1 May 2008
Ndola — EMPLOYMENT and labour issues are at the core of the economy as they affect the operations of virtually all facets of Zambia's economy.
It is for this reason that the Government, at the highest level, has priotised job creation as a key component in Zambia's march towards becoming a middle income by 2030, said Labour and Social Security Minister, Ronald Mukuma.
"Zambia needs job creation, and the Government is determined to ensure that these jobs are essentially decent; providing rights at work, social protection and social dialogue," said Mr Mukuma in his foreword in the "Decent Work Country Programme" DWCP document for Zambia developed by the Government in conjunction with the United Nations International Labour Organisation, ILO, Lusaka Office.
The Government's commitment to the above cause is exemplified by the inclusion of a chapter on employment and labour in the Vision 2030 which outlines the national long term development goals and aspirations.
The vision will be operationalised through the implementation of five National Development Plans beginning with the Fifth National
Development plan covering the period 2006 to 2010 and includes among its aspirations ~decent work opportunities that ensure respect for fundamental human rights and principles.
Since 1991, the Zambian economy has faced many challenges despite an unwavering commitment to economic reform by successive governments, notes the ILO, one of Government's major cooperating partners, in its analysis of the Zambian economic situation vis-a-vis employment and labour.
Employment creation remains a high priority for the Zambian Government as reflected in the theme for the Fifth National Development Plan, FNDP: Achieving broad based wealth and job creation through technological advancement and citizenry participation," the ILO notes.
About 325,000 people from various institutions of learning and other backgrounds enter the labour market every year entailing that the economy should generate about 400,000 jobs annually to absorb the number of people in need of jobs.
Although commendable progress has been made and continues to be achieved at stabilising macro-economic fundamentals, Zambia's social and economic indicators reveal that much work remains to be done with approximately 67 per cent of Zambians living below the poverty line.
Zambia's gross domestic product (GDP) has been averaging 4.5 per cent annually but this has not translated into a commensurate increase in the number of jobs.
The ILO observes that Zambia's poverty situation has been worsened by HIV/AIDS whose prevalence rate is estimated at 16 per cent of the population between the ages 15 and 49 years with young women more infected and affected than their male counterparts.
As this age group is the most productive segment of the population, the impact of HIV/AIDS at workplace and on the economy as a whole is devastating, leading to the worsening of the poverty situation.
The ILO notes that although Zambia has ratified the major Conventions promoting the fundamental principles and rights at work, significant numbers of workers do not benefit from the protection and entitlements that the Conventions and their related recommendations offer as approximately 80 per cent of the workers are in the informal sector.
The majority of these workers are women who are often exposed to personal, financial, economic and social risks and other vulnerabilities culminating from their need to find employment and generate income.
Given the characteristics of the informal economy, the enforcement of laws protecting workers' rights, occupational health and safety and other core labour issues has proved difficult.
This has left many people in work environments, which little or no regard for workers' rights and poor health and safety conditions.
But even in formal employment, a large number of workers remains unaware of rights and are unprotected from potential injustices or victimisation at work.
The issues relating to child labour, particularly in its worst forms and the rights of children in general is another area requiring attention and action by the Government.
Child labour is widespread, particularly in the informal economy in both rural and urban areas.
In 1999, the number of working children was estimated at 600,000 but new estimates from studies conducted as part of the 2006 labour force survey show that the figure for child labour is almost 900,000 confirming that a large number of children below the minimum age for employment, work to supplement family income.
The situation has been compounded by the ravages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has rendered many children orphaned hence vulnerable to child labour.
As the Zambian labour market has an excessive supply of labour, some employers have taken advantage of the situation by not providing employees with the conditions of service that are stipulated by law.
There has been an increasing trend towards casualisation, a situation in which the employer-employee relationships are unclear, unspecified and ambiguous much to the disadvantage of the worker.
It is observed that the structure of the Zambian labour market and the large number of jobs in the informal economy has left the majority of workers without basic forms of social protection as the institutional social protection arrangements provide coverage only to workers in formal employment.
Women, youths and persons with disabilities, in particular, have ended up in the poverty trap.
In addressing the above issues and concerns and in recognition of the importance of employment creation as an effective and sustainable solution to the country crusade against poverty and underdevelopment, the Government through the ministry of Labour and Social security has put in place pro-employment policies and programmes aimed at reversing the declining trends in the labour market in particular and the national economy in general.
Within the context of the economic transformation process, the Government is fully alive to the importance of labour as a factor of production whose management cannot be left to chance.
Labour indeed is the oil around which all developmental efforts run and the Government is determined to facilitate the removal of any legal or institutional impediments in order to develop a conducive environment for harmonious industrial and labour relations and improve productivity.
In this regard, the Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has developed the National Employment and Labour Market Policy (NELMP) to provide guidance and direction in the provision of a labour market management mechanism that will be able to respond effectively and efficiently to the demands of a liberalised economy.
The ministry in collaboration with its stakeholders has produced a comprehensive policy and draft law on social security which was discussed and a work plan agreed upon during a symposium held at Mulungushi International Conference some time in 2007.
This is testimony of the Government's commitment to liberalise the labour market and allow a combination of market forces and the Government intervention to play an active role in creating an enabling environment that would induce economic growth and improved living standards of the people of Zambia.
The overriding objective of the NELMP is to create adequate and quality jobs under conditions that ensure adequate income, protection of workersâ+™ and basic human rights.
The policy also articulates the role of social partners such as workers organisations and other stakeholders in the implementation process and means and ways of financing the process.
The Government acknowledges that the formal economy has been shrinking as the principal source of employment meaning that the informal sector has since become the main source of livelihood for most Zambians.
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Duncan Kakulekelo Mushala has been married for thirty years and has had 6 children. He has put his wife in so much emotional turmoil that she has slipped in and out of major depression. He has vowed to make her life miserable because he is the bread winner and can pretty much do anything. She has especially suffered over the last decade from mental, emotional, and physical abuse that Duncan Mushala has inflicted on her. Duncan Mushala was married to a widow from the Lusaka Airport area - secretly - and preyed on her. He started working for TAVETA and… [Read Full Text]