Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Workers Compensation Fund Control Board and the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) to improve social protection for workers and their families in the construction industry.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Lusaka today, Workers’ Compensation Fund Control Board Commissioner Elizabeth Nkumbula says the partnership will result in resolving the long standing concern on the need to provide coverage to employees in the informal sector.
Ms Nkumbula says employees in the informal construction sector are most prone to industrial accidents and injuries and are also vulnerable to disease contracted as a consequence of their employment.
Ms Nkumbula states that employees are not covered by social security entitling them to compensation in event of injury or contracting diseases during the course of their employment.
She says the interventions will result in the extension of coverage to more than five hundred workers in the building construction sector employed by Micro Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs), and ultimately improve the quality of jobs and productivity.
Speaking at the same event, Zambia Green Jobs Programme Chief Technical Advisor Tapera Muzira, who was representing ILO Director Martin Clemensson, says it is expected that the partnership with key social security institutions will contribute to improvement of the quality of jobs for 2000 employees in the construction sector.
Mr. Muzira says increasing workers access to social protection services will contribute to improved productivity that will ultimately lead to enterprise growth and job creation.
The Zambia Green Job Programme, with financial assistance from the government of Finland and Technical Assistance from United Nations in Zambia, is a private sector development programme aimed at promoting sustainable enterprises and creating more and better jobs in the construction sector while at the same time protecting people and preserving the quality of the environment.