Windhoek, Namibia, 13 August 2026 (ECA) – As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen social protection and promote youth employment across Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held a series of high-level engagements with member States on the margins the African Union Commission's Sixth Session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Social Development, Labour and Employment, held in Windhoek from 27 to 31 July.
The discussions focused on expanding cooperation in youth employment, social protection, women's economic empowerment and poverty reduction, while identifying new opportunities for collaboration to advance inclusive development across the continent.
Key areas of focus at the STC meeting included expanding pathways from social assistance to sustainable livelihoods, extending social protection to workers in the informal economy, improving institutional coordination through integrated digital systems, and mobilizing sustainable financing for social protection programmes.
Led by Zuzana Schwidrowski, Director of ECA’s Socio-Economic Development Division, the ECA delegation also held bilateral meetings with member States to discuss areas for deeper collaboration.
In a meeting with Fatou Sanyang Kinteh, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare of The Gambia, discussions focused on strengthening ECA’s ongoing collaboration on women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion, including through greater support for youth employment and social protection as part of an integrated approach to socio-economic development.
The meeting also considered regional approaches to social protection, given The Gambia’s close socioeconomic ties with neighboring countries and the potential for regional solutions to shared challenges.
The team also met with Anthony Lino Makana, Minister of Labour of South Sudan, to discuss opportunities to expand ECA’s support for the country’s development priorities. Building on ECA’s ongoing work on gender-responsive budgeting and the African Gender and Development Index, the meeting focused on strengthening further gender-responsive fiscal policy and women’s economic empowerment.
Given South Sudan’s young population, the two sides also discussed support for skills development, job-matching platforms and pilot vocational-training initiatives.
ECA expressed interest in reflecting South Sudan’s experience, including promising initiatives and continuing challenges in addressing youth unemployment, in the forthcoming Economic Report on Africa, ECA’s flagship publication on Africa’s economic and development challenges.
The engagements in Windhoek reaffirmed ECA's commitment to working with African governments and regional partners to strengthen social protection systems, expand economic opportunities and promote inclusive development across the continent.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org