Ministry of Labour and Social Security under Productivity Development Department is undertaking a Joint project on Decent Work programme for the transformation of the informal economy in partnership with African Union (AU) and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Project has successfully completed a three (3) days capacity building workshops for the Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) in all the Provincial towns.
Speaking after a three (3) workshop in Mansa, a project Co-ordinator at the Ministry of Labour, Yvonne Kanenga disclosed that the Ministry of Labour has embarked on training MSMEs in the informal sector equipping them with good community practices that will make their business grow.
Ms. Kanenga said the project is designed as a three tire method aimed at firstly coming up with digital solutions for the informal economy workers to ensure inclusivity in the digital market, linking the informal workers to the labour market information system and further adding that it will help to produce communities of best practice where productivity, occupational safety and health and social security will be mainstreamed.
She highlighted that the ministry has been undertaking capacity building projects for MSMEs for the purpose of promoting best practices in the communities across the 10 Provinces of Zambia.
Ms.Kanenga revealed that the project has so far drawn 20 MSMEs from each province thereby making the number of these MSMEs 200 from across the country who have far been trained on the mainstreaming productivity, occupational safety and health and social security in their businesses.
She revealed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security deployed officers across the country with support from Alliance for Zambian Informal Economy Workers Association (AZIEWA) and Zambia Micro and Small Traders Corporative Limited who have been mobilising their members to attend these important three (3) days training workshops facilitated by staff from Ministry of Labour and National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) as a way of disseminating information to the general public on the extension of social security coverage to the informal sector.
“The meetings were successfully held with all participants gaining necessary information and knowledge on how they can improve their businesses, keep their environment safe and also prepare for future eventualities such as old age and invalidity”. She said.
Ms. Kanenga highlighted that the main outcome of these workshops coming out from participants across the country is the resolution by the participants to team up and form cooperatives as a way of taking advantage of the opportunities pronounced by the New Dawn Government of supporting MSMEs by the introduction of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise.
