ILO lauds Egypt success in securing suitable jobs for youth

CAIRO - 10 Sep 2017: The International Labor Organization (ILO) says Egypt has achieved a quantum leap where securing suitable jobs is concerned.

The Egyptian government has also successfully worked on social protection through a number of solidarity programs, according to ILO Cairo office director Peter Van Rooij.

Egypt is in the process of endorsing two important bills on labor and trade unions, Van Rooij told MENA Sunday.

Cairo and the ILO are still in talks to guarantee the two draft laws are in line with international agreements to which Egypt is signatory, he noted.

Hopefully, the Egyptian House of Representatives would okay the bills in the coming few months, Van Rooij said.

He also touched upon progress achieved in terms of social dialogue between employees and employers.

The ILO supports this dialogue, particularly with the textile and food sectors, he said.

Van Rooij made it clear that the ILO is also seeking to boost Egypt's textile and food exports.

Asked about claims that Egypt would be blacklisted for its file on freedom of association, Van Rooij assured there is no such thing as a blacklist because it would be against an ILO approach, which aims to solve problems with member states through dialogue.

He was pleased with the level of cooperation between the ILO and Egypt over the past 90 years.

The ILO is currently working on a program meant to encourage some 1.6 million school students to start their own projects that would secure jobs for them and their colleagues, Van Rooij said.

He also spoke highly of national projects implemented by the Egyptian government, seeing in that a good opportunity to create new jobs.