Africa-Press – Mauritius. The African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) is holding its 18th Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials in Mauritius from 11 to 13 October 2022. In this context, an opening ceremony was organised, this morning, at the Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel in Port Louis.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Mr Prem Pirthee; the International Labour Organization (ILO) Representative, Mr Limpho Mandoro; the Executive Director of ARLAC, Mr Patrick Nalere; and other personalities were present on the occasion.
ARLAC is an international organisation, set up jointly by the ILO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1974, for the development of labour administration in Africa.
Its mandate is to strengthen labour administration systems in Member countries. Around 60 delegates from 19 countries are expected to participate in the three-day meeting.
Mr Pirthee, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Mr Soodesh Satkam Callichurn, highlighted that this is the first ARLAC Senior Officials Meeting which is being held outside the mainland and the first time as well for Mauritius to host such an important meeting.
He indicated that during this meeting, the Senior Officials will be deliberating on various issues impacting our region with regard to labour and employment as the African continent pursue its goals towards decent work objectives.
In addition, the Permanent Secretary emphasised that though Africa remained the second fastest growing economy in the world after emerging Asia, the continent is still facing the challenges and scourges of poverty, unemployment, low investment levels, and depressed aggregate demand among others.
This, Mr Pirthee stressed, brings to the fore the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth.
On this note, he outlined several measures already put in place to reinforce Mauritius’s social protection system, namely the setting up of a Wage Guarantee Fund to protect wages of workers in cases of insolvency; the Portable Retirement Gratuity Fund to ensure the payment of a full gratuity on retirement and; the Workfare Programme Fund to provide an income support to laid off workers during a period of one year.
As regards ARLAC, he indicated that it provides Member countries with a platform for strengthening labour administration systems in English speaking African countries and, in this context, appealed to the members to be diligent and proactive in shaping ARLAC into an organisation where each Member country can continue to derive benefits therefrom.
“The topics on the agenda for this meeting are all pertinent issues, which if we get it right, can lead to significant changes in the African workplaces,” the Permanent Secretary pointed out.
For his part, the ILO representative stated that the training content of ARLAC continues to improve over the years and this year, in addition to the regional training courses, ARLAC has also undertaken other training courses, including on labour migration governance at African Union and SADC levels which is a positive step towards enhancing its course offering and strengthening partnerships.
As for the Executive Director of ARLAC, he underlined that the focus of ARLAC remains to strengthen its operational resilience through core operating systems, scaling and diversifying its activities and revenue streams in order to deliver great and reliable services to the constituency.
“During the next few days, you will be learning about the different initiatives through our planned activities, seminars and special events where you will be able to join in and contribute to enhance the ARLAC programme,” he pointed out.
On this note, Mr Patrick Nalere urged participants to fully participate in this meeting by bringing forward their views and, in return, strengthen the network of mutual support which represents an important added value to ARLAC.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
