Staff Writer
Namibia has requested the International Labour Organisation, ILO for assistance to create jobs.
Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation, Utoni Nujoma made the call at the 110th ILO conference in Geneva.
Nujoma says the assistance by ILO will help Namibia to make a tangible impact in employment creation which may bring hope to the youth.
Namibia’s development has been severely constrained by structural unemployment.
However, strategies for socio and economic development with some significant progress, including in the areas of education, social protection and infrastructural development have been implemented, but the area of employment creation continues being a challenge.
The minister said most development initiatives undertaken by government have not shown the maximisation of employment opportunities.
There has been a challenge in overcoming the silos that separate the key Ministries and institutions that need to work together to put employment at the centre of socio-economic development.
Currently, the Labour Ministry is working with the ILO on the review and revision of the National Employment Policy and its Implementation Plan.
Nujoma further stated that he is hopeful that it will be welcome if ILO includes Namibia as a pathfinder country in the Global Accelerator Initiative.
This is due to the fact that the country has an extremely high rate of unemployment, particularly among youth coupled with many other issues such as the recently adopted National Social Protection Policy as well as its demonstrated interest and capacity to work with the United Nations System in Namibia on employment-related issues and social protection.
It is for this reasons among others that the Minister has declared the country’s interest to be considered as a pathfinder in the Global Accelerator Initiative.
The Global Accelerator is an initiative by the United Nations and ILO that aims to help ensure global financing to create jobs and extend social protection to people currently without coverage.
