West African workers are unable to meet their families’ basic needs due to inadequate provision of social protection by governments in the sub-region.
Speaking in Abuja at the sub-regional workshop on funding of social protection in West Africa, the Executive Secretary of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA), John Odah said governments in the sub-region are not paying attention to the young population.
He said: “We can see that ours is a young population. One of the negative characteristics is that we are not providing normal jobs for the young population. Europe is relatively steady because the developed countries provide employment benefits. And in our country, we ought to be thinking about providing employment benefits, so that individuals, if they are not immediately engaged, can have a means of livelihood. This workshop is trying to proffer a solution to the problem.”
He stressed that governments in West Africa must show commitment to push social security coverage to 40 per cent, by 2020.
