Background:

Eritrean official Eskain Menkerior explains Eritrea’s policy towards NGOs and Eritrea’s opposition to religious-sectarian political organisations. Another official from the Eritrean Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare explains the role of the ministry in reducing unemployment, maintaining minimum working conditions, increasing labour productivity and social security.

For more information, please refer to the tape Eritrean Officials on Social and Education Development Programmes and on the Eritrean-Ethiopian War: 

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/eritrean-officials-social-and-educatio...

Side A: 

An Eritrean official, Eskain Menkerior, lines out: food for work programmes were launched and later turned into cash for work programmes. For the last years, these programmes have proved being successful. There has been progress in food security. NGOs have been participating in these programmes, however, Eritrea imposes regulations on NGOs which he outlines. Some NGOs who previously left Eritrea returned in light of the current situation. He talks about the organised repatriation of ca. 25,000 Eritreans from camps in Sudan supported by the UNHCR and the Sudanese government. They were given cash, housing and agricultural tools. The repatriation programmes was launched in 1993. Economic resources of Eritrea are mining of minerals, fishery, agriculture. Tourism could be a potential income source but the infrastructure was still be in the process of setting up. Eritrea does not allow religious-sectarian political organisations. He sees the basic challenge in building up a political system that does not push people toward sectarianism. Equitable sharing of resources, justice, participation, and inclusion should be aimed at. He further speaks about: the political positions of different social and tribal groups in Ethiopia; the role of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF); chances of regional political and economic integration; and the political system of Ethiopia.

An unnamed official from the Eritrean Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare continues: the objectives of her ministry were: reducing and eliminating unemployment; protecting the safety and health of workers and employers and maintaining minimum working conditions; increasing labour productivity and helping in developing the country; creating and maintaining peaceful labour relations; facilitating the service of social security; creating mechanism for settling labour disputes; strengthening the family unit; empowering communities to cooperate; advocating for an increased social and health awareness in communities; enhancing disadvantaged people to become productive members of society; advocating for interventions that do not isolate vulnerable children, elder, disadvantaged, people with disabilities, etc; ensuring rights of these persons; implementing community-based rehabilitation programmes for these persons. In order to achieve these objectives, the ministry’s structure induces two big departments (social welfare; labour). She further provides a breakdown of the ministry’s structures and actions, and introduces the new labour law.

Side B: 

The official continues to give details on her ministry’s strategies and programmes to achieve objectives laid out in Side A. She also addresses the impact of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War on the programmes. One section inside her ministry surveys labour circumstances. She further elaborates on the relationship between communities and governors. During the Eritrean liberation struggle, the policy of self-reliance of individuals emerged, which was adopted by the government to encourage its citizens to care for themselves. Especially the dependence from foreign aid should be avoided.