As the Economic and Social Council reported in 2007, global economic growth is increasingly failing to create the kinds of new and better jobs that can lead to a reduction in poverty. Despite high and sustained economic growth in many developing countries, unemployment is rising, a large proportion of the labour force is working below poverty level wages, and the majority of non-agricultural employment is situated in the informal economy.
Governments from across Africa have forcefully called for action to overcome these challenges. The African Union Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa (Ouagadougou, September 2004) overwhelmingly endorsed the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda with an emphasis on the creation of quality jobs. The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania supports this pan-African call for the integration of employment growth and improved quality of work, as reflected in its National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty 2005–2010 and its National Employment Policy of 2008.
As a response to this pan-African initiative, the present report documents the current status of working conditions in selected sectors in the United Republic of Tanzania, and draws attention to related policy gaps. The re¬port first outlines the framework of labour laws and other relevant policies that govern conditions of work on the mainland. It then examines actual working conditions in the informal economy and in the tourism sector in mainland Tanzania, with the aim of identifying the gaps between the aspirations that are embodied in the legal standards and the realities of working life. Finally, the report outlines a set of policy considerations that can be taken into account by government, the social partners and other interested parties. It concludes with a tripartite policy statement adopted by a national stakeholders’ workshop held to discuss the results of the ILO project on which this report is based.