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Reclaiming Public Services for Dignity at AFRECON 2025

Reclaiming Public Services for Dignity at AFRECON 2025

From 12 to 14 November, PSI held its 14th Africa & Arab Countries Regional Conference (AFRECON) in Accra, Ghana.
 
The Conference gathered hundreds of public sector workers’ unions from various African and Arab countries.
 
The objectives of the conference were to:
  1. Elaborate on a rights-based framework for "quality public service" rooted in dignity, equity, and intersectionality.  
  2. Share strategies to counter austerity, privatisation, and exclusion in service delivery.  
  3. Strengthen solidarity among unions, civil society, and governments to resist corporate capture of public services.
  4. Highlight the importance of organising to build power to fight back and secure a life of dignity through quality public services.
  5. Emphasise the need to mobilise all groups within the union spectrum.
  6. Develop policy demands, engage policy spaces at national, regional, and global levels, and strategies to influence them.
 
The conference was preceded by workshops from 9 to 11 November, and our Programme Officer for Africa, Aya Douabou, led an interactive session on tax justice during the Young Workers' Caucus workshop held on 10 November. Her presentation consisted of breaking down the concept of tax and highlighting its importance for financing public services, which are necessary for the realisation of human rights and for youth to thrive. She called for a greater involvement of young workers in the tax justice movement. She equally commended the timely nature of this session as the negotiations of the UN Tax Convention in Nairobi began on that day. She further raised awareness of this historic process, which presents an opportunity for all stakeholders, including young workers, to contribute to shaping fairer global tax rules aimed at boosting developing countries’ domestic resource mobilisation.
 
On 12 November, AFRECON 2025 officially commenced, with the presence of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana. He emphasised that public servants play a central role in a nation’s prosperity. Following the opening ceremony, the panel “Reclaiming Public Services for Dignity” took place. Sitting on the panel, our Programme Officer for Africa discussed the findings of our latest report, 'Ghana Prioritising People in Fiscal Policy'. She highlighted the impact of debt and austerity on the financing and delivery of public services, including the negative effects on public sector workers. She urged unions to put the fight for economic justice at the heart of their work.
 
During the conference, PSI’s Regional Secretary for Africa and Arab Countries, Daniel Oberko, presented the 2020-2025 regional report. Following this, resolutions, as well as the programme of action for 2026-2030, were adopted by the unions.

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