The International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched ‘The Productivity For Decent Work Programme’ to address Ghana’s challenges in the garment, textile and shea sectors.
The programme was launched yesterday, Wednesday February 22, 2023 and expected to enhance productivity and promote decent work, while also supporting economic growth and national development.
The project is expected to address the challenges in Ghana’s garment, textile and shea sectors, which will in turn enhance productivity and promote decent work, while supporting economic growth and national development.
Data from ILO in the year, 2022 revealed that 473 million individuals are still job hunting across the globe, with 290 million with neither education nor part of the labor force. Those privileged to have found themselves in the labor force and living below the poverty line were about 214.
Worse is the fact that, two billion workers find themselves in the informal sector, yet, do not engage in a freely chosen and productive work, lack access to rights at work, social protection and social dialogue.
Responding to the situation, Mr. Gilbert Fossoun Huongbo, Director-General of ILO, during the launch of the project in Accra, noted that, the collective effort of all social partners is required to deal with the situation within the productivity ecosystem.
“If we’re to meet the multiple challenges and address the deficit in decent work, we must work together. It is only by working together that we could move through a new global coalition to improve the social systems and contribute to reducing the inequalities that have been widening since COVID-19.”
Mr. Huongbo
Mr. Huongbo expressed confidence in the project improving productivity in Ghana’s garment, textile and shea sectors, hence, providing decent and sustainable work to citizens as well as improving upon their standards of living.
“By launching the project today, what ILO will be doing is to put in place productivity ecosystems for decent work as a pathway to promoting economically, socially and environmentally productive growth.”
Mr. Huongbo
On this grounds, Mr. Huongbo urged Ghana’s Tripartite partners, Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the private sector to support the implementation of the project.
“It is only with a holistic coherence on all sides that we can achieve our objectives.”
Mr. Huongbo
Moreover, there is the need to strengthen interlinkages among productivity, growth and decent work, such that, productivity gains are shared equally between employers, workers and local communities, Mr. Huongbo added.
Also speaking during the project’s launch, Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations-Ghana, said the presence of the ILO DG at the launch of the project marked the highest form of bilateral relations between Ghana and its social partners.
Going on, Mr. Baffour-Awuah noted that the ‘Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work Programme’ will mark the beginning of job creation in Ghana and will promote locally-made goods from the garment and textile industry.
Selecting garment, textile and shea among other critical productive sectors is a difficult choice, he said, but focusing on shea, would boost economic activities in the region, he said while using the Northern Sector of Ghana as an example.
“Even though Ghana is a united State, the southern part of Ghana has more concentration of economic activities than the northern sections. So concentrating on shea, which is predominantly a northern product, is a way of boosting economic activities in the north and balancing the development divide.”
Mr. Baffour Awuah
Altogether, the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Ghana, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Ghana and the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, pledged support to making the project a success.
ILO’s EED Developed Programme
The ILO’s Enterprises and Employment Department (EED) developed programme is sectors funded by both the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
The programme will be executed by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), with support of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
Under the project, government policies would be tailored to formalizing enterprises to ensure that newly created jobs provide better protection and incomes for workers and will be done by strengthening the manufacturing and agro-processing sectors to absorb low-skilled workers, while encouraging national and regional vertical integration of value chains.
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