By: Rodney Pienaar
Chairperson of Southern Africa Development Community, President Hage Geingob has said that the education curricula in the SADC region needs considerable reorientation to better respond to emerging and future labour market needs.
He said this at the launch of the ILO Global Commission report on the future of work report last week.
The report recognises that the workplace is principally made up of human beings and an arena that holds significant prospects to advance society through strengthened governance systems and regulation.
“We welcome the perspective that the best future outcomes will be guaranteed by conscious decisions that ensure that the pace of technological change is determined by human capacity to drive it. However, this means that considerable investments must be made to support education and skills development that will swiftly and adequately respond to new developments.”
“It is only in this way, that the labour market can play its stabilising role as a source of income and livelihoods for the majority. Bold measures are therefore suggested, including the establishment of a universal labour guarantee that includes the right to an adequate living wage, as well as a safe working environment,” Geingob said.
He added that sooner rather than later all SADC members will appreciate the value of high ambitions of the report.
“Increased investments in decent and sustainable work are urgently required, given that despite the positive economic growth rates registered by our countries over a long period of time, the effect on employment growth has been very minimal.”
“The high rates of unemployment and underemployment in our countries therefore already present formidable challenges for our countries, particularly regarding youth unemployment. I wish therefore to agree with the recommendation that future approaches should seek to directly incentivize job creation as a key target rather than a by-product of economic policies that otherwise pursue other objectives,” Geingob said.
