The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called on governments to reverse the slow-down in employment growth and make up for the jobs lost.

ILO, which made the call at the G20 summit of Labour Ministers currently underway in Paris, France, said it was essential to give priority to decent work and invest in the real economy.

The call comes on the eve of the Labour conference that will be hosted by South Africa with ‘Empowering Africa’s Peoples with Decent Work’ as the theme.

The conference, to be held from October 11-14 at the Sandton Convention Centre will among other things look at the strides made since the 11th African Regional meeting held in Addis Ababa which set targets for the Decent Work Agenda in Africa and to set out future priority actions for the region to achieve the same.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant who will be hosting the meeting said the conference is important for the country and the continent in general.

“The theme of this conference fits in with our mandate as a department which enjoins us to create a labour market that is conducive to Investment, Economic Growth, Employment Creation and Decent work,” she said.

Speaking at the G20 meeting in Paris yesterday, Oliphant said the South African government is committed to creating decent work opportunities.

In that regard, the department of Labour has set sectoral determinations for vulnerable workers like the farmworkers and domestic workers to set out minimum wages.

She also added that some interventions like the Department of Rural Development of training youths and giving them a stipend was part of the strategy to address unemployment.

According to the ILO and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, at current employment growth rates of 1%, it won’t be possible to recover the estimated 20 million jobs lost in the G20 since the crisis began in 2008.