UNDESA DSPD participated in the 13th African Region Meeting of the ILO as a panellist during the plenary panel discussion on “Transition from the informal to the formal economy in Africa: The way forward”.

The panel discussion focused on how to use the momentum created by the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, African Vision 2063 and ILO Recommendation 204 for the transition in Africa, and discussed the conditions and policy priorities required for its realization. Interventions emphasized the need for structural transformation in Africa to expand the formal economy and formal employment through integrated social and economic policies explicitly aim at promoting decent work and structural change; such a medium-to long-term strategy should be supplemented by immediate actionable policy measures to improve the quality of jobs in the informal economy and support entrepreneurship and innovation in view of the important role the informal economy plays in Africa’s development.

The Meeting brought together ILO’s tripartite constituents – governments, employers and workers – along with the political, economic and social actors of the world of work in Africa, to address the imperative of promoting an inclusive and job-rich growth through decent work in Africa.

In their closing statement, the  Addis Ababa Declaration: Transforming Africa through Decent Work for Sustainable Development , governments, employers, workers from 45 African countries have underlined the importance of full and productive employment and decent work for inclusive and sustainable development in creating new expanded opportunities and responsibilities for constituents and the Organization as a whole in national, regional and global policy making.

Meeting’s conclusions: The Addis Ababa Declaration: Transforming Africa through Decent Work for Sustainable Development

Learn more about this meeting.