Accelerating the implementation of the Decent Work Programme for Somalia

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and its tripartite constituents from Somalia, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA), the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) and the Somali Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) agreed to speed up the implementation of the Decent Work Programme for Somalia.

The ILO Country Director for Somalia and Ethiopia, Mr George Okutho, held first-ever joint tripartite meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 16 September 2014 with the Minister of Labour & Social Affairs of Somalia, Honourable Luqman Ismail Mohamed; Director General of Somali Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), Mr Abdi Abshir Dorre, and General Secretary of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU), Mr Omar Faruk Osman.

ILO and its Somalia constituents formed a National Steering Committee (NSC) and Technical Working Group (TWG) for the implementation of Decent Work Programme, and approved their terms of reference (TOR). The meeting also agreed decent work programme implementation plan.

The meeting was conducted in an honest, open, constructive and results-oriented manner. The Government and social partners expressed their strong political and social will and commitment to see the full implementation of the DWP as major contribution to bringing about peace, stability and development in Somalia and for Somali people.

The tripartite partners and ILO signed a joint statement of commitment and cooperation so as to achieve priority areas identified in Decent Work Programme for Somalia, which aims at facilitating the delivery of ILO’s financial and technical support towards the achievement of sustainable reduction of poverty through the tripartite partners.

Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Somalia, Honourable Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, and ILO Regional Director, Mr Aeneas Chapinga Chuma, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the DWP on 20th March 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Link to original