MINISTERS of Labour and Employment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have showered praise to Tanzania for the epic arrangements it had put in place before and during their just concluded meetings.
In their two-day meeting, the ministers said the consultations went on smoothly, noting that Tanzania chairing it, set successful standards for the other coming ones in other countries.
While assembling, the stakeholders discussed and adopted various mechanisms aimed at creating more employment opportunities and improving the labour sector in the region.
“We are happy that the meeting went on successfully and it was an opportunity for all of us to learn a lot from each other. We have spoken about issues of sustainable employment and harmonisation of industrialisation drive in the environment of our work. All the decisions that we have taken are very fruitful,” said the Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills development from Botswana, Mr Mpho Balopi.
On her part, the Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Policy, Coordination Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and Disabled, Ms Jenista Mhagama who chaired the ministerial meetings, believed that the SADC secretariat will work on the resolutions reached for the greater interest of the bloc.
She said that the just concluded meeting has set a landmark for the country, where in the future, they will have frequent visits among the SADC Member States for programme exchanges.
During the meeting, Tanzania launched the internship programme for the youth to enable them acquire employment skills and compete in labour market.
“Tanzania is set to receive more visitors from member countries to learn what has been done here. Most of them have expressed interest in our internship programmes, and hence, they will be coming to learn,” said the Minister.
The programme that was launched by Vice-President Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, is funded by the government through the Prime Minister’s Office in collaboration with respective institutions.
Responding to a challenge that was raised by stakeholders on the inefficiency on implementing the labour and employment protocol adopted by SADC, Ms Mhagama said there was a need for them to discuss with International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the matter and see areas, which require improvements.
“It’s true that there are some weaknesses that we need to work on, but there is a room for that and together we can make greater progress,” she added.
The SADC meeting for Ministers of Labour and Employment was held with a theme: Promoting Labour Market Stability and Harmonious Industrial Relations for Sustainable Development, and was attended by 14 member countries of 16.
Before returning back to their home countries, the delegates took time to visit some of the countries’ tourists attraction sites, including museums and historical spots in Bagamoyo District, Coast Region.
In the course, they expressed excitement from the tour, saying that the areas refreshed their minds, besides being places to study.
