The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) says the existing investment agreements between government and foreign companies are hindering its ability to recruit more workers under the scheme.

NAPSA director general Stanely Phiri said certain sectors of the labour force, especially the mining sector, were not adequately covered in terms of pension schemes and security services due to the existing laws.

In an effort to attract more investment into the mining sector, the Zambian government signed investment agreements with foreign companies which exempt them from paying various taxes.

“It is true that some mines have been exempted from ensuring that their employees belong to NAPSA and making remittances to the authority. This is giving us challenges in terms of ensuring that all employees are covered by social security services,” said Phiri. “Some mining houses are giving the global economic crisis as an excuse for their continued exemption from remitting contributions to the authority.”

NAPSA is currently working on plans that will see workers in the informal sector join the scheme. The current system only accommodates workers in the formal sector.

Zambia is this year set to table before parliament a bill that would seek to regulate social work practitioners in the country.

"The bill would strengthen social workers through the registration of
a control body to ensure proper conduct," said community development
deputy minister Friday Malwa.

He bemoaned the non-availability of licensing and standard certification of social work practitioners in the country.

 “There is no way we can have a discipline that claims to be professional without having the relevant fundamentals such as a body of knowledge, code of ethics and a professional body. How can we as social workers in Zambia claim to be professionals when we do not have standards of certification as well as practice licenses?” Malwa asked.

He observed that social work demanded a legislation that governed and mandated the legal practice of social work in any given country, while underscoring the fact that social work was an important profession for the country.

Malwa noted: “It is sad that as social workers, we have left everything to chance and hence have made it possible for any person to practice social work at the expense of the well-being of vulnerable Zambians, and as such leaving them open to different types of vices. This is why we need a professional body for social workers to address this problem”.

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has said the recently increased 15 percent pump price for fuel has the potential to further deteriorate the living conditions of Zambians.

Miniva Chibuye, Coordinator of the Social Conditions programme explained, “This is because the high fuel cost will be passed on to consumers through increased transportation costs translating to an upward adjustment of the prices of goods and services.”

According to the recently released Living Conditions Monitoring Survey statistics, levels of poverty in the country had reduced. For example, the rate of extreme poverty had significantly declined from 44.5 percent in 1996 to 36.5 percent in 2006.

However, the statistics exclude the critical period of 2008 and 2009, marked by the fuel, food and economic crises. The fuel repercussions of the crises are yet to be felt, especially in developing countries.

“Some of the already-known human consequences of the crises worth highlighting include rising unemployment with long lasting effects on poverty, hunger and disease. With this alarming increase in global poverty coupled with human consequences, the government of Zambia cannot afford to be complacent following the recorded decrease in poverty as measured, “Chibuye said. “Without proper interventions, the progress made towards reducing poverty will stall with a possibility of reversing the trends.”

Basic Needs Basket

The JCTR Lusaka Basic Needs Basket (BNB) research recorded reductions in the cost of food in the months of June and October. Despite some recorded reductions in some months, nominal prices did not reduce to the level of December 2008. This trend was also observed in other towns such as Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone, Kasama, Solwezi, Kabwe, etc.

For the month of December 2009, the nominal cost of the food items in Lusaka was recorded at K822, 100 up by K60, 500 from the January 2009 figure of K761, 550. A major rise in the cost of food was recorded in December, when it rose by K14, 600 from the November cost K807, 500.

Once the cost of essential non-food items such as housing, electricity, water, etc are included, the cost becomes more unaffordable.

“Undeniably, the current and continuing rise in cost of living is reinforcing poverty in such a way that it will be difficult for the majority of the poor people of Zambia to come out of it, ” said Chibuye.

Some traditional practices in Zambia have contributed to the increase of gender-based violence which now affects nearly 50 percent of all women in the country, United States Deputy Chief of Missions Michael Koplovsky told MyWage Zambia in an interview.

Commenting on the recent launch of the national anti-gender-based- violence campaign themed “Abuse: Just Stop It”, aimed at making Zambia a gender violence-free society, Koplovsky said: “I know that tradition runs strong in Zambia …but gender-based violence is not ‘cultural’…it is criminal. Whether it happens in a battle zone, in a brothel, in a bar, or in a bedroom, it is a crime. Whether it is committed by a stranger or a spouse, by a big brother or a burglar, it is a crime. Whether the victim is a professor or a prostitute, it is a crime.”

He noted that when some speakers talked to men about gender-based violence, they often appealed to family bonds, stating that every woman is someone’s mother, sister, or daughter. “Would you want your daughter treated this way?” they ask. Treat every woman as you would want your mother, sister or daughter to be treated, is their message.

“But it misses the point. We must stop gender-based violence, not because women are the weaker sex, not because they are fragile and in need of our protection. Not because they are somehow less worthy. We must stop gender-based violence because it is wrong, plain wrong,” said Koplovsky.

As someone who has lived in Zambia for more than two years, he has seen the contributions made by women towards the country’s economy. Koplovsky said it was impossible for any country to reach exalted heights and achieve ambitious goals when half its population was beaten down.

“Zambian women are, indeed, caring mothers. They are also ministers - in the government and on the pulpit. They are ministers, farmers, traders. Zambian women are making new scientific discoveries, policing your borders, and running your largest banks. A Zambian woman represents Zambia as an ambassador to Washington. Zambian women strive just as hard as men, if not harder than men, to support their families and move this country forward,” Koplovsky said.

“ I have attended a few weddings here in Lusaka…loving couples who commit themselves to each other. But I am always disturbed by the speeches that are given, speeches imploring the husbands not to beat their wives, reminding them of the respect and love they feel for their new spouses so they will not mistreat the ‘missus’. Such speeches should not be necessary,” he said. “I am looking forward to the day when we can attend Zambian weddings and nobody will feel compelled to give such speeches, to even think there is a need for such speeches, because the days of gender-based violence will be history. The national campaign to end gender-based violence in Zambia is a great step towards realising that day.”

The campaign was launched in the capital Lusaka, by President Rupiah Banda on October 29, 2009. For the past two years, the US government has been running the Woman’s Justice and Empowerment Initiative, a programme through which they have trained the police and the judiciary in investigating and prosecuting gender-based crimes.

As the year 2009 comes to a close, the country is hopefully saying goodbye to the worldwide financial earthquake which has had a devastating effect on most Zambian workers.

The year will be remembered as one that saw workers aggressively fight for better conditions of service. Unfortunately, as is the trend in Zambia, employees often had to strike in order to get the attention of their employers.

In the public sector, teachers and nurses downed tools to press for salary increments and better conditions of service. Despite government’s plea for workers to return to work after it failed to meet their demands, the strike continued, completely paralysing the health and education services in the country.

The work-stoppage by the two ministries, which lasted for an entire month, ended when civil society organisations got involved and urged the two parties to reach an agreement. This was especially aimed at health workers, after pictures of a woman in labour who had been turned away from a hospital were circulated.

Although government failed to meet their demands fully, agreeing to a 15 percent salary increment instead of the 35 percent they were demanding, workers returned to work hoping to continue with negotiations.

Meanwhile, in the private sector, union leaders were trying to find a solution to job cuts which had rocked the mines. Eventually, job losses in the mines came to a halt after workers succumbed to suggestions from investors to either forgo their annual salary increments or risk further loss of jobs.

The precedence set by employees in the public sector encouraged other workers to take a stand and fight for better working conditions. There were countrywide work-stoppages at two of South Africa’s biggest supermarkets based in Zambia, Spar and Shoprite. Strikes were also recorded by small retail shops.

For the first time Shoprite workers were allowed to form a union and all the employees that were on contracts were employed on an official basis. Their demand, to be registered with the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA), was granted.

The year ended with workers rioting at the country’s biggest mine, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM). They were demanding an upward salary adjustment.

He said women suffered gender-based violence and were discriminated against in workplaces.

A recent ILO report on awareness about women workers and their rights in Zambia revealed that women were marginalised and unfairly treated in many sections of the labour market.

“Available data revealed that women are denied equal opportunities in pay, recruitment, promotion and career. Men are often considered first. On pay, globally, women are less paid than men and we would seek to have a definitive picture of pay structures in Zambia, “said Finnegan.

He said to address this disparity, the ILO had taken the initiative of actively promoting the rights of women and taking steps to advocate for and share as much information with women.

The ILO supports several programmes such as Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) which helps women workers, especially those who are vulnerable.

“The ILO has been dedicating resources to adopt, adapt and develop training materials to disseminate information on women workers rights,” said Finnegan.

Recently the ILO held a workshop for 19 women trade union activists under
the theme “Women Workers’ Rights.”

This means that employment and a career are of vital importance for many young Zambian women. Choosing the right job, knowing the opportunities and prospects within that sector, and finding out about workplace conditions are key to economic independence, and for being financially stable. 

Mywage Zambia has researched career prospects for young women in eight employment areas. You can find out about jobs in the Call Centre sector, Retail, and IT, read about Tourism/Travel Agency work, Secretarial Skills, being a Hotel Receptionist or Housekeeper, and about Bookkeeping.

If you want to know more about conditions in the workplace, take our Decent Work Check. And on a lighter note, make sure you get the perfect work-life balance by playing our Partner Check game!

A recent study by South Africa’s Gender Links (GL) has revealed that Zambian media houses are lacking in their commitment to providing maternity and paternity leave to workers.

GL is a Southern African Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) committed to ensuring that women and men in the region are able to participate equally in all aspects of public and private life.

According to the report titled “Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media”, although 78 percent of media houses in Zambia offer maternity leave, the number is still below the regional average of 81 percent.

And out of the regional average of 33 percent, only 22 percent organisations offered paternity leave.

Zambian media houses also faired poorly in the provision of child care facilities. None of the media houses in the sample offered child care services, compared to 15 percent in the regional sample. But 78 percent of media houses in Zambia (and 75 percent in the region) offer flexi-time.

 The study was based on research carried out in nine media houses, with a total of 416 employees.

Eight Southern African websites of the WageIndicator project, under the Mywage banner, were officially launched on Thursday 17 September, 2009. Simultaneously the Mywage website in South Africa got an upgraded salary check, making it much more attractive for visitors to check their wages. The target for Mywage in Southern Africa is to reach half a million visitors in one year's time.  Known as Mywage in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and Meusalario in Angola and Mocambique, the websites feature unique content about wages, working conditions, labour standards and other work-related topics. There is a strong gender emphasis in much of the content. Significantly, each site also hosts various web tools which provide information on occupation-specific wages, as well as checks relating to work/partner balance, minimum wages and the current economic crisis. “There is a definite need for this sort of information in my country. We look at what people want to know, in relation to the workplace, and we supply it,” says Sanday Chongo Kabange, Web Manager of Mywage Zambia. “We go out and speak to people, and we follow what is happening in the labour market.”