By Own Correspondent

THE Tripartite Negotiation Forum (TNF) has approved a five year long Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) which is poised towards employment creation, strengthening labour and social protection among other benefits.

The DWCP for Zimbabwe covering 2022 – 2026, was signed recently in the resort town of Victoria Falls by the tripartite partners.

Professor Paul Mavima represented the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare; Demos Mbauya, the President of the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ) and Florence Taruvinga, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), respectively. 

International Labour Office was its Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwom.

“This country programme will focus on employment promotion, social dialogue, international labour standards and strengthening of social and labour protection, - which are the building blocks for promoting decent work and social justice,” a communiqué on the DWCP said.

Samuel-Olonjuwom acknowledged that the document was aligned to the Abidjan Declaration, the Zimbabwe United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, 2022-2026, and constituent’s priorities.

She pointed out that the world is currently facing multiple, interrelated and compounding crises: a devastating COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the world of work and economies; wars and civil strife, which in turn has led to food and energy inflation; the repercussions of climate change; sharp rises in the cost of living and unprecedented levels of global debt.

“These phenomena are threatening to reverse the progress made in the global fight against poverty, as well as widen the already unacceptable levels of inequalities across and within countries - and to hamper the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” she said.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the ILO boss said significant gaps exist in the quality and quantity of employment, especially for young people and women; many children are still in child labour, migrants encounter difficult situations, many face violence and harassment in the world of work and work in poverty and in unsafe conditions in the informal and rural economies.

“The importance of social dialogue and hoped that the DWCP would help contribute to getting ‘Zimbabwe Working’ and achieving decent work and social justice,” she added.