Sadc labour info system vital

creation, social security and labour migration among many others.
As such, the Southern African Development Committee Employment and Labour Desk envisages the creation of a Sadc Labour Market Information System (LMIS). The motivation to establish the Sadc LMIS hinges on the agenda for economic integration under the globalisation drive.
This was approved by the Integrated Committee of Ministers (ICM) in June 2007 and reiterated by the Sadc Ministers Responsible for Employment, Labour and social partners in Maseru in 2008.
The first phase of the design of the Sadc LMIS involves outlining requirements for the establishment of the prototype database. This includes the dissemination mechanism, and capacity building for the users before the proposed full-fledged Sadc LMIS is operational.
Calls have been abound lately on the need for the Sadc Secretariat to establish a LMIS that can meet the demand for labour market information from policy makers within Sadc member States, as well as allied users like NGOs and labour movements.
It is feasible to develop such an information system through the development of prototype database on approximate key labour market indicators obtained from the labour market nodes.
The motivation for setting up the LMIS in the Sadc Region is evident in that various stakeholders confirmed the need to have information on labour market dynamics in the region. This is so that they could be informed of the investment intentions, labour market policies regarding national education and training needs, labour migration, minimum wage legislative and regulatory reforms.
Also included is the creation of job opportunities, and sensitisation on the actions taken to modify the demand for labour. This will ultimately shape public policies and programmes in the Sadc Region.
The initiative would also complement earlier efforts by the International Labour Organisation that had set out to establish a regional LMIS in Southern Africa in the 1990s.
It should be affirmed that the Sadc LMIS is relevant because it will allow easier, faster, appropriate and efficient exchange of information amongst different units of the Secretariat, member States, developmental partners and key social partners.
This is in line with the Sadc knowledge management strategy, which is earmarked for implementation alongside Sadc ICT strategies from 2010 to 2015.
It is anticipated that when the full knowledge management strategy is implemented, all the different units of the Secretariat will have their own information system. The different sectors include those dealing with poverty, employment and labour, HIV and Aids, as well as orphans, among others.
These systems will be linked to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) framework, which is going to accord them seamless integration and enable easier retrieval and sharing of information resources.
Further, since the front-end of the Sadc LMIS will be web-based, this will allow regional focal points labour units to retrieve data from the system because of its highly dynamic characteristics.
In this regard, it is important to note that the ICT (technical) infrastructure is readily available at the Sadc Secretariat and within the region.
This means that the financial resources required for design and implementation of the Sadc LMIS will largely go into putting in place institutional frameworks, co-ordination mechanisms, and various capacity building programmes.
The phenomenon of globalisation places further emphasis on the importance of efficient labour market systems for nations to effectively compete in the international socio-economic value chains.
Over the years, it has often been stated and documented that the Sadc region, with a population of about 200 million and combined GDP of US$190 billion and an estimated growth rate of around six percent per annum, is one of the most promising developing regions in the world.
Thus, as Sadc devolves towards establishing a socio-economically integrated region, it becomes apparent that even current labour market information should be known. It should also be incorporated into developmental interventions and the overall institutional frameworks.
This entail that snapshot labour market information detailing the different labour dynamics should be available to different socio-economic stakeholders to inform policy and decision-making.
Having up to date information on the labour dynamics in the region will thus enable different social developmental partners to measure the social capital and productivity levels in Sadc.
At its meeting in June 2007, the ICM approved — among other priorities for employment and labour — the establishment of the LMIS for implementation during 2008 and 2009.
This was again reiterated by the Sadc Ministers of Employment and Labour, and Social Partners in Maseru in April, 2008 that there was need to explore mechanisms for the establishment of such a system.
Thus, with unimaginable unemployment levels and lack of productivity initiatives among Sadc citizens, LMIS may help analyse the challenges ahead.
It will inform policy makers on what labour related interventions should be made to enforce and monitor their implementation.
The absence of appropriate LMIS in the Sadc region could therefore hamper such effective and timely monitoring of the labour market as well as designing of appropriate labour and productivity policies.
The other driver for the establishment of the Sadc LMIS are the targets and programmes towards an integrated economic community using a Free Trade Area as the entry point which are currently in progress.
These included the targets for Customs Union by 2010, a Common Market by 2015 and Monetary Union by 2018.
In this context, it is important to affirm that the LMIS has been cited as one of the key priorities in the drive to attain such a regional economic integration agenda.
On the Free Trade Area and Customs Union, the major requirements are simplification and harmonisation of customs and immigration procedures.
This includes UNIVISA and VISA exemption system, common external tariffs, revenue collection harmonisation of policies, flow of information on trade facilitation, infrastructure and services.
The major requirements for a Common Market are infrastructure and services, freedom of movement of skilled workers and entrepreneurs as well as stimulation of regional investment.
The Common Market information systems and applications include LMIS investment data and knowledge base, infrastructure and service information systems including communications, energy, water and tourism.
Monetary Union requirements are stable, non-inflationary monetary policies and a common currency.
The information systems and applications for the Monetary Union are the financial market and information systems.