For his first visit to Africa as Secretary General of the BWI, Ambet Yuson chooses the region of the Congo Basin and specifically the DR Congo to meet workers in forestry and wood from five Central African countries gathered from 14th to 16th May 2012 in Kinshasa.
It was during a training meeting organized under the French Belgian project on the use of FLEGT and forest certification as tools of trade unions to demand better working conditions and life.
Ambet Yuson targeting workers to declare that "the Congo Basin forests of great interest to BWI because it represent a great opportunity for jobs for millions of workers but also played an important role in as carbon sinks in the fight against climate change. "
Faced with numerous challenges, the Secretary-General believes that the forestry and woodworkers have no more options other than to massively organize in the unions to bring a strong response to current concerns.
"I will return to the region to see a great initiative of workers in organizing, and share their success and congratulate each time a union will demonstrate its capabilities in such an initiative," concludes Ambet Yuson.
In reminder, the Congo Basin forests, with some 220 million hectares of tropical forests are the world's second largest area of tropical forest after the Amazon and the most abundant biodiversity of Africa home: nearly 10 000 plant species, 400 species of mammals and 1000 species of birds. The Congo Basin through six Central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon and Guinea and is a vital source of energy and food for its 80 million inhabitants.