ILO News (Dakar) – The ILO, within the framework of the France-ILO partnership, has launched a project on “The social dimension of the ecological transition” in Senegal, representing the first project under the Climate Action for Jobs Initiative.
On 11 March 2022, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with France and the Senegalese Government, held a workshop in Dakar, Senegal to officially launch the project “The social dimension of the ecological transition”. The launch event has seen about fifty participants from governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, civil society institutions, and social dialogue and development partners.
Mr Samba Sy, Minister of Labour, Social Dialogue and Relations with Institutions (MTDSRI) of Senegal, presided over the launch workshop. Mr Dramane Haïdara, Country Director of ILO Senegal, delivered an opening speech on behalf of the ILO. The global coordinator and specialists of the ILO’s Green Jobs Programme also joined the launch.
In 2019, at the UN Climate Action Summit, 46 countries (including Senegal) committed to supporting a just ecological transition by formulating just transition policies in parallel with scaling up their climate action.
The Climate Action for Jobs (CA4J) initiative was born to support such efforts. It provides support to countries to deliver on their Just Transition commitments in all key policy areas and facilitate an inclusive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. At the global level, the Initiative also provides a Just Transition Innovation Centre, a mechanism for pooling funding for technical assistance at the national level, and a facility for advocacy and awareness-raising.
The project “The social dimension of the ecological transition” is part of this context. It is the first project to implement technical support under the umbrella of the CA4J initiative and is one of the key axes of the France-ILO partnership 2020-2024. The project, which has been launched at the regional level in April 2021, focuses on three pilot countries: Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. Knowledge sharing will take place with Algeria, Ghana, Morocco and Niger.
“The project aims to support a just ecological transition in partner countries through three main areas: strengthening the institutional structures of social dialogue; strengthening research capacity and developing integrated economic models for policy evaluation; supporting the formulation and implementation of policies based on inclusive social dialogue and integrated analytical models”, introduced Mr Dramane Haïdara. He further added, “in the context of the current health, economic and social crisis caused by COVID-19, the project will contribute to strengthening the resilience of local economies through endogenous production models, economic diversification and the expansion of opportunities for the creation of decent jobs”.
In his speech, Minister Samba Sy emphasized the importance of a just transition for sustainable economies. He indicated that Senegal would make every effort to fulfill its commitments with the support of the ILO through this project.
The launch workshop informed participants of the preliminary activities already underway around the project and engaged with constituents and partners on the project’s strategic direction. It concluded with an agreement on a roadmap for Senegal by 2024.