Uganda: Labour Law Reform (UGA/99/003)

Desk Officer:

The Uganda Labour Law reform project, funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), commenced on 1 January 2000.

The primary objective of the project is the overhauling of the legal framework in the field of employment to make it compatible with ongoing socio-economic reforms, whilst promoting ratification of ILO Conventions, and giving effect to the principles and rights concerning freedom of association and collective bargaining, non-discrimination and the elimination of forced labour and the elimination of child labour.

The development objective of the project is to achieve a coordinated labour law reform process and to update labour legislation in Uganda that will foster amicable labour relations within a legal framework that is consistent with basic human rights as enshrined in the 1995 Constitution.

The following are the immediate objectives:

• to ensure that development is promoted in a way that is consistent with basic human rights;
• to facilitate private sector development by establishing a sound, balanced framework for collective labour relations, and the individual employment relationship;
• to promote democratic participation of the social partners in governance, by involving them in the process of labour law reform and gaining their support for the proposals;
• to render labour laws more accessible to the social partners and to men and women (including those living with HIV/AIDS) workers covered by them.