Nigeria charges ECOWAS Member States on commitment to labour policies

Following the just concluded meeting of Ministers in Charge of Labour and Employment in the ECOWAS sub-region, Nigeria has urged Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to employ commitment and political will in the implementation of labour policies and programmes in the sub-region.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, William Alo, made the call at the meeting held in Abuja.

Alo said the sub-region needed renewed commitment and passion to drive the tenets of decent work and other labour policies.

“We cannot continue to be paying lip service to issues of labour administration in the sub-region. The time has come for us to make a radical departure from the past if we are to bequeath onto future generations an ECOWAS sub-region that prides itself in the attainment of the tenets of decent work,” he said.

The Meeting of Labour Experts/General Assembly of ECOWAS Social Dialogue Forum, which held from 16th – 18th July in Abuja, was convened to review, validate and adopt key policy texts on labour and employment; and build consensus on topical issues, amongst others.

The commissioner, Social Affairs and Gender, ECOWAS Commission, Dr Siga Fatima Jagne, in her address, said the meeting was for labour experts to submit their priorities and recommendations for the attention of the ministers of labour and employment.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, William Alo, (7th left); Minister of Labour and Employment, Niger Republic, Mohammed Bil Omar (6th left); Commissioner, Social Affairs and Gender, ECOWAS Commission, Dr Siga Fatima Jagne (5th left); Country Director, ILO, Dennis Zulu (6th right), in a group photograph with other participants at the Meeting of Ministers in Charge of Labour and Employment in the ECOWAS sub-region, in Abuja.

Siga said the social dialogue forum, which preceded the ministers’ meeting, had deliberated, revised, validated and adopted the Directive on Minimum Standards towards Harmonization of Labour Laws in the ECOWAS Region, and ECOWAS Regional Programme for Decent Work (DWRP).

“The two documents will be the key frameworks that ECOWAS and Member States can apply to achieve the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work adopted by the Conference at the 108th Session held in June, 2019; and will specifically address the challenges to shape a fair, inclusive and secure future of work with full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all,” she said.