Zambia initiates national consultations on Social Protection Bill

LUSAKA (ILO News) – The Zambian Ministry of Labour and Social Security conducted a ten-day long consultative workshop in Kabwe, Central Province to promote consensus building and harmonisation of views for the elaboration of the national social protection bill.

The ILO, in collaboration with UNICEF, provided financial and technical support to Zambia to facilitate the development of the National Social Protection Bill that provides a framework for a comprehensive social security system.

The workshop was attended by officials from line ministries and social security institutions. The meeting focused on examining implication of both the contributory and non-contributory aspects of the Bill on workers’ welfare. To this effect, a position paper was produced highlighting key interest areas on the draft Bill, including, envisaged institutional arrangements, benefit packages under the Social Health Insurance and inclusion of informal economy and maternity concerns.

The meeting resulted in improvement of the draft social protection bill initially submitted by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Labour and social security will lead further consultations to facilitate finalisation of the Draft Social Protection Bill.

Moreover, a half day consultative meeting was also held with the social partners prior to this workshop to gather their respective input on the draft bill. Representatives from Zambia Congress of Trade Unions, Federation of Free Trade Unions and Confederation of Trade Unions in Zambia attended the meeting on behalf of the three workers’ confederations.

Background information

The social protection system in Zambia is confronted with a number of challenges partly caused by the poor scheme design, outdated legal framework and the multitude of highly fragmented and under-funded programmes.

To address these challenges, the Government of the Republic of Zambia approved the National Social Protection Policy in 2014 and resolved to undertake comprehensive reforms, which include bringing contributory and non-contributory social protection programmes under one unique institutional framework to enhance coordination, avoid overlaps and improve cost-efficiency in administration and implementation.

The draft social protection bill covers a wide range of contingencies and is meant to provide Zambians protection across a mix of risks throughout the lifecycle through a combination of pension, occupational injury and disease, social health insurance and social assistance. It also provides for institutional arrangements and regulation of the social protection industry.

Contact: Luca Pellerano, Chief Technical Advisor, [email protected]