The recent launch of the Decent Work Programme in Zimbabwe by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a welcome development particularly as it relates to the achievement of specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe.

The protracted economic crisis of the past decade had dampened prospects for meaningful progress in the realisation of the MDGs. Importantly; the economic crisis had spawned serious inequalities in income distribution in the country resulting in a high gini co-efficient for Zimbabwe. Consequently, poverty had become entrenched against a backdrop of reduced social spending from the fiscus. The deindustrialisation that accompanied this economic crisis meant that many workers were retrenched and joined the swelling ranks of the unemployed. Many people were driven into the informal economy to make ends meet. Now we all know that the informal economy is essentially ‘uncaptured’, to borrow Goran Hyden’s term in ‘The uncaptured peasantry’, and is characterised by practices that do not conform to national standards. On the other hand, the protracted political crisis resulted in a polarised environment which made social dialogue impossible. In fact, there was such marked mistrust between government and business on one hand, and labour on the other. Attempts at forging a tangible social contract, the essence of tripartism, were in vain.

These conditions make the ILO Decent Work Initiative particularly relevant to Zimbabwe in these times of transition and national healing as dictated by the Global Political Agreement. It is without doubt that post-independent Zimbabwe, relative to its peers in Sub-Saharan Africa, had made significant strides in reforming its labour laws. The country is signatory to most ILO Conventions. However, the events of the past few years had put a damper on such notable successes requiring that the country refocuses itself on this trailblazing agenda.

The Decent Work Country Programme provides the necessary platform for such a course of action.According to the ILO website, the organization’s primary goal today is ‘to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity’.

This overarching philosophy is buttressed by four strategic objectives: the promotion of rights at work; employment; social protection; and social dialogue. On the other hand, the United Nations Millennium Summit of September 2000 came up with eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education; Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women; Goal 4: Reduce child mortality; Goal 5: Improve maternal health; Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability. It is thus clear from the foregoing that the ILO Decent Work programme seeks to compliment focused government actions aimed at achieving goals 1 and 3. There is general consensus that there is a nexus between success in goal 3 and the attainment of goals 4, 5 and 6.

The Decent Work initiative is predicated on tripartism whereby government, business and organised labour are required to initiate policies and programmatic interventions aimed at achieving decent work. The cornerstone of decent work is the creation of robust socio-economic policies which guarantee basic security and employment whilst taking into account the dynamics of the external environment. Here, there is general acknowledgement that globalisation has spawned a number of opportunities and threats for various national economies.One of the key aspects of the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme is the reformation of the country’s labour policies to make them more responsive to regional and international trends. This is critical in attracting foreign direct investment and also ensuring meaningful employment creation for citizens of this country.

Looked at from this context, one of the key roles of the inclusive government within the framework of the decent work initiative would be to craft sound economic and industrial policies. On its part, business would be expected to create jobs. The current business environment in which foreign products are flooding the local markets is antithetical to the decent work initiative. This makes the argument for increased capacity utilisation in our industries all the more plausible. As far as labour is concerned, there are several initiatives that it can take within the framework of the Decent Work Initiative but there are significant hurdles going forward. For once, trade unions need to acknowledge the reality that they have lost a significant portion of their power base to the informal economy. This therefore calls for a paradigmatic shift in terms of their focus. Trade Unions would need to continue advocating for ‘a living wage’ but they also need to advocate for other issues such as unemployment benefits and the provision of training to those in the informal economy so that they can be ‘captured’ in the formal economy.

A key role of organised labour within the framework of STERP would be to foster social dialogue through workplace democracy.In conclusion, it is thus clear from the foregoing that the Decent Work Initiative requires tripartism to succeed. It is also clear that developing countries cannot expect to eradicate poverty without emphasis on the importance of decent work insofar as it links with the MDGs.