International Labour Organization’s 14th African Regional Meeting to set agenda for next decade in Africa

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, November 28th, 2019,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-

WHAT: The International Labour Organization’s 14th African Regional Meeting (ARM) will review the progress made by African countries over the last four years in implementing the Decent Work Agenda in the light of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063. This progress will build on the 2015 Addis Ababa Declaration and be discussed in the latest Report of the ILO Director-General.

WHO: The 14th African Regional Meeting will bring together the ILO’s tripartite constituents representing Governments, workers and employers from 54 African countries, as well as representatives of international organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental, invited by the Governing Body. Full list of participants.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 3 to Friday, December 6, 2019.

WHERE: The 14th African Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organization will take place in the Palais des Congrès at the Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

WHY: With unemployment rates at unprecedented levels, a serious lack of jobs, especially for young Africans, and growing inequalities in access to basic social protection, the Director-General’s report to the Conference will formulate key policy recommendations for inclusive growth and social progress in Africa. The outcome of the meetings will include an action plan for the continent for the next decade.

HOW: The Official Opening and Closing Ceremonies and five Plenary Sessions will be open to media and streamed live on the meetings website, www.ilo.org/afrm14. The Opening Session and the “Presidential Panel on the Future of Work We Want for Africa” take place on Tuesday, December 3. Thematic sessions on “International Labour Standards, Social Dialogue and Gender Equality in the Realization of Decent Work Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals”, “Making Decent Work a Reality for Africa’s Youth”, “Skills, Technological Pathways and Productivity for a Brighter Future of Work in Africa” and “Transforming Africa’s Informal and Rural Economy for Decent Work” will take place on Wednesday, December 4 and Thursday, December 5. The Closing Ceremony takes place on Friday, December 6. Download the agenda.

A live webcast of all high-level plenary sessions will be available on www.ilo.org/afrm14. The sessions will be available as downloadable MP4 files and indexed by session.

LIVE VIDEO POOL FEED: The ILO will make the high-level sessions available as a pool feed from the press centre. (Note that there are NO editing “suites” available at the venue, but journalists can use the media centre if they need space for their own editing equipment.)

PHOTOS: All official ILO photos will be available on the ILO Flickr website.

VIDEOGRAPHERS and PHOTOGRAPHERS: Access to the centre aisle of the plenary floor for videographers is limited to designated cameras by the ILO. Other videographers will be asked to remain in a designated space on the plenary floor. Videographers and photographers will be able to move around during the first minutes of each session for close-up shots and will then be asked to remain in the designated areas. Please contact Jennifer Patterson (patterson@ilo.org , +225 69 42 86 89) for access to the plenary gallery.

Access to all other meeting rooms (including the main floor of the Assembly Hall) is not allowed even outside high-level visits unless accompanied by a staff member from the ILO’s Department of Communication or Regional Communication Officers.

Press centre

A press centre with wi-fi connection will be located in Salle Kossou in the Sofitel Palais des Congrès. There will be limited number of workspaces available. Journalists are encouraged to bring their own laptops and adapters for European sockets (type C and E).

Press accreditation

To access the meeting venue, journalists will need a press conference badge. To obtain accreditation, and in order to speed up the entry process, journalists should fill out this form in advance and send it to patterson@ilo.org and gohoun@ilo.org no later than 18:00 on Friday, November 29, 2019.

Journalists should collect their badges on Monday, December 2, 2019, between 14:00 and 17:00 at the registration desk at the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan. The issuance of a badge is subject to the presentation of the photo ID listed in the registration form. The badges also give access to shuttle bus services between designated hotels and the meeting venue.