This is the pool of Gilbert F. HOUNGLO's four-day working visit.
The conference room of the International Labor Office (ILO) for Central Africa in Yaoundé was the setting for exchanges with the media men and women who came to meet him on Wednesday May 15, 2024 to discuss the main points of his stay on Cameroonian soil. The fight against child labor, the issue of social dialogue and decent work were the main points raised by the ILO Director-General.
On the issue of combating child labor, Gilbert F. HOUNGLO acknowledges that, "It's a tricky problem, because the solution is not clear-cut. You have to take into account the context, you have to qualify it, because it's not always black and white - the issue of child labor is linked to the issue of poverty. 70% of children in Africa are forced to work, whether in the mines or in the fields. The solution to this starts with the fight against poverty, and we need to put forward mechanisms to encourage parents to send their children to school. We need to set up programs to combat poverty, build schools as close as possible to villages, and set up school canteens, which should help to strengthen children's education rather than finding them in the fields," he mentioned. 75% of child labor takes place in the agricultural and rural sector, hence the urgent need to create schools close to villages in order to reduce child labor to its simplest form.
Speaking of social dialogue, which is an important pillar in improving governance in the workplace, the DG pointed out that it is a necessity in the implementation of decent work, adding, "Our plea is to institute social dialogue. The Cameroon labor market is a very active world, and this is also reflected in union activity. The solution we are proposing is that, in diversity, we need to know how to set aside some sectoral priorities for the common good of the whole," he concluded.
Moderated by Bertrand Didier BOUGHA, head of the communication unit at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Clément Noumsi
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