17 Feb 2022

The African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) has been assured of Botswana’s unwavering commitment to the centre’s ideals which are critical to decent work agenda promotion.

The assurance was made by Vice President Slumber Tsogwane at  a week-long ARLAC governing council meeting for labour/employment/manpower  ministers from 19  African English speaking countries in Kasane yesterday.

Mr Tsogwane said Botswana recognised that there was no substitute for decent work and its tenets adding that the principles should be upheld at all times.

He said government and its social partners were working around the clock in collaboration with  International Labour Organisation (ILO) to ensure implementation of the decent work country programme 2020-2024.

Regarding ARLAC, an inter-governmental training institution aimed at strengthening labour administration systems in member states, the VP said the centre’s achievements far exceeded its age.

He said having 19 members out of the 23 English speaking states in Africa was in itself testimony to ARLAC’s impact.

According to Mr Tsogwane, the Kasane meeting came at an appropriate time given that the world of work had been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He pointed out that most countries continued to experience high levels of unemployment, lack of comprehensive social security skills and pro-industrial relations.

He said lessons learnt from the pandemic proved that ARLAC’s founding objectives were still valid.

In his remarks, Minister of Employment, Labour and Productivity and Skills Development Mr Machana Shamukuni called on his counterparts to work together for the accomplishment of ARLAC’s objectives and defy beliefs that Africa could not do it on its own.

Working as a collective could transform the world of work, he said.Mr Shamukuni said it could not be business as usual  since  COVID-19 had brought about a lot of disruptions in the world of work and continued to bring uncertainties.

Essentially labour issues had radically changed, he said.

The minister said the situation called for radical actions to ensure business continuity and alignment to the new normal.

Mr Shamukuni said there was need to appreciate emerging issues and their complexities.

He said the decent work country programmes presented solutions to most challenges emerging from  the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only implementation of programmes and investment in job creation, social dialogue and labour market formation systems were needed to achieve decent work, said the minister.

The meeting, ARLAC’s 48th, started Monday and ends today.ENDS