Promoting Workers Rights and Gender Equality at Work in Africa

Project background

The project has two main components:

• Component 1: aims to provide trade unions with adequate knowledge, capacities, and practical tools to engage and participate actively in the International Labour Standards system and its supervisory mechanism and support them in implementing tailored campaigns to promote the ratification of relevant international labour standards. The expected outcome (Outcome 1) is that workers’ organisations advocate for national ratification and application of ILS and use the ILO supervisory mechanisms to ensure compliance.
• Component 2: aims to provide ILO constituents with capacities and tools to develop and implement measures to enhance gender equality at work such as model workplace policies and tools with focus on care policies and services in the garment sector in Ethiopia and violence and harassment at work in workspaces in agriculture in Malawi. The expected outcome (Outcome 2) is that tripartite constituents and sector-level affiliate organizations implement measures to enhance gender equality in targeted sectors.

The delivery time framework of the project is twelve 12 months, January-December 2023. Component 1 is being led by ACTRAV while Component 2 is led by GEDI. This is a collaboration between ACTRAV and GEDI under the ‘one ILO approach’. The delivery time framework of the project is January-December 2023.

Areas of work

Under Component 1, there are three main activities:

1. Regional training in collaboration with Turin Centre. Here, the project will organize and deliver a regional training in collaboration with the ILO-ITC, focusing on knowledge, tools and skills needed to enable the active participation of workers organizations in the ILO ILS supervisory.
2. Regional training in collaboration with Turin Centre. Here, the project will organize and deliver a regional training to trade unionists, including women and young trade union leaders, and leaders to be, to empower them to engage with and influence the policy making agenda both internally in the labor movement and at the national level in programs, campaigns, and decision-making processes.
3. Support ratification campaigns of six national centres in Africa: i.e., Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi Tanzania, and Uganda. this activity is planned to be led by field specialists in liaison with the ACTRAV HQ. It involves outreach to national centres to determine priority ILS on which to undertake ratification campaigns, supporting the development and implementation ratification campaign on identified ILS. This is scheduled for the period June- December 2023, following the first regional training that cover tools and skills needed to enable the active participation of workers organizations in the ILO ILS supervisory.

Under Component 2, the planned activities are as follows:

1. Equality@Work initiatives designed and piloted at workplaces in target sectors in Ethiopia:
2. Strengthening capacity of workers’ and employers’ organisations to support the implementation and upscaling of Equality@Work initiatives at workplaces in target sectors in Ethiopia and Malawi.
3. Targeted government officials have the knowledge & tools necessary to contribute to an enabling environment for the implementation of gender equality measures:

Expected results

• Workers’ organisations have the knowledge & tools to claim workers’ rights through the ILO supervisory mechanism.
• Ratification campaigns in selected countries linked to national priorities and building on ongoing ILO support implemented jointly with trade unions.
• Young trade unionists have the knowledge & tools to promote maternity protection and childcare solutions and to fight violence and harassment in the world of work.
• Equality@Work initiatives designed and piloted at workplaces in target sectors.
• Strengthened capacity of workers’ and employers’ organisations to support the implementation and upscaling of Equality@Work initiatives at workplaces in target sectors.
• Targeted government officials have the knowledge & tools necessary to contribute to an enabling environment for the implementation of gender equality measures.

Regions and countries

The geographical focus of the project is Africa, with selected country - level interventions in six countries: Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana