Decision on the Third Ordinary Session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission

DECISION ON THE THIRD ORDINARY SESSION OF THE LABOUR
AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION - DOC. EX.CL/186 (VII)

The Executive Council:

1. TAKES NOTE of the Report;

2. ENDORSES the recommendations contained therein;

3. COMMENDS the Labour and Social Affairs Commission (LSAC) and the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) for their initiative in organizing the Second Afro-Arab Labour Congress which will, among others, strengthen Arab-African cooperation;

4. REQUESTS Member States to incorporate decent work as well as youth and women employment in the elaboration of the African common position on the mid-term review of the MDGs;

5. FURTHER REQUESTS the Commission to organize consultations with the RECs with a view to speeding up the implementation of the outcome of the 2004 Ouagadougou Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in collaboration with the development partners;

6. URGES Member State to undertake national consultations among various social development sectors to provide comprehensive input into the Draft Social Policy Framework; and REQUESTS the Commission to organise an expert meeting to finalize the document before the Ordinary Session of Council in July 2006;

7. WELCOMES the establishment of an Advisory Council on Ageing to coordinate the implementation of the Policy Framework and Plan of Action on Ageing and MANDATES the Commission, in collaboration with HelpAge International (Africa Region), to work out the structure of the Advisory Council, including modalities and financial implications of its setting up;

8. INVITES African members of the ILO Governing Body to hold consultations to ensure that Africa is allocated additional seats in the group of non-elected members of the Governing Body and to base their choice on the criteria of rotation and availability of seats as well as active participation in the International Labour Conference and its committees;

9. ALSO INVITES Member States to adopt international standards on activities in the fishery sector;

10. URGES Member States to adopt and establish a sustainable infrastructure for safety and health in the work place in order to give priority to this issue in the national programme;

11. FURTHER INVITES Member States to cooperate with the ILO in its programme «lmprove your Enterprise» within the framework of the promotion of enterprise development for youth;

12. SUPPORTS the recommendations of Member States of the Advisory Committee on Physical Education and Sports in Africa established by Maputo Decision EX/CL/Dec. 62(iii) on setting up a Ministerial Forum on Sports and Youth;

13. ALSO REQUESTS Member States to assist in the restructuring and revitalization of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) and pay their contributions to enable it to implement its programmes in the sports sector;

14. URGES the Commission to revisit the mandate of the African Rehabilitation Institute (ARI) with a view to revitalizing it; and the Member States, which have not yet done so, to join ARI and pay up their contributions;

15. FURTHER REQUESTS AU Specialized Agencies to acquaint themselves with the budget cycle in Member States and URGES countries to include the contributions they owe to these Agencies in their budgets;

16. CALLS ON the Commission to strengthen its cooperation with the African Centre for Applied Research and Training in Social Development (ACARTSOD) and accord it the status of Specialized Agency;

17. REQUESTS the Commission to speed up the process of establishing AU Specialized Technical Committees, taking into account the proposals made for the structure of the LSAC as recommended during its Third Session in April 2005.