Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, November 26th, 2018 – The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)  Agency,a technical agency of the African Union and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) a specialized agency of the United Nations, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  with the objective of promoting decent jobs  for all the economic sectors for people of Africa.  

The MoU was signed on the margins of Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week, an annual event organized by the African Union Commission, NEPAD Agency and the African Development Bank, which brings together infrastructure stakeholders working on infrastructure projects under the continental framework of the PIDA. 

Speaking during the signing ceremony Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of the NEPAD Agency welcomed the MoU as an important step that would serve to bring together the collective convening power of the two institutions to ensure that Africa’s citizens are afforded opportunities for decent work. 

“The partnership between the ILO and the NEPAD Agency responds to both Agenda 2063 and the SDGs including the aspect of strengthening the means of implementation through global partnerships aimed at sustainable development.  We have embarked on several initiatives to address the challenges of providing decent work and employment and we welcome the partnership with ILO which will help to strengthen our efforts.  We look forward to a fruitful partnership and to implementing joint initiatives that will contribute to regional integration, continental and global aspirations” ,he said. 

Dr Joni Musabayana, ILO Director for the Decent Work Team in Pretoria described this MoU as “a major step for the ILO to better mainstream the Decent Work Agenda in Africa through the infrastructure project that can be used proactively to go beyond the reduction of infrastructure gaps and also support employment creation and social protection for local populations, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable ones”.

Through their collaboration, ILO and the NEPAD Agency will focus on the development, application or customization of relevant tools, capacity building and research towards knowledge products and research targeting several areas of mutual interest with a gender sensitive approach, including, but not limited to infrastructure, agriculture, innovation, youth entrepreneurship and skills development, occupational safety and health, green jobs and employment intensive approaches  for the benefit of people of Africa.  Special targeted programmes for  the most vulnerable groups such as people living with HIV and AIDS and people with disabilities, among others, will be deployed.

Media Contacts:

NEPAD:             Millicent Kgeledi |NEPAD Communications Unit| Millicents@nepad.org

ILO:                  Ms. Maria Mutandwa, Communications Officer mutandwa@ilo.org; Tel.: +263772129210-3