SADC for strong labour administration systems, improved people's prospects

MALAWI: SADC Ministers of Employment and Labour, as well as Social Partners, met to deliberate and make decisions to strengthen labour administration systems and improve people's prospects for decent work in the region.

Ministers of Employment and Labour and Social Partners from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met on March 30, 2022, at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe, Malawi, to deliberate and make decisions to strengthen the Region's labor administration systems and improve people's prospects for decent work.

Ministers and Social Partners from Angola, Botswana, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe attended the hybrid meeting hosted by the Government of the Republic of Malawi.

Delegates from the SADC Private Sector Forum (SPSF) and the Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC), as well as representatives from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration, also attended the meeting (IOM).

Honourable Nancy Tembo (MP), Malawi's Minister of Foreign Affairs and current Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, welcomed the tripartite delegations to Malawi in her Keynote address.

She emphasized that the meeting was being held under the theme of the 41st SADC Summit Meeting of "Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable Economic and Industrial Transformation," noting that the pandemic had severely impacted labor markets, with many jobs and businesses lost and many workers and employers killed.

She emphasized the importance of Member States continuing to respond to the pandemic by investing in economic stimulus packages, implementing pro-employment budgeting, expanding social protection coverage, and improving occupational safety and health, among other things.

Furthermore, she urged the SADC Employment and Labour Sector to develop strategies to deal with transformative changes in the world of work, such as those caused by climate change and demographic transitions.

Dr Thembinkosi Mhlongo, the SADC Secretariat's Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of Regional Integration, delivered remarks on behalf of the SADC Secretariat.

He praised SADC Member States for using their tripartite social dialogue mechanisms to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic at the national level. He stated that this approach was critical in ensuring broad-based participation, facilitating the implementation of informed and balanced measures, and promoting income security as well as safe and healthy working conditions.

Dr. Mhlongo informed the meeting that, despite the need to intensify responses, Member States were making significant progress in the area of employment and labor in SADC, including efforts to eradicate child labor.

He congratulated the Member States on the development of a new SADC Code of Conduct on Child Labour, which was expected to boost ongoing efforts.

Dr. Mhlongo emphasized that the Region's most pressing challenge remained rampant unemployment.

In this regard, he informed the meeting that the Secretariat was facilitating a series of engagements involving think tanks, the private sector, and young people in order to generate knowledge and build capacities for Member States to respond to the employment challenge adequately.

The Ministers and Social Partners reviewed progress reports on regional and national programs addressing child labor, social dialogue, labor market information systems, and labor migration, among other issues.

They also discussed global employment and labor issues of importance to SADC, such as the implementation of International Labour Standards, the work of the ILO's Governing Body, and preparations for the upcoming 5th Global Conference on Child Labor, which will be held in South Africa in May 2022.