VZF holds successful stakeholder event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Vision Zero Fund (VZF) held an event in Addis Ababa to raise awareness of the Fund and inform the development of the VZF country project.

The Vision Zero Fund (VZF)  recently held a successful stakeholder event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The main aims of the event were to raise awareness of the Vision Zero Fund, and to engage stakeholders in a dialogue to identify potential areas for VZF support in Ethiopia.

The event, which took place on 14 July 2017, and attracted more than 100 international and local participants, was opened by Mr George Okutho, Director of the ILO Country Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, H.E. Mr. Abdulfetah Abdulahi Hassen, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Ms. Yasmin Fahimi, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and Mr. Ockert Dupper, Global Programme Manager of the VZF. It was co-sponsored by the Ethiopian Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the ILO, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the US Department of Labour and the European Union.

During the various panel discussions, which included participants from the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) and the Ethiopian Employers’ Federation (EEF), it became apparent that there is close convergence between the goals of the VZF, the priorities identified in Ethiopia’s Second Growth and Transformation Plan, and the main pillars of the Ethiopian National Occupational Safety and Health Policy and Strategy. It was encouraging to hear the tripartite constituents acknowledge that investment in OSH hold distinct benefits for workers, employers and society as a whole, and express their full support for a VZF-led project in the country.

As a follow-up to the discussions, VZF will engage in an additional mission to present the main elements of a proposed VZF project to the tripartite constituents for validation and endorsement. It is expected that a VZF project in Ethiopia will commence in late 2017 or early 2018.