Human Security and Emergency Jobs for Peace and Resilience was the focus of a third side event which took place during the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8). This side event, co-hosted by the ILO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), focused on knowledge and experience gained through the Japan-ILO partnership, to promote decent work in fragile situations in Africa and use local resources and employment-intensive investment strategies to support inclusive and quality infrastructure development.
In spite of two decades of dynamic economic growth with increased employment opportunities, Africa faces a myriad of obstacles. With the restrictions under COVID-19, and other factors such as the increase in commodity and fuel prices resulting from the the crisis in Ukraine, the continent's chances of economic recovery have been hindered, and unequal access to decent jobs and social protection remains one of the most pressing issues.

Through the Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP), the ILO has been supporting developing countries for the past 50 years in addressing poverty, underemployment, unemployment, and other related social issues. In order to promote employment, particularly in times of conflict, disaster, and other emergencies, the EIIP assists stakeholders in each country in developing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive policies and programmess on public infrastructure investment.
Japan has supported the promotion of decent work through quality infrastructure development, human resource development, and cooperation on occupational health and safety.
The ILO/EIIP and Japan have been collaborating on capacity building on labour-based construction methods (LBT) and are expected to continue to deepen the cooperation for the promotion of decent work in Africa in the future.
The objectives of the event were

1. to exchange of knowledge and experiences on the use of local resources and employment-intensive strategies for inclusive and quality infrastructure development in the fragile context of Africa;
2. to discuss the approaches and opportunities for increasing employment impact, skill development, private sector development, capacity building, community engagement and responding to crises and strengthening resilience in fragile situations, with an overarching theme of promoting decent work in such contexts; and
3. to explore opportunities to further the partnership between ILO and Japan.

PROGRAM

Human security and emergency jobs for peace and resilience/ Experiences through partnership between Japan and the ILO for the promotion of decent work agenda in the context of fragility 
August 22, 2022 17:00 - 18:30 (JST)

Opening Remarks

• Ms. Martha Newton, Deputy Director General (DDG) for Policy of ILO

Keynote Speech

• Mr. Toshiyuki Nakamura, Senior Vice President, JICA

Panel Discussion
Moderator: Mr. Andreas Klemmer, Director of Training, ITCILO

• Mr. Randria Tsiferana Simon, General Director of Water from the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Madagascar
• Mr. Ato Yetimgeta Asrat, Deputy Director General of Ethiopian Roads Authority
• Mr. Américo Ocua Dimande, Director General of National Roads Administration in Mozambique

Interaction with participants
Moderator: Mr. Andreas Klemmer, Director of Training, ITCILO

Closing Remarks

• Ms. Mito Tsukamoto, Chief of Development and Investment Branch, ILO