investments in infrastructure programmes
13 October 2007
Declaration on Poverty and Employment, Assembly of the Africa Union Third
Extraordinary Session on Employment and Poverty Alleviation 8 to 9 September
2004, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
At the end of seminar which ran from Monday, 8 to 12 October, the Ministers
adopted a statement for commitment where they expressed concern at the threat
posed by both unemployment to the development of the continent. The African
Ministers sat and agreed upon the following issues:
* we the Ministers of Public Works and Labour meeting at the 12th Regional
Seminar for Labour-Intensive Construction held on 8 to 12 October 2007 in
Durban, South Africa,
* reflecting on the recommendations from the 11th Regional Seminar held in
Mombasa, Kenya, in October 2005,
* recalling the global commitment made under the United Nations Millennium
Development Goal 1 (MDG1) to half extreme poverty by 2015,
* recalling the commitments made by the African Heads of States and
governments at their third Extra Ordinary Session on Employment and Poverty
Alleviation held on 8 to 9 September, 2004 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso1,
* concerned that unemployment and underemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa is
the highest in the world and is threatening the development of our respective
countries and the region in general,
* acknowledging the commitments we all made nationally in our respective
national development plans, regionally and globally to reduce poverty through
the creation of productive employment and the provision of essential
infrastructure and service delivery,
* noting with appreciation the effort and achievements regionally in
countries such as Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, Tanzania, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe in making infrastructure and
service delivery employment friendly,
* recognising that equal access to employment is a basic human right and
gives dignity to individuals and communities, and that it is key to social
cohesion, economic and political stability,
* acknowledging that public and private sector investments in infrastructure
and service delivery in both rural and urban settings are on the increase,
* having deliberated on employment creation in government policies and
investment in infrastructure programmes at the 12th Regional Seminar on Labour
Intensive Practices in Durban, South Africa,
* appreciating the exchange of knowledge and experience on employment
intensive approaches to infrastructure,
* carefully analysing the achievements made by the South Africa government's
national Expanded Pubic Works Programme and other similar programmes across the
continent and beyond established to create employment opportunities and skills
development through the provision of essential infrastructure and basic
services,
* recognising the technical advisory support provided by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) towards placing employment at the centre of economic
and social policies and towards operationalising these policies,
* having undertaken a critical review and discussion of the potential of
infrastructure and service delivery in creating decent productive employment
opportunities for the unemployed, its impact in the reduction of poverty and
contribution to social cohesion and political stability,
Commit ourselves to:
* develop a policy framework that supports the increased and wider
utilisation of locally available resources in the delivery and maintenance of
infrastructure and services,
* promote the multi-sectoral application of employment intensive approaches
covering environment, social infrastructure, service delivery, tourism and all
other sectors where it will be found appropriate and cost effective,
* develop tools and methodologies for employment impact assessments to
support the allocation of resources in investment plans and budgets, including
recurrent and capital budget, to interventions that have high potential for the
creation of employment opportunities,
* put in place strategies that encourage government departments to create
employment opportunities in different sectors for an efficient delivery without
compromising quality or cost of the asset,
* put in place appropriate planning, designing and implementation tools and
institutional mechanisms that favour the application of locally available
resources where appropriate and competitive,
* improve and encourage the participation of emerging local entrepreneurs
that promote the use of local resources through the provision of access to
skills, resources and work,
* empower target groups through their participation in identification,
planning designing and implementation of infrastructure and services that will
have high impact on improving their lives,
* put in place monitoring mechanisms that measure, evaluate and document the
achievements made in creating employment opportunities, skills development and
business opportunities using investments made in infrastructure delivery,
* reaffirm the commitments made by the African Heads of States and
governments at their third Extra Ordinary Session on Employment and Poverty
Alleviation held on 8 to 9 September, 2004 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,
* call upon the ILO to continue to provide technical advisory support on the
harmonisation of approaches on optimising the employment potential of public
investment in infrastructure and to strengthen knowledge management and sharing
for increased and efficient application of employment-intensive approaches, and
on linking up with the African Employment Forum and others.
Declaration on Poverty and Employment, Assembly of the Africa Union Third
Extraordinary Session on Employment and Poverty Alleviation 8 to 9 September
2004, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
For further Inquiries:
Thamsanqa Mchunu
Cell: 079 519 6997
Mohale Molotsi
Cell: 083 341 2270
Issued by: Department of Public Works
13 October 2007
