Strengthening trade unionism in Côte d‘Ivoire

During the last Congress of CISL-Dignité (Congrès de la Confédération Ivoirienne des Syndicats Libres), in 2014, the CFDT (France) undertook the commitment to assist the union in formulating and implementing a national trade union education and training plan.

By Martine Roy, CFDT (France)

In November 2017, a collective session was held to assess the project, providing all the actors with an opportunity to take stock of the situation and to prepare the way forward. The project, planned over two years (2016-2017), was implemented in partnership with three European trade union organisations, the SIT (Geneva), the CSC (Belgium) and the CFDT (France). Representatives of the three partners attended the session as facilitators: Jean-Dominique Jacquemet for the SIT, Geneva, Karin Debroey for the CSC Belgium and Martine Roy for the CFDT France.

The cooperation project included:

  • Several training courses for 20 trade union education and training officers.
  • Awareness-raising sessions for the heads of the various trade union centres regarding the conditions for the implementation of a five-year training programme.
  • Local training sessions and meetings within companies.

The main aims of the assessment were:

  • To measure the results of the project (outcomes, impacts and effects secured in relation to the expected outcomes and the resources deployed).
  • To highlight the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the various contributions made by the partners from the North (the education and training seminars of the SIT, the CFDT and the CSC at the beginning of 2016) for the CISL-Dignité education and training officers.
  • To identify the strengths and weaknesses, to take on board the demands and needs expressed by the group of training officers during the implementation of the project, and to formulate recommendations for the continuation of the partnership.

The assessment covered six specific objectives:

  1. The provision of a team of trade union education and training officers with IT equipment and training in teaching skills.
  2. Awareness raising and training for the CISL-Dignité National Executive Committee (CEN).
  3. To train the new trade union leaders from Abidjan, the country’s economic capital.
  4. To train the country’s new trade union leaders and representatives, in a decentralised manner.
  5. To organise in-company, workplace meetings with the union members.
  6. To hold two branch-level congresses, under the form of specific national sessions, for two sectors of activity.

In conclusion, the assessment enabled the actors to measure the results attained, the impact, and the strengths and weakness of the project, and to use the lessons learned to consider and improve the prospects of a future partnership between our various organisations. It was an excellent exercise in participatory dialogue with the beneficiaries of the project, as well as the administrative and financial heads of Dignité and its secretariat.

A new cooperation project should consolidate the work already well underway, with a view to continuing to strengthen CISL-Dignité in Côte d‘Ivoire.

Further information: