framework and practice of worker protection in member states is through the adoption and implementation of International Labour Standards. These standards aim to ensure social justice for the society and its workers, by protecting their human rights, promoting humane working conditions and generally advancing the social welfare of workers as called for in the Copenhagen Declarations.

29. Efforts were intensified at the regional and national levels to popularize ILO standards and promote their ratification. In the Framework of the OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission, two meetings were held in 1998 with ILO African members of the ILO Governing Body. These meetings resulted in the adoption of a recommendation which encourages African countries to ratify the seven core ILO conventions and supported the idea to extend the supervisory system of the ILO with new mechanisms applicable to other conventions on discrimination, forced labour and child labour. Countries in the subregion joined ILO members in June 1998 at the ILO International Labour Conference in Geneva, in approving the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at work and its Follow-up, in line with the WSSD Declarations.

30. At the national level, countries have made some progress towards ratifying some of the core conventions. Ethiopia has started the process of ratifying two key conventions (Convention 100 and Convention 105) by submitting the same to the National Parliament which is the Supreme Authority in ratifying conventions.

31. Two East African Tripartite sub-Regional Seminars were carried out on convention No.87 on Freedom of Association . The aim of the meetings was to speed up ratification of the convention by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. A national machinery has been set into motion in the three countries to revise labour laws pertaining to freedom of Association. In Kenya, certain provisions contrary to the provisions of the convention have already been repealed. In Tanzania, a draft Trade Union Bill is under discussion in the Parliament. In Uganda a special Ministerial Commission has been established to prepare ratification of the convention. The three countries are expected to ratify the convention this year. Among the other ILO core conventions, Convention No. 138 has been ratified by Tanzania. In Mauritius, legal obstacles have been removed and the country is moving towards the ratification of Conventions Nos. 100 and 111.

32. In the Southern Africa subregion, commitment of countries to the ratification and implementation of International Labour Conventions has been encouraging. Since 1995, in particular, no fewer than 42 conventions have been ratified by the nine Southern African countries, bringing the total number of ratifications to 175 conventions. However, the ratification of Convention No. 122 on Employment Policy (1964) has not been satisfactory, as only Mozambique and Zambia have so far ratified it.

33. The non-ratification of a convention does not necessarily mean that a country has no legislative framework in support of the basic tenets of the conventions. The non-ratification of Convention No. 144 of 1976 by South Africa, for example, has not prevented the country from engaging in a uniquely significant experimentation in the use of tripartism in consensus building nor has the non ratification of Convention 122 prevented Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda to formulate their national employment policies. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that the ratification of conventions signifies a public commitment to the importance of improving the quality of labour and employment and strengthens any commitment that a state may have in respect of national legislation, irrespective of periodic change in national government. It instils confidence in a country and strengthens international economic cooperation. In an era of regional integration and globalization, ratification of conventions promotes the possibility of exchange of experience among countries, and encourages innovative practices.

3. Institutional and Legal Arrangements Put in Place to Pursue the goals of

The Copenhagen Declaration

34. There is limited institutional capacity put in place in the Eastern and Southern African subregions to pursue the goals of the Copenhagen Declaration. There is no comprehensive legal and policy framework for employment creation to guide the many stake holders with a role to play in this endeavour. However, the preparation and consideration of documents on national employment policies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe are a step in the right direction. Though separate and independent institutions have not been set up, inter-ministerial committees have been created under the Office of the Prime Minister (Ethiopia, Kenya), Deputy Prime Minister (Tanzania), to follow-up the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration. In Zimbabwe, a deliberative body, the National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) was established in 1997, comprising the government, the private sector, civic society and academia. It is structured as a task force and employment concerns are accommodated under the Incomes and Pricing Policy/social contract task force.

35. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of policy statements and legislations passed by the countries in the Southern Africa subregion mainly in Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia to facilitate greater use of productive labour-based methods. 

4. The Extent of Involvement of Social Partners in the Formulation and

Implementation of Employment Related Policies and Programmes

36. The importance of tripartite cooperation in dealing with the enormous changes needed in the economic and social development strategies of African countries can hardly be exaggerated. In the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions, there appears to be growing understanding among governments and the social partners on the vital role of tripartite cooperation for consensus building in regard to the initiation and implementation of social and economic policy. Indeed, African countries have, on achieving independence, introduced tripartite framework of one type or another, usually soon after becoming ILO members. As a result, institutional frameworks such as the Labour Advisory Councils (or Board or Committee) have emerged in practically all English-speaking African Countries. However, recent ILO evaluations indicate that tripartism in African countries including Eastern and Southern Africa is weak, and still needs considerable strengthening through capacity building and ensuring that tripartite institutions function effectively as envisaged.

5. Role of the ILO in Supporting Government, Workers and Employers

37. To follow up to the summit, the ILO has been continuously engaged in assisting social partners in the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions to address the issue of employment as specified in the Summit Declaration. The preparation of regular reports on employment situation, technical advisory services, country employment policy reviews in the context of ACC Inter Agency Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods were undertaken to help countries to respond to commitment No.3, which concerned employment and sustainable livelihoods.

38. Countries in the Eastern subregion notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania and Uganda were assisted in developing their national employment policies which have now reached the stage of adoption by concerned countries. In respect of the commitment to workers’ basic rights, the ILO’s role focused on promoting the ratification of the key international ILO conventions. A number of national and subregional workshops and seminars were conducted to enhance ratification of the ILO core conventions. The ILO International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is being implemented with some success in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania ( including Uganda which recently joined IPEC ) among other countries, while preparatory survey work is in progress in Ethiopia, Zambia and Zimbabwe prior to their joining the IPEC Programme.

39. As underlined earlier, the work that ILO has done in relation to the ratification of core conventions was recognized in Copenhagen and reaffirmed by the Singapore Declaration in 1996 as a means to improve the quality of employment as well as to contribute to social development. During the International ILO Conference of 1998, the ILO approved a Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Human Rights at work and its follow-up, stressing the importance of member states to ratify the core conventions to advance the objectives and goals there in. Employment promotion is part of the ILO core mandate. The recent Recommendation (189 of 1998) concerning general conditions to stimulate job creation in small and medium sized enterprises was adopted in June 1997. Other relevant new ILO initiatives include "More and Better Jobs for Women" which incorporates Tanzania, and A Better Jobs for the Informal Economy A also known as the "Urban Employment Programme", as a follow-up to the second UN Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul 1996.

40. In addition to country-specific activities mentioned below, the ILO in collaboration with the UNDP initiated a Regional project titled: JFA/PRESSA. ("Jobs for Africa - Poverty Reducing Employment Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa"). The main objectives of the programme include:

(a) to provide an alternative policy framework for employment-intensive growth; and

(b) to design a programme of action for job creation with the objective of poverty alleviation.

41. The proposed programme of action includes: capacity building, promotion of the private sector, women’s employment, employment in rural areas and upgrading of the informal sector and improving the quality of employment and labour market information. Ten participating countries were selected among which Ethiopia, Uganda Zambia and Zimbabwe are from the Eastern and Southern subregions. The 3-year project implementation has already began operation in July 1998, based in Addis Ababa.

42. One other area in which there has been a marked increase in interest since 1995, is the labour-based approach to infrastructural developments and the use of local resources. One indication of this is the 50% rise, since 1995, in the number of enquiries addressed to the ILO Advisory Support, Information Services and Training (ASIST) project that promotes labour-based approaches in member states. Employment-intensive investment programmes operate in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, although the scale of operations needs considerable increases. More countries should also be invoved.

43. According to the foregoing analysis, the employment and poverty problems in the two subregions will continue to be the most pressing development challenges in the 1990s and beyond.

44. The gravity and magnitude of the employment and poverty challenge raise questions on the approaches which have hitherto been adopted to address the employment (and poverty) problems. Clearly, current trends indicate that without a concerted coherent and increased efforts to deal with the problems, the situation could become worse. Therefore, a more comprehensive approach to job creation is required. Comprehensive employment policies will need to be put in place, designed to consolidate into integrated and coherent documents proposals destined to facilitate the attainment of employment generation objectives. An integrated employment programme should comprise four essential components; (a) a policy component, (b) a mechanism for operationalising, monitoring, and co-ordination of the programme, (c) an integrated and interconnected set of employment promoting project proposals, and (d) proposals for target groups expected to be the principal beneficiaries of the programme.

45. A necessary condition for arresting the deterioration in employment creation, is to achieve a high rate of sustained economic growth of at least five per cent per annum or higher. An important challenge for the countries will be to achieve rapid growth rates while implementing economic reforms, in an environment of liberalized and globalizing world economy, entailing growing importance of international trade and financial capital flows, and increased labour productivity.

46. Governments should continue with economic reforms while paying special attention to job creation and poverty reduction.Prudent fiscal and monetary policies should continue to be pursued to safeguard macro-economic stability and a favourable environment for investment for domestic and foreign investors. The ratio of domestic investment to the GDP should be increased in order to accelerate the rate of economic growth. However, the structure of investments both in the public and private sectors needs to be shiffted towards more employment intensive sectors and activities.

47. Given the experience of the 1960s and the 1970s, (periods of rapid economic growth) and since 1995, it is now recognised that economic growth is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for accelerated employment growth. The pattern of economic growth should foster substantial and accelerated employment generation, which has so far not been the case.

48. In this respect, a multi-pronged employment creation strategy must recognise the necessity to re-orient the entire national development strategy so that it becomes more employment-intensive. It will be expected that all sectors of the economy (modern, agricultural, and informal) will emphasise employment promotion in their development programmes. A strategy to achieve this objective lies in allocating more investible resources into employment intensive sectors - agriculture and the rural sector, and the urban informal sector. In addition, since it is known that micro, small-scale and medium-scale enterprises are more employment intensive in their operations, these types of enterprises should receive a much larger share of available investment resources, as should human resources development initiatives.

49. In addition, a major prerequisite in increasing employment intensiveness of the growth process is the adoption to the extent possible, of more employment intensive technology in all sectors of the economy.

50. The gravity and magnitude of the employment (and poverty) challenge facing the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions require a more determined, concerted and comprehensive approach and response to resolve the current worsening employment and poverty problems. Commitment 3 of WSSD with the goals of full, productive and freely chosen employment and work as overarching policy objectives, helps in focusing each country's efforts designed to address the employment challenge. First, countries need to accelerate the rate of economic growth thereby increasing the rate of employment generation, and at the same time, raising productivity and incomes in agriculture and the urban informal sector in particular. In this respect, a range of issues need to be addressed including appropriate agricultural technology, reduction of the great reliance on rain-fed agriculture, positive land reforms, improved incentives amongst others. The expansion of productive employment opportunities for the poor is the most effective strategy for reducing poverty and increasing income. Commitment 3 also incorporates the need to improve employment quality and conditions, and greater respect for the core labour standards as an integral part of overall employment policy.

51. Some commendable efforts have been initiated by the countries in the subregion to meet the goal of full, productive and freely chosen employment and work. However, there is need for vigorious implementation of national employment policies being put in place in many countries in the subregion. Countries that do not have national employment policies and strategies need to introduce them urgently. Many countries in the two subregions have managed to achieve macro-economic stability and to revive growth. To meet the twin challenges of employment generation and poverty reduction, the policy framework of the countries should be aimed at accelerated economic growth that is pro employment and pro poor. While there is a positive relationship between economic growth and employment, there is clear evidence that rapid economic growth in itself is not sufficient to address the problem of massive unemployment and poverty in the population. It is, therefore, imperative that the economic growth be made more employment intensive, and that all major stakeholders - the government, the private sector, employers, workers, communities and individuals, pursue more determined policies and programmes to achieve the objectives of full, productive, freely chosen and qualitative employment.

52. The Governments of the subregions should embark on a more determined and vigorous implementation of the employment commitments of the WSSD for an acceleration of employment generation in their various countries in order to ensure that the national workforce is afforded quality and well remunerated employment . There is also need for improvement in labour productivity, while greater efforts are made to safe-guard the basic rights and interests of workers. In this respect, countries should move towards total ratification and implementation of the ILO core conventions.

Table 1 : GDP Growth rates, 1990-97 (per cent per annum)

Table 3. List of Ratified Key ILO Conventions by Countries of the Eastern and Southern Africa Subregions