African trade unionists and the Millennium Development Goals

The head office of ITUC Africa in Lomé, Togo, hosted a Regional Seminar of the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN) from 26 to 28 June 2013 on the theme of: "Development Cooperation in Africa in the Dynamics of Post-2015 Development Prospects: Issues and Challenges for the African Trade Union Movement".
The participants drafted a roadmap on the assessment of the implementation of the MDGs and prospects of the Post-2015 agenda for african trade unions.
The more detailed action plan of ITUC Africa TU development cooperation network will be elaborated soon in September.

Eighteen African trade unions were represented at the event:
1. UNTC: Democratic Republic of Congo
2. CSA: Benin
3. CSB: Burkina Faso
4. DIGNITE: Côte d’Ivoire
5. COSYGA: Gabon
6. UGTT: Tunisia
7. UGTM: Morocco
8. UST: Chad
9. CNTS: Senegal
10. COTRAF: Rwanda
11. CSTT: Togo
12. SLLC: Sierra Leone
13. NLC: Nigeria
14. COSATU: South Africa
15. COTU: Kenya
16. TUC: Ghana
17. ZCTU: Zambia
18. EATUC: Tanzania

The seminar objectives were:
• To review the implementation of development strategies in Africa, through an appreciation of development effectiveness and an evaluation of progress on Millennium Development Goals (MDG) based on a sample of national MDG reports.
• To raise participants’ awareness of the key themes of the post-2015 development framework and to draw up trade union strategies for active participation and genuinely effective participation of ITUC-Africa affiliates in national consultations within the framework of the post-2015 development agenda.
• To formulate proposals on the key strategies of a new development model for Africa, highlighting the vision of the African trade union movement.
• To present and discuss the TUDEP as an instrument of trade union development effectiveness and to strengthen the capacities of ITUC-Africa affiliates in the use of this tool.
• To set up an African trade union network within ITUC-Africa.

A number of eminent experts took an active part in the seminar, enlightening the participants on the various themes:
• Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, general secretary of ITUC-Africa
• Adrien AKOUETE, deputy general secretary of ITUC-Africa
• KAKO NUBUKPO, associate professor of the faculty of economic sciences at the University of Togo
• ROSELYNN MUSA, FEMNET programme manager
• Jan DEREYMAEKER, senior advisor at the ITUC
• Paola SIMONETTI, ITUC development cooperation advisor
• KHARDIATA LO N’DIAYE, resident representative of UNDP-TOGO
• Nicolas KAZADI, UNDP-Togo economic advisor

The seminar gave rise to country resolutions on the three main areas discussed:
• lessons learned from the MDG;
• trade union priorities for the new post-2015 development framework;
• trade union strategies for the post-2015 process.

An African trade union network was set up, with the following steering committee:
• Coordination: ITUC-Africa
• West Africa: Ghana, Senegal
• North Africa: Tunisia and Morocco
• East Africa: Tanzania and Kenya
• Southern Africa: South Africa and Zambia.
In his evaluation, Jan DEREYMAEKER, ITUC senior advisor, concluded that the seminar had seen passionate, moving and very enriching debates, and that its objectives had been very successfully met.

Article by Guy Mpembele Kisoka (UNTC-DRC)

- Watch the video of the event (in French)
- Read the full report of the event