President William Ruto, on Thursday, June 15, urged delegates at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conference in Switzerland to consider drafting measures to assist the unemployed in future forums.
Ruto, while addressing the attendees, highlighted that most of the policies and guidelines implemented by ILO touched on improving the welfare of the employed only.
"As we speak about matters pertaining to work, we must also speak about the millions of jobless people whose voices cannot be heard at conferences like this. The aspirations of the unemployed matter," Ruto stated.
He further lamented that in Kenya, the government spends a lot of money on education, yet only 30 per cent of the beneficiaries secure jobs.
According to Ruto, from the data, it was clear that human capital was going to waste, and ILO should step in and prevent the issue from escalating.
"We have to urgently invest in ambitious ways of getting millions of unemployed people to work, and to take bold institutional measures to create opportunities for them deliberately," he added.
The Head of State used Africa as an example to indicate the highest unemployment rate in the world. Some African countries, he stated, reported that between a third and a quarter of their population was jobless.
However, he emphasised his administration's commitment to empower and revolutionise Kenya.
"We are committed to empowering millions of young people to tap into the emerging opportunities of the digital jobs ecosystem," Ruto stated.
Furthermore, to reduce the unemployment rate in Africa, Ruto appealed to African States to accelerate the actualisation of Agenda 2063 and the sustainable development goals to create more opportunities for the people.
"It is abundantly clear to all of us in this room that Africa has a vast opportunity to radically transform economic productivity, thereby creating employment on an unprecedented scale," the President added.
Governments, employers, and workers were encouraged to be vocal and seek a sustainable solution to the unemployment crisis.
Among the solutions he presented was continental economic integration by consolidating the African market through the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, the world’s largest free trade area, with a population of 1.4 billion.
"The objective of AfCFTA is to increase intra-Africa trade to 40-50 per cent and enhance our contribution to global trade to a level commensurate with greater productivity of our population.
"It is abundantly clear to all of us in this room that Africa has a vast opportunity to radically transform economic productivity, thereby creating employment on an unprecedented scale," he explained.
Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli, and Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore, were among the leaders who accompanied Ruto to Switzerland.
