Labour Congress Gears Up To Address Challenges To Decent Work

The Sierra Leone Labour Congress (SLLC) in collaboration with International Labour Organization (ILO) has developed a roadmap in value chain for decent work in the rural economy. This intervention geared towards promoting decent work in the rural economy. The organization examined the decent work and prevailing challenges in the rural economy with a focus on cassava, palm oil and vegetable value chain. The event took place at Family Kingdom on 25th June 2024.
In her statement, the Senior Specialist for ILO Workers’ Activities, Madam Inviolata Chinyangarara said that the workshop is about promoting and developing a roadmap for decent work in the rural economy, and that it will help workers to have knowledge on emerging decent work challenges in the rural economy. ‘’At the end of the workshop, we will adopt a roadmap for developing an action plan for advocating for decent work in value chain,’’ she said.
She continued that they have realized that over 60% of the population in Sierra Leone resides in the rural areas adding that there are several job opportunities for youths and persons living with disability in the rural areas.
She disclosed that the rural communities are not attractive to the young people to live happily, and that they are promoting this project to ensure that workers get decent job opportunities in rural communities. She urged females in agriculture to take the lead in promoting decent work in rural communities.
She mentioned that the project is aligned with the ILO Decent Work country program for Sierra Leone which was signed in 2023 and will be operational until 2027. She added that the decent work country program priorities three areas and one of them is the creation of decent and quality jobs for all workers. ’’We are also looking at the creation of quality jobs for rural communities,’’ she said.
She noted that Sierra Leone Labour Congress is a formidable partner of the ILO Tripartite structure. She added that the Minister of Labour and Social Security cannot do anything relation to workers welfare without involving the SLLC adding that this is one of the interventions the union has made in advocating for decent job opportunities.
She said that they will examine three critical areas and provide knowledge that has been gathered by ILO on the status of workers in terms of the challenges they face in the working environment. We will also look at the opportunities that exist to ensure that we promote decent work in the value chain she noted.
The Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, Mohamed Rahman Swaray thanked ILO for the initiative noting that it will help develop the rural economy and provide decent work environment for workers.
He disclosed that the initiative is part of President Bio’s commitment in providing 500,000 jobs in the next five years. He noted that the initiative will reduce rapid rural urban migration adding that the extension of social protection in the informer sector will promote decent work in the value chain. “This will help our potential partners to enjoy the benefit of social safety,” he said.
Speaking at the event, the Secretary General of SLLC, Max Conteh said that the Sierra Labour Congress is committed in promoting decent work for workers in the rural communities. He expressed thanks to ILO for its unwavering support to the SLLC for advocating for decent work environment for workers.
He reiterated their commitment in making rural communities attractive to youths. He continued that there are many job opportunities in the rural areas but that able-bodied men have migrated to urban centers because rural communities are not attractive. He said that the SLLC through its partners have developed policies to protect and promote decent work environment for women and persons living with disabilities in the country.
Decent jobs opportunities especially in the agriculture sector will help promote the Feed Salone project he mentioned. He urged the private sector to make the work environment friendly to workers at all times.
This initiative will help reduce the number of bike riders in urban centers and promote agricultural activities in the country. He said that the targeted local government officials have the knowledge and tools necessary to contribute to the enabling environment for the implementation of decent measures in value chains.