ILO and WAEMU deepen regional push on youth jobs ahead of 2026–2030 programme

The International Labour Organization and the West African Economic and Monetary Union have reaffirmed their commitment to expanding cooperation on youth employment, following high-level talks held on 3 February 2026 at the WAEMU Commission headquarters in Ouagadougou.

The discussions centred on a joint ILO–WAEMU programme on youth employment for the period 2026 to 2030, which is currently under development. The initiative is intended to promote sustainable access to decent and productive work for young women and men aged 15 to 35 across WAEMU member states.

The ILO delegation was received by the President of the WAEMU Commission, Abdoulaye Diop, alongside Union Commissioners. Leading the ILO team was Coffi Dominique Agossou, Deputy Regional Director of the ILO Regional Office for Africa. He was joined by Ndeye Coumba Diop, Director of the ILO Country Office for Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo, as well as Jonas Bausch, Youth Employment Specialist, and Karim Toumi, Skills and Employability Specialist.

The proposed programme is structured around several complementary areas. These include stimulating demand for jobs, improving the productivity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening the employability of young people, enhancing job quality and reinforcing labour market governance at regional and national levels.

Presenting the vision behind the initiative, Mr Agossou said the programme reflects a shared ambition to address persistent youth employment challenges through a coordinated regional approach that brings together political leadership, technical expertise and international labour standards.

Ms Diop emphasised the programme’s practical focus, noting that it aims to deliver concrete outcomes for young people, particularly young women. She highlighted the importance of strengthening links between skills development, productive investment and access to decent employment, in line with WAEMU’s national and regional priorities.

President Abdoulaye Diop welcomed the continued collaboration with the ILO and reaffirmed the Union’s commitment to implementing the joint programme. Technical teams from both institutions will now continue work to finalise the programme document and prepare for its official launch.

For West Africa, where youth make up a significant share of the population, the stakes are high. Regional initiatives such as this reflect growing recognition that employment challenges cannot be solved by countries acting alone. As African economies continue to evolve, sustained investment in skills, enterprise and decent work will remain central to ensuring that the continent’s young people are not left behind, but are instead positioned as drivers of inclusive growth and long-term stability.