The TUC signs two new agreements with trade union organisations in Africa

The TUC signs two new funding agreements with trade union organisations in Africa

With the aim of reducing poverty and increasing the rights of workers through greater support for and the strengthened capacity of trade unions on the African continent the TUC has signed two new funding agreements with two trade union organisations in Africa: the ITUC-Africa and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

a) Partner: ITUC Africa

Who is ITUC Africa? The ITUC Africa is the Africa regional office of the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC). The ITUC-Africa represents 16 million workers organised in 88 national trade union centers in 46 African countries. It's vision is to achieve a united, democratic and independent regional trade union organisation that works for the welfare of all African workers, in a world where everyone can realise their full potentials under conditions of freedom, equality and social justice. The TUC is supporting the ITUC Africa to undertake four initiatives all supporting strategic objective one of the TUC's PPA with DFID, during November 2009 - March 2011.

What initiatives are the TUC supporting?

1. Gender mainstreaming into policies, structures and activities of the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) and the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) will improve. The initiative will entail a range of activities to assist women within their national centres with information, skills and campaigns to enable improve gender equality and voice within the movement.

2. The development of structures and advocacy to ensure the implementation and respect for regulation of social protection in Tanzania (TUCTA), Malawi (MCTU) and Uganda (NOTU). This will enable the national centres to obtain necessary information, build or strengthen alliances with others in civil society and train, organise and implement campaign strategies for trade union leaders, particularly women in the informal economy, to advocate and lobby their Governments to improve their access to social protection.

3. Strengthen the capacity of two post-conflict country national centres in Guinea-Bisseau and Eritrea to organise workers in the formal and informal economies. The national centres will have an opportunity to develop strategic approaches to organising and will undertake organising campaigns.

4. Defending and promoting migrant workers and the rights of forced and trafficked labour in seven West African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Niger, Liberia and Togo. This initiative will enable the national centres of those countries to obtain information, skills and campaign for the rights of these vulnerable workers.

b) Partner: Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

Who are the ZCTU?

The ZCTU is an independent national trade union centre of Zimbabwe affiliated to the ITUC-Africa and the TUC and ZCTU have a close and long-standing relationship. The ZCTU's mission is to promote, advance and safeguard the economic, social and constitutional freedoms of workers by securing legal, political, democratic and good governance framework in Zimbabwe through strengthening its capacity and independence and those of its affiliates. It represents 36 affiliated trade unions with a combined total of 250,800 members.

What initiatives are the TUC supporting?

1. The ZCTU will launch a programme of political advocacy which will focus on the violation of worker rights and ensure that workers perspectives take centre stage in parliamentary and development and reconstruction processes as a conduit to democracy and the upholding of social values. This will be done through the formulation of ZCTU positions, communicating and caucusing on those positions to Parliament, Civil Society and Foreign Governments and regional institutions Southern Africa Development Community and African Union.

2. The ZCTU is to carry out activities to raise women's empowerment, rights awareness and civic education on labour and other relevant laws and the current constitution making process in Zimbabwe. A series of workshops training up to 800 women at national, regional and district grassroots levels will take place and these will also help to fill vacancy's at district level women's committees.