Faulty labour data seen impeding job creation

KATARE MBASHIRU

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (Parliamentary Affairs, Labor, Employment, Youth and Persons living with Disabilities), Mr Anthony Mavunde

LACK of reliable up-to-date data on labour statistics is a serious concern in Tanzania like in many other African countries, the deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Policy, Parliament, Labour Employment, Youth and Disabled, Anthony Mavunde has said.

He was speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday when officiating at a two-day capacity building workshop on Labour Statistics in preparation for the 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) scheduled for October 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Labour Statistics play an essential role in the efforts of our countries to achieve decent work for all and for the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) support on these efforts,’’ he said. According to Mr Mavunde, the statistics are needed for the development and evaluation of policies to assess progress towards decent work.

“It is therefore my hope that improving the collection and availability of labour statistics is an important factor in not only promoting employment creation and improved livelihoods but also in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially goal number eight that seeks to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all,’’ he noted.

The main purpose of the twoday workshop is to strengthen capacity of participants from 35 African countries to produce labour market statistics that are useful for the formulation and implementation of labour policies, projects and programmes in support of the goal of descent work for all within the context of the 17 SDGs.

It was organised by ILO, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA). Speaking at the workshop, AfDB representative Mr Khamis Simba said his bank has been contributing in various international conferences of labour statisticians and precisely providing genuine support mechanisms including sponsoring some African countries to attend and effectively participate in preceded conference notably in 2008 and 2013.

“Producing reliable and timely labour statistics is essential to the research and information needs for sound, evidence based policy making,’’ he noted.

He added that AfDB will continue supporting its Regional Member Countries (RMCs) financially and technically to ensure that the compilation and analysis of sound labour statistics is improved.

ILO Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa Aeneas Chuma said quality statistics were increasingly needed as the basis for sound policy advice and support to countries at a time when their economies are changing fast.