African ministers pledge to boost employment prospects ECA Press Release 09/2006, 16 May 2006
Ouagadougou, 16 May - African m inisters of finance, planning and economic development ended their annual conference on Monday with specific proposals to improve the employment situation on the continent.
The ministerial statement issued at the close of the meeting stressed the need to incorporate employment objectives in national development and poverty reduction policies. It also emphasised the importance of policies that will fully exploit the job creation potential of the private sector and target the employment needs of disadvantaged segments of society. Such policies will also seek to build the human and institutional capacities that are the "key stepping stones towards the generation of decent employment".
As the lack of reliable statistics currently hinders the formulation of sound and effective employment policies and the ability to track progress in job creation, a strong commitment was made to "strengthen national statistical offices and legislative reforms that ensure their ability to generate timely, reliable and gender disaggregated statistics".
Ministers highlighted the importance of strong partnerships in this field and called on the Economic Commission for Africa "to take leadership in the development and coordination of statistical activities on the continent, such as the Reference Regional Strategic Framework (RRSF), in collaboration with African Union, African Development Bank and the Regional Economic Communities (RECS)".
The conference also issued a resolution endorsing the Secretariat's proposals for "Repositioning ECA to better respond to Africa's priorities". The Commission's reform and repositioning exercise is an initiative of the new Executive Secretary, Abdoulie Janneh, who was appointed last September. The initiative aims principally at enhancing ECA's support to the advancement of the regional integration agenda and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.
The 39th Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Conference was organized by ECA around the theme ' Meeting the challenge of employment in Africa ' and was held back-to-back with the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB). The two meetings were bridged this year by a joint ADB/ECA high-level seminar on the theme 'Infrastructure Development and Regional Integration: Issues, Opportunities and Challenges" held on 16 May.
[For the full text of the Ministerial Statement, a well as all other documents related to this year's Conference, please visit http://www.uneca.org/cfm/2006/ . Documents from previous conferences, including Ministerial Statements, are also available on the same site.]
