It is an undisputable fact that work is vital for the overall well-being of people. Apart from providing income, work can give room for more social and economic advancement.
Work enables people to sustain their families, and strengthens communities. Nonetheless, many workers complain of things that make their work indecent.
Decent work gives people hope, and helps them to attain their aspirations.
It is in this regard that we applaud the Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment for collaborating with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to organise a five-day forum on the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for The Gambia.
The ILO has developed an agenda for the community of work. It provides support through the integrated Decent Work Country Programmes developed in coordination with its constituents.
The overall goal of Decent Work is to effect positive change in people's lives at the national and local levels.
The Decent Work agenda offers a basis for a more just and sustainable framework for global development. The ILO works to develop decent work-oriented approaches to economic and social policy in partnership with the principal institutions and actors of the multilateral system and the global economy.
We are also pleased to learn that the ILO's preoccupation over the years has been to advance opportunity for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in a condition of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. This is vital and needs to be given more priority.
The ILO was founded on social justice as the basis for universal and lasting peace and, to achieve this mission, it needs an appropriate mechanism for delivering support to its member states.
This is because decent work could reduce poverty and increase livelihoods, growth, investment and enterprise development.
It is, therefore, essential that the working conditions of workers in many workplaces are revisited.
"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."
Donald Kendall
