The 13th African Regional Meeting, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 30 November to 3 December 2015, 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.

During the three-day meeting, hosted every four years by the International Labour Organization (ILO), representatives debated on the implementation of the 2030 sustainable development goals in the region while addressing key issues related to migration, youth employment and ICTs, green economy/jobs as well as the transition from the informal to the formal economy in Africa.

In their final declaration, delegates welcomed the significant role accorded to decent work in both in the African Union Agenda 2063 and the UN’s Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Recognizing the importance of a decent work agenda, and its “new expanded opportunities and responsibilities for constituents and the Organization as a whole in national, regional and global policy making”, delegates pledged to integrate decent work more fully into national sustainable development strategies, as well as regional and global frameworks, and build stronger partnerships for progress.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder closed the Meeting saying “Africa has said very clearly that governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations are ready to take up the challenge of shaping a development path that is sustainable because it is grounded in the central importance of decent work opportunities to families, communities and nations.”