11th WAPES World Congress is Held in Morocco

MoLSS Deputy Undersecretary, Mr. Mazhar Yıldırımhan, İŞKUR Director General, Mr. Cafer Uzunkaya and İŞKUR delegation participated in 11th World Congress of World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) held in Marrakesh, Morocco.

After a 3-year successful presidency period, Director General, Mr. Cafer Uzunkaya chaired last WAPES Management Board under the presidency of Turkey, which was held in April 17th. Main issues such as current situation of the Association, vision for future, financial issues, inspection and survey reports, acceptance of new members and preparations for General Assembly were dwelled on in the meeting which important decisions were taken.

Within the scope of WAPES General Assembly held in April 18th 2018 after the Management Board, Management Report was submitted to the member countries related to the activities of the Association under the presidency of Turkey during 2015-2018 period.

In consequence of the elections held in General Assembly, Moroccan Public Employment Service, ANAPEC was elected as president of the Association for the period of 2018-2021. The works of the General Assembly which established Management and Inspection bodies ended with the Painting Exhibition prepared for the 30th Anniversary of WAPES.

Workshop on Public Employment Services within the Scope of Sustainable Development and Digital Age

The opening speeches of the workshop themed as “Public Employment Services within the Scope of Sustainable Development and Digital Age”, held between 19-20 April as per 11th WAPES World Congress with the participation of the managers and experts of all member countries, were delivered by Director General of Moroccan Public Employment Service, Noureddine Benkhalil, Director General of the Cameroon’s National Employment Fund and Honorary President of WAPES, Camille Moute Bidias, Representative of Morocco’s Ministry of Labour, Amal Reghay, Director General of İŞKUR, Cafer Uzunkaya, and Deputy Undersecretary, Mazhar Yıldırımhan.

Within the scope of the opening speeches, Deputy Undersecretary Yıldırımhan expressed that the number of unemployed persons worldwide approached 200 million, the major part of the workers faced extreme poverty, youth unemployment had become a problem that should be overcome at a global level and persons not in employment or education lead to a significant loss in gross products of countries.

Mentioning that Turkey, in the face of all these changes, had successfully carried out a strong and stable process, Yıldırımhan stated that the integrated development approach was still maintained in many areas from education to health, economy to technology and security to working life. He also informed that the Turkish economy grew by 7.4 percent in 2017 and 1.5 million additional jobs were provided within this one-year period in Turkey.

Yıldırımhan drew attention to the fact that Turkey still holds its position in the world stage as a rising power and value despite factors such as the presence of 4 million refugees in our country, danger of terrorism along our borders, economic initiatives to wear Turkey out and failure of international actors to sufficiently fulfil their responsibilities in the face of such developments.

Director General Uzunkaya emphasized the necessity of mediation for focusing on future jobs by adapting to the requirements of digital age, supporting sustainable and decent jobs along with the changes brought by industry 4.0, harmonising labour supply and demand and matching unemployed persons with the jobs they would work most productively.

Director General mentioned that public employment agencies should keep up with technology development and diversify services and also have an effective role in providing educated labour force with required qualifications. Moreover, he stated that it would be an essential priority area to create better jobs for all in the new world of work.

Digital Literacy: A Basic Skill for Survival in Digital Age Session

İŞKUR moderated “Digital Literacy: A Basic Skill for Survival in Digital Age” session in the Workshop that addressed the issues of effects of digital technology on employment, increasing e-learning and employability, entrepreneurship in digital age, digital technology in delivery of public employment services and digital literacy.

Fruitful discussions were made and reported during this session in which the representatives of Google, Microsoft, World Bank and public employment agencies of various countries participated.

Aşkın Tören - Head of Department of Foreign Relations and Projects -, Emrullah Uludağ, Gizem Deniz Kayataş, Oğuzhan Küpeli, Uğur Tunç - Employment Experts -, and Mehmet Koca - Expert on Services for Workers Abroad - accompanied Mr. Yıldırımhan - Deputy Undersecretary - and Mr Uzunkaya - Director General - during the studies carried out on 17-20 April 2018.