Delegates from 60 affiliated national trade union centres with 12.85 million members in 47 countries in Africa will take stock of what has been achieved in the past four years and adopt policies for the future. Congress, the supreme authority of the organization sets the policy, priorities and direction and elects the leadership for the next four years. ICFTU-AFRO is the most representative democratic trade union organization in the continent. It represents workers in all employment sectors.

The theme for the 14th Congress is “A trade union vision for Africa for development challenges, organisation and social justice”. It focuses on the serious problems Africa is facing in globalization of economies. It will provide an excellent opportunity for trade unions to discuss important issues including employment creation, poverty alleviation, workers rights, and gender equality in the workplace and in trade unions. It will also provide discourse on trade union work in combating HIV/AIDS at the workplace and meeting trade union organizational challenges.

It takes place at a very critical time when economies of most of African countries are deteriorating and threatening to leave a trail of devastating effects. Africa’s workers have been the most severe casualties of the economic and social crisis. Congress will present an important step toward examining new approaches to improving status of the working people in the continent.

Around 200 people will attend the congress. These include trade union leaders from all over Africa and representatives of major world organizations including African Unity, United Nations agencies (among them the International Labour Oranisation (ILO) the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, World Health Organisation), representatives of diplomatic missions, as well as representatives of major trade union organizations from Africa, Asia (including Japan), the Americas and Europe.

The congress will be preceded by three pre-Congress workshops viz: Towards Gender Equality in African Trade Unions: Fighting Gender Based Discrimination in Trade Unions and at the Workplace; Building Partnerships in Dealing with the Challenges Posed by HIV/AIDS at the Workplace: Make a Difference; Conflict Resolution; and Making NEPAD Work for African Workers - (High level trade union forum on Employment Creation, Poverty Reduction and Conflict Resolution)

ICFTU-AFRO is one of the three regional organizations of the International Confederation of Free trade Unions (ICFTU) whose motto is: Bread, Freedom and Peace; and seeks to fight for improvement of living standards of working people. It also fights against poverty, unemployment and all forms of discrimination and workers’ rights violations.