International Conference on the

theme:

“Employment - Youth and

Migration: What challenges and opportunities for PES?”

Yaoundé, Hotel Mont Fébé,

17 to 19/09/2019

General Report

2 |20

1- In the year two thousand and nineteen and on the 17th, 18th and 19th of September, an International Conference jointly organized by the National Agency for Employment of Mali (ANPE) and the National Employment Fund (NEF) of Cameroon, with the support of the Executive Secretariat of the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) was held at the hotel Mont Fébé in Yaoundé, on the theme "Employment - Youth and Migration: What challenges and opportunities for PES?". This conference which was coupled with the celebration of 20 years of AAPES had four (4) highlights, namely:

The opening ceremony;

The conference of the Director Generals of PES;

Thematic round tables;

The closing ceremony.

I- THE OPENING CEREMONY 2- The opening ceremony was chaired by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training

of Mali. Accompanying him were, the Director General of the National Employment Fund (NEF) of Cameroon, Honorary President of WAPES, the President of the African Association of Public Employment Services (AAPES), the Executive Secretary of WAPES and the Representative of the Director of ILO for Central Africa.

One hundred and fifty-two (152) experts participated in the ceremony representing seventeen (17) countries: Belgium ; Benin ; Cameroon ; Congo Brazzaville ; Congo Kinshasa ; Djibouti ; Spain ; France ;

Kenya ; Mali Morocco ; Mozambique ; Niger ; Sweden ; Chad ; Togo ; Tunisia ;

3- The representatives of some international organizations, consular and trade union chambers

also took part in this important meeting. Four (04) presentations marked the opening ceremony, namely:

- The welcome address of the Honorary President of WAPES, Director General of

FNE, Mr MOUTE à BIDIAS Camille;

- The speech of the President of AAPES, Director General of ANPE Mali, Mr

IBRAHIM AG NOCK;

- The speech of Madam the Executive Secretary of WAPES, Ms Eve Marie

MOSSERAY;

- The opening speech of the International Conference by the Minister of

Employment and Vocational Training of Mali, Mr SIDIBE Jean Claude.

1- The welcome Address of the Honorary President of WAPES, the DG of FNE.

4- The Director General of FNE, Honorary President of WAPES, expressed the gratitude of the National Employment Fund to the Head of State, His Excellency Paul BIYA, for having allowed this meeting to take place in Cameroon.

5- He thanked the Executive Secretariat of WAPES and particularly the DG of ANPE of Mali, President of AAPES, for the joint organization of this International Workshop with the presence of the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training of Mali. He also expressed his gratitude to all the other international representatives as well as to his counterparts Director Generals of the Public Employment Services (PES) who made the trip to Cameroon for this purpose.

6- He then presented the socio-economic context of African countries with low unemployment rates, as defined by the ILO, but which mask the realities of underemployment and the alternative solutions such as migration to other destinations. Given this situation, the PES should reflect on the strategies to manage this phenomenon, hence the purpose of this workshop on the theme: "Employment - Youth and Migration: What challenges and opportunities for PES?”

7- He expressed the wish to see the reflections of this work lead to solutions relevant to the fight for youth employment in Africa.

8- As part of strengthening cooperation links between the PES, he announced the signing, at the end of the opening ceremony, of a Partnership Agreement between ONAPE (Chad) and NEF(Cameroon).

9- He ended his remarks by announcing that this conference is coupled with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of AAPES, which represents a moment of evaluation of the path travelled by AAPES and an opportunity for members to strategically consider the its future, while taking time off for relaxation and strengthening human relationships.

2- The speech of the President of AASEP, Mr IBRAHIM AG NOCK

10- After thanking the Cameroonian government and the NEF for agreeing to host this conference, the President of AAPES dealt on the issue of employment in Africa, which remains worrisome in view of the statistics mentioned.

11- He said that faced with this situation, it is up to the PES among others to raise awareness among business leaders and governments in our respective countries, to provide solutions to the thorny problem of youth employment.

12- He then announced that the AAPES Triennial Plan, validated in 2018, focuses on the promotion of youth employment and the strengthening of cooperation between African PES and those of other regions of the world.

13- He exalted the friendship between Mali and Cameroon, which dates back to the years after independence, thanks to the strong will of the Founding Fathers of our two Nations.

14- He ended his remarks with a brief summary of the activities of AAPES which in 20 years has gone from six (06) to twenty (20) members including Mozambique this year.

15- He praised the foresight of the Founding Fathers of AAPES and requested for a "Standing ovation" for Mr Camille MOUTE à BIDIAS, one of the icons of WAPES and AAPES.

3- The speech of Madam the Executive Secretary of WAPES

16- After having apologized on behalf of the President of WAPES who was unable to travel to Yaoundé, the Executive Secretary recalled the progress made by WAPES for 30 years - from six (06) members at the start, to more than eighty (80) members to date in the five regions of the world.

17- She appreciated the dynamism of AAPES and the Africa Region within WAPES and announced that the new challenge to be managed is the support and implementation of the new long-term strategy validated in 2018.

18- She went on to note that WAPES has other partners such as the ILO, the OECD, the EU and many others with which it will be necessary to collaborate more than in the past.

19- With regard to this meeting, while sending her Happy birthday wishes to AAPES, she expressed the wish for fruitful exchanges and full success in the work.

4- The Opening Address of the International Conference by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training of Mali, Mr SIDIBE Jean Claude

20- After having appreciated the previous speakers for the kind words addressed to him, the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training of Mali thanked his Excellency Paul BIYA for having accepted to host this important international activity in Cameroon. He then thanked WAPES, which at its 11th congress in February 2018 in Marrakech, Morocco, kindly entrusted Mali, through ANPE, with a three-year mandate as the Vice President of WAPES for the Africa Region.

21- Regarding the conference, the Minister praised the relevance of the chosen theme and said today there is no need to over emphasize the close links between issues of employment, youth and migration around the world. Public employment services in their strategies can only mobilize to contribute to a better social inclusion of migrants in their countries of origin or reception. It was therefore important for WAPES and its partners to question this issue in order to equip PES members to provide governments and migrants with adequate solutions.

22- He continued with some strategic information about Mali. Since 1998, Mali adopted its national employment policy followed in 2009 by a national vocational training policy and in 2014, its national migration policy.

23- To justify the impact of migration in their country of origin, the Minister noted that the contribution of Malian migrants and its diaspora was estimated at more than 598 million CFA francs in 2018, more than official development aid.

24- As for the other part of this meeting, especially the celebration of the 20th anniversary of AAPES, the Minister congratulated the bearers of this initiative, praised the vitality of AAPES and the fights it carries out for our continent.

25- He reassured the participants of the constant support of the governments of the member countries of AAPES.

26- He ended his remarks with the wishes of full success to the work of the conference and happy birthday to AAPES.

II- SIGNING OF THE FNE – ONAPE CONVENTION

27- The Opening Ceremony ended with the signing of the Partnership Agreement between ONAPE (PES Chad) and NEF (PES Cameroon).

28- The NEF was represented by its Director General, Mr Camille MOUTE à BIDIAS, and the ONAPE by its Director General Mr FAYÇAL HISSEIN Abakar. The later made a short speech in which he appreciated the solidarity of WAPES. He then thanked the Director General of NEF for agreeing to accompany ONAPE. He concluded his remarks with wishes for full success at this conference.

III- CONFERENCE OF DIRECTOR GENERALS

29- At resumption followed a round table on the theme: "The relevance of the PES mission for

the promotion of employment", moderated by Mr Alain BELIBI, Central Director of the Cameroonian Radio Television (CRTV) and animated by the following:

- Mr MOUTE A BIDIAS Camille, Director General of NEF (Honorary President of

WAPES)

- Mr IBRAHIM AG NOCK, Director General of ANPE of Mali (Vice President of the

Africa Region of WAPES and President of AAPES)

- Mr Cyrano Afidi OMBOLO LEBOGSO, HIMO Specialist (High Intensity Manpower),

ILO

- Mr Solomane KONE, Resident Representative of the ADB in Cameroon

- Ms NGO'O Jeannine, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Employment and

Vocational Training-Cameroon

- Ms Florence DUMONTIER, Director of Business and International Relations, Pôle-

emploi, France

- Ms Eve-Marie MOSSERAY, Executive Secretary of WAPES

30- With the participation of the Director Generals of the following countries: Mali (Mr Ibrahim

AG NOCK and Mr YAYA DAO), Togo (Mr AMOUSSOU CONLAN Edmond), Chad (Mr

HISSEIN HASSAN Abakar Faycal), Tunisia (Mr FENNIRA YOUSSEF), Benin (Mr

AMEGBEDJI Stanislas), Cameroun (Camille MOUTE à BIDIAS), Mozambique (DENGO

Juvenal Arcanto), as well as Honourable NYANGA ELENGA, former President of AAPES.

All panellists acknowledged the relevance of the PES mission. After the exchanges, the

following recommendations were made:

PES must continue to advocate vigorously to their respective governments for the

importance of employment in government policies and programs;

Each PES must constantly question itself by making its self-criticism in relation to the

degree of satisfaction of its action towards its target populations;

The role of PES must go further downstream by building synergies with the education

system;

PES must put in place real digitalization policies for their services to match technological

developments;

Communication strategies must be well thought out and well-oriented to communicate

programs and relevant observations to improve the quality of our services;

The search for funding to overcome the weakness of PES’ budgets must be based on a

strong ability to formulate our needs in an attractive and convincing manner to our

partners;

The relevance of our actions must be supported by the permanent strengthening of the

capacities of PES's human resources;

Strategies for the promotion of SMEs have to be encouraged and supported by PES,

because it is by creating or developing many companies that many jobs are created and

the functioning of the labour market is improved.

The Directors General of the PES of Djibouti, Mr MAHAMOUD OMAR GUELLEH and

the DRC, Dr Angélique KIKUDI having joined their peers on the second day of the

works, made their recommendations.

IV- THEMATIC ROUND TABLE

Thematic Round Table N °1:

31- Three papers were presented on the theme "The problem of youth unemployment in the world in general and in Africa in particular in a context of globalization".

32- In his introductory word, the moderator, Mr Edmond AMOUSSOU, Director General, ANPE Mali, after having presented the speakers in turn and before giving them the floor, evoked the problematic of the impact of globalization on youth employment.

33- From the general state of affairs on the situation of youth unemployment in Africa presented by Mr Cyrano Afidi OMBOLO LEBOGSO, HIMO Specialist, ILO, there are two problems: underemployment which is close to 80%, and training-employment mismatch.

34- Faced with this situation, the challenges to be met are: Economic growth in productive sectors that can lead to sustainable development and job

creation;

Development of training policies compatible with the job offer;

Transition from informal to formal economy.

35- To meet these challenges, he advocates the following initiatives:

The integration of the youth-employment dimension in national and sub-regional public

policies,

Improvement of vocational training infrastructures;

The prioritization of the promotion of employment for women, rural youth and unskilled

youth;

Encouraging businesses to employ young people;

The encouragement of alternating training thus allowing professionalization and

qualification;

The introduction of tax incentives for companies;

Promoting youth entrepreneurship.

36- Mr TINGA YEPDO Joel Mathurin, Research Assistant at the Demographic and Social

Department, National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon.

After justifying the problem of unemployment in Africa and defining the different concepts

relating to it, it appears, according to him, that the causes can be on the one hand

endogenous (inefficiency of the institutional system), and on the other hand exogenous

(technological innovations). He believes that the treatment of unemployment should be done

both in a sub-regional and regional framework in view of the capacity building and

professional mobility offered by globalization. He ended his presentation by pointing out that

we need to go beyond unemployment in order to better capture the employment problems of

young people in Africa, because in many African countries, the very low level of

unemployment does not make it possible to better understand the malfunctioning of the

labour market, especially for young people. For example, there is underemployment,

underutilization of labour.

37- Mr Juvenal Arcanjo DENGO, Director General, INEP-Mozambique, presented the strategy

of treatment of employment in Mozambique through the National Institute of Public

Employment (PES) Mozambique. This strategy focuses on vocational training, job

placement, self-employment, internships, youth entrepreneurship and digitalization of

services to be close to users. This strategy is starting to bring encouraging results despite

the unfavourable economic climate.

38- The roundtable culminated in a set of questions and answers between presenters and

participants, one of the most relevant being the encouragement of companies to use job and

skills forecasting (GPEC)

39- The moderator concluded the roundtable by recommending that PES take advantage of the

benefits of globalization to promote employment in our countries.

Thematic Round Table N °2:

On the theme: “The legal and Regulatory framework of legal migration in the world and in

Africa: yesterday, today and tomorrow (professional mobility)”

40- The moderator Ms Françoise BIBI BELINGA, resource person from NEF Cameroon, after

having presented the speakers specified that the stakes of this round table was the impact of

the regulatory evolution on the migratory phenomenon. She then gave the floor to each

speaker.

41- In his remarks, Mr Hicham ARROUD, National Technical Assistant, Migration and

Coordination, Belgian Development Agency - Enabel indicated that Morocco has undertaken

a reform of its migration policy for a better integration of migrants and refugees, for an

effective management of migratory flows through a coherent, global, humanistic and

responsible approach

42- This approach is articulated around strategic objectives related to the respect of human

rights, while facilitating the economic integration of migrants and refugees (vocational

training, wage employment, entrepreneurship), and the institutional framework. As an

illustration, he cited the AMUDDU Project whose objective is "The integration of migrants

and the management of migration flows in Morocco " through the improvement of their

employability in Morocco.

43- As for Mr Joseph NJUE, Employment Officer / Head of the Labour Migration Department

NEA Kenya, one of the causes of youth migration is the search for better working conditions

and remuneration. He recalled the main destinations of Kenyan migrants, which among

others are, the Middle East, Europe, the USA and Africa.

44- Within the framework of the sub-region, partnerships for the free movement of persons and

goods exist between States (CEAE) which has led to the harmonization of employment

policies.

45- Kenya has also ratified several ILO conventions and signed bilateral agreements with some

Gulf countries to regulate the work of migrants.

46- Elena Fanetti - Governance, Migration and Security Program Officer - EU Delegation to

Cameroon in her remarks, stated that legal migration, including labour migration, is an

integral part of the EU's overall cooperation with third countries outside the EU.

47- To avoid risky travel to Europe and other distant regions, alternative solutions have been

created in partnership with migrants' countries of origin, to create jobs and increase

investment. A European Agenda on Migration has been put into place opening opportunities

for legal migration. As an illustration of the instruments that the EU has developed in

partnership with African countries to provide solutions to migration problems, she cited the

following:

The Emergency Trust Fund for Africa which funds the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for the Protection and Reintegration of Migrants

The EU External Investment Plan (IEP).

48- Concerning their activities in Cameroon, she said that:

The European Union encourages and supports Cameroon in the fight against the phenomena that cause migration, especially youth unemployment, as well as the continued efforts to stabilize the northern and eastern regions that are facing refugee crises and terrorism. The EU finances through its main financial instrument, the 11th European Development

Fund (EDF), the pursuit of the objectives of growth and employment, development of the rural sector and economic and financial reform of the State;

To support the implementation of the three-year plan "Special Youth" launched by the government, the EU has financed through the Emergency Trust Fund two actions that promote the socio-economic integration and prevention of radicalization of young people in the Far North regions (total envelope of 17 million euro).

1. Support Project for Socio-Economic Resilience of Vulnerable Youth (PARSE) implemented by GIZ (German Technical Cooperation Agency).

2. Investment project in support of local economic development in the Far North, promoting the employment and integration of young people (PNDP-HIMO) implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD).

Finally, the European Union encourages the intensification of cooperation on legal

migration and mobility through the Exchange Program for Erasmus + Students and

Researchers. In Cameroon, the EU is also supporting the improvement of civil status, an

indispensable tool for promoting legal migration through the PROCIVIS Program (11th

European Development Fund).

49- After these three interventions, a debate followed which came out with the conclusion that

migration is a concern in the development of youth integration strategies in PES. Since its

causes have been identified and listed, its management involves taking into account the

employment dimension when drawing up the policies of African States and promoting the

synergies of actions between States with the support of international partners such as the

EU.

Thematic Round Table N° 3:

50- The third round table, moderated by Mr Yves Thomas LUNDY, Head of the Migration

Project, Pôle emploi - France focused on the influence of migration on national labour

markets. In his introductory words, he said that migration is a phenomenon that cannot be

stopped; it must be managed. Hence, PES have a key role to play in managing professional

migration. He then gave the floor to the speakers.

51- Taking the floor, Mr Abdessamad TAOUSSI, Head of Services for International Employers

at ANAPEC - Morocco, after presenting the missions of ANAPEC-Morocco and its

international placement system, mentioned the positive and negative impact of professional

migration by indicating a model called circular migration in partnership with Spain which is

perceived as a major element having a positive impact for the development of Morocco

because of the considerable volume of flows that it implies and a very useful adjustment tool

in the labour market of the host country as these flows are sensitive to economic conditions

and short-term changes in labour and skills needs.

52- Mr TAOUSSI brought out both the positive and the negative impact of migration.

The positive impact of migration is:

Positive reinforcement of skills; The transfer of funds and know-how; Complementing shortages in the labour market Solution to the problem of aging in the host country. Relief from pressure of unemployment;

The negative impact of the migration is:

The migration of skilled labour (brain drain);

Shortage in the job market.

Mr TAOUSSI then presented projects that can minimize the negative impact of migration by

illustrating the win-win approach thanks to innovative migration models implemented by

ANAPEC in partnership with several countries such as Germany, the United Arab Emirates

and Belgium.

These international partnerships enable Moroccan migrants to acquire or strengthen their

skills to provide skilled labour to both labour markets, especially as these migrants have the

choice to continue working in the host country or to return to Morocco.

Just to highlight two key figures of these partnerships, the labour program of agricultural

workers Spain-Morocco permitted the insertion of more than 15 000 Moroccan women in

2018 and more than 14650 as at August 31, 2019. Also, the project "Improvement of Access

to International Employment Opportunities for Moroccan Youth', which has enabled 108

Moroccan young people to be placed in alternating vocational training in Germany in the

hotel and catering sector.

Lastly, Mr TAOUSSI stressed the need to consider migration as a sustainable resource,

which can, among other means, respond to the various problems related to development

when it is carried out within a legal and orderly framework.

53- For Leopold Jérémie NGOMEZO'O, the Director of International Cooperation for NEF -

Cameroon, Cameroon's geographical position facilitates professional migration.

54- It should be noted that in Cameroon, 92% of migrants are African and 8% come from

countries of other continents.

55- Three types of professional migration have been identified, internal migration, transnational

migration and forced migration.

56- The FNE works in collaboration with partners such as UNHCR, IOM, and OFII for

professional integration of migrants.

57- Later he mentioned the impact of migrants on the Cameroonian labour market, mentioning in

particular the specific case of Malians specialized in the clothing, general trade and

metallurgy trades and the specific case of Nigerians specialized in the sale of automobile

parts. These two communities alone make up more than 50% of migrants in Cameroon.

58- Furthermore, he spoke about the FNE's action, in particular:

The FNE partnership with IOM (MIDA project); The partnership of the FNE with the OFII; The PARIC program that deals with the Cameroonian diaspora back; The creation of the International Agency of the FNE which in addition to having absorbed

the PARIC, it also deals with international placement.

59- In conclusion Mr NGOMEZO'O made suggestions on the strategic plan: multiplication of the

international conventions, and at the operational level, the reconciliation of the PES with the

private structures of employment.

60- Taking the floor, Ms Eve-Marie MOSSERAY, EU Move Project, Forem – Belgium presented

the project Move which is a project of professional insertion concerning migrants. It is an

ERASMUS + project which concerns Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. The aim is to

facilitate the integration of the migrants and strengthen their skills in the labour market.

61- This training project is divided into 3 poles (organizational pole, communication pole and

technical pole) with 10 competencies.

Thematic Round Table N° 4 62- The round table n° 4 on the exchange of good practices of different PES, with the theme

"The management of youth labour migration: what role for PES? “, had as moderator,

Dr Angélique KIKUDI, Director General of ONEM - DRC.

63- After introducing the speakers, she urged the participants to contribute to the debates

because the exchange of experiences is the most practical dimension of our workshop.

64- In his remarks, Mr Souleymane IDI DAOUDA, Head of the Legal and Administrative Affairs

Department, ANPE-Niger presented the context of the migratory situation in Niger for a

better understanding of the management strategy of the Nigerien workforce and that of

refugees by the ANPE.

65- In this context, the ANPE has signed a partnership agreement with UNHCR through the

CIAUD and supports its professional integration actions.

66- A partnership agreement has been signed with Saudi Arabia to better regulate the work of

migrants. This agreement was suspended for non-respect of decent working conditions in

the host country.

67- In the short term, IOM and the International Centre for Development through the ANPE,

plans to create a reception and orientation office to enhance the potential of emigrant

communities. A program called the Youth Employment and Productive Inclusion Project

(PEJIP) was created to improve the employability of young people in rural areas through

opportunities for income-generating activities and micro-enterprises. This program reaches

40,000 young people from 40 municipalities in Niger's 8 regions.

68- Mr Joseph NJUE, Chief Employment Officer/ Head of Labor Migration Department at the

National Employment Authority – Kenya, spoke on Kenyan practice. It is based on the

observation that more and more Kenyans are exporting their skills due to lack of

opportunities in the local market. For a good framing of the phenomenon, the Kenyan State

has developed a migration management strategy through the National Employment

Authority (NEA) of Kenya.

This management strategy is defined in four steps:

- Training and orientation of young people at the start;

- The regulation of private employment agencies, which must obtain an authorization /

license for the activity;

- The partnership agreement for domestic work in the Gulf countries;

- General information on legal migration on-line.

This strategy has led to encouraging results.

69- Mr Sambala SIDIBE, Head of the Training and Employment Promotion Department (DFPE)

ANPE - Mali, presented the organization of the Employment Promotion Agency (ANPE),

PES of Mali as well as its missions, its axes of intervention, and its target.

70- He said Mali's vision is to make migration a real asset for the country's development, a factor

of economic growth and social promotion to sustainably reduce poverty. To achieve this,

strategic axes are set up among which are:

The protection and security of migrants and their family members; The establishment of mechanisms for managing migration, support for better

reintegration of returnees; Valuing the human and financial capital of migrants; Capacity building of migrant organizations; Improved knowledge on migration.

71- He also noted some difficulties in the management of migration, particularly the non-

ratification by the Malian Government of the Migrant Workers Convention No. 87 and the

financing of certain programs for migrants such as PONAM.

72- He finished his remarks with the following suggestions and recommendations:

- To create a synergy of action of the actors involved in migration by focusing on the financing and the reinforcement of migrants' skills and their organization

- Harmonize the legal and regulatory framework on labour migration, - Create an observatory on professional migration.

73- Mr STAFFAN JOHANSSON, Head of Unit of Arbetsförmedlingen-Sweden presented on the

sub-theme "the management of the youth workforce within 90 days".

74- In his presentation he underlined the particular role of the PES and highlighted the missions

of the Arbetsförmedlingen-Sweden as well as the employment statistics in this country. He

added that migrants have access to Swedish labour markets, they benefit from all the

services of the agency for job search.

75- Efforts are being made to integrate young, untrained migrants into the search for

employment, namely counselling, training and networking. For those migrants with training

and work experience from their home country, they can be quickly put in touch with

companies.

76- In addition, subsidies are given to migrants without discrimination if all conditions are met.

Disabled people receive benefits and employers must take into account their disability by

giving them tasks compatible with their disability.

77- All the participants highlighted the aspects of the treatment of migrants as well as the

programs and support measures available to them for their professional integration. In 90

days, a migrant must be able to benefit from the support appropriate to his case for his

socio-occupational integration.

78- Mr Edmond AMOUSSOU, Director General of the ANPE Togo after having presented the

ANPE missions and service offer, indicated two areas of work within the framework of the

management of professional migration in Togo.

* Relationship with the candidate - The relationship with the departing candidate, which is an approach aimed at informing

and accompanying the young person towards an objective of professional mobility,

- The relationship with the return candidate which aims to inform him on the local job

market of the programs and supports put at his disposal for his professional integration

into salaried or independent employment.

* Relationship with the company

79- The relationship with the company aims to seek out and develop job opportunities both

internationally and in the country. Employment counsellors in charge of occupational mobility

benefit from training for the quality of their services. The ANPE also organizes information

campaigns to the general public to raise awareness about the dangers of irregular migration.

ANPE also benefits from the support of international cooperation and the public authorities in

the search for partners in the world.

80- Taking the floor, Mr Yves Thomas LUNDY, Migration Project Manager at Pôle Emploi

France explained the overall context of migration for West Africa. He highlighted statistical

issues of an institutional and regional nature.

81- In the institutional form, the PES should be a structure that is sufficiently equipped to

implement public policies for employment and professional mobility as well as to deliver

quality services to the unemployed. He also stressed the importance of the PES in the

governance of the labour market.

82- To best implement the migration strategy of the professional workforce, he recommends:

- Develop a legal and regulatory platform for a synergy of action by the PES; - Digitalizing information and harmonizing data by the PES for better coordination; - Capitalize know-how and financial means to improve professional migration strategies

83- At the end of the work, the participants made observations and made some

recommendations.

Observations and recommendations: The serious increase in unemployment in our countries and the growing advent of private

employment agencies and the phenomenon of social networks is increasingly calling into

question the relevance of the PES mission. It is important for the PES to become aware

of it and to adapt to it by becoming more efficient;

Globalization can have a positive or negative influence on our local employment markets.

PES will have to implement information and training programs to take advantage of this

globalization for the workforce of their countries;

The regulatory and legislative framework in the world and in Africa has changed

significantly and is linked to the different ILO and bilateral conventions. It is

recommended that the PES document, adapt and implement measures to this effect

Speaking of the quality of the products of the education system that register in our

agencies with qualifications far from the job market, it was recommended again during

the works that the PES goes further in their mission by actions upstream of the labour

market, by implementing a synergy of actions with the education system;

Due to the technological progress and the strong dependence of young people on

modern social networks, it is now imperative for all PES to become attached to this new

situation by digitalizing our procedures;

The inter-African migration phenomenon having taken a large proportion, the pooling of

information by the creation of a common information system will allow better

management of professional migration in Africa by the PES;

Professional migration being a phenomenon that cannot be stopped, PES must develop

strategies to adapt their service offer to this phenomenon;

To anticipate the needs of the labour market, PES will have to train and encourage

companies to practice forecasting of jobs and skills (GPEC).

V- THE CLOSING CEREMONY The closing ceremony was marked by four highlights: Reading of the general report of the work by the general rapporteur, Mr Benjamin KISSO,

Regional Director NEF for Littoral-Cameroun; The word of thanks of the Director General of the NEF, Honorary President of WAPES,

Mr Camille MOUTE à BIDIAS; The word of appreciation of the Executive Secretary of WAPES, Ms Eve Marie

MOSSERAY; The closing speech of the Yaoundé conference by the President of AAPES, Mr IBRAHIM

AG NOCK. Annexs:

- Speeches (5) - Presentations by the experts (15) - List of participants

Done in Yaoundé, on 19 September 2019