2. Partners (in Denmark): Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) LO/FTF Council (Ulandssekretariatet)

Transcription

1 Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Green Growth Department File no.: Internal Grant Committee Meeting on 17 June 2015 Agenda Item no.: 1 1. Title: Social dialogue in East Africa 2. Partners (in Denmark): Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) LO/FTF Council (Ulandssekretariatet) 3. Grant amount: 12.0 million DKK 4. Duration: 5 year ( ) 5. Previous Grants: 3,6 million DKK (pilot) 6. Strategies and policy priorities: Strategy for Denmark s Development Cooperation The Right to a Better Life (2012) Danish Civil Society Policy (June 2014) 7. Danish National Budget account code: Desk officer: Laura Nielsen 9. Head of Department: Morten Elkjær 10. Summary: Following the launch of Better Labour Markets facility on 3 March 2015, Danish labour market actors, in collaboration with partners from developing countries, were invited to submit project proposals that could contribute to building stable, democratic and well-functioning labour markets through broad partnerships, tapping on profound Danish social dialogue experience. This project focuses on building consensus on bi- and tripartite social dialogue in the East African region, implemented by LO/FTF Council and DI in collaboration with two regional organisations in East Africa (EAEO and EATUC), six national employers organisations and six national labour centres. The objective of the project is to strengthen social dialogue mechanisms and institutional capacity of social partners in East Africa to advocate and raise awareness about free movement of labour and productivity. The project was selected as one of three proposals

2 2 assessed to best meet requirements and assessment criteria for the facility. Supporting this project is in line with priorities for Danish Development Cooperation and complements efforts within the Danish sector/country as well as regional programmes in East Africa. Objective and problem formulation: Better Labour Markets The overall objective of Better Labour Markets Facility is to contribute to inclusive growth and decent job creation in developing countries. The immediate objective is to support social dialogue interventions through broad, innovative partnerships between Danish and local labour market actors that contribute to building stable, democratic and well-functioning labour markets. The facility was launched on 3 March As part of the Danish Government s political priorities for development assistance in 2015, a total sum of DKK 20 million was reserved to foster social dialogue efforts in addition to existing social dialogue interventions and funding modalities part of Danish country programmes or supported through multilateral organisations. Social dialogue in East Africa A cross cutting problem in the East African Community (EAC) is that despite having the needed legal framework for tripartite social dialogue, the reality in the individual countries is that dialogue is limited and very often ineffective. This is due to weak enforcement mechanisms, fragile and even dormant social dialogue institutions and overloaded dispute resolution mechanisms. All of which contribute to complicated and often confrontational labour relations at the expense of enterprise productivity, economic gains and decent jobs. Whereas a range of tripartite mechanisms has collapsed or is at the verge hereof, the social partners have in recent years, forced by circumstances, built stronger bipartite relations. This has enabled the social partners in East Africa to lobby government politicians and decision makers on issues of common concern. As a result, social partners are increasingly considered institutional and important players in the labour market. A key instrumental factor leading to the above was the innovative decision taken in 2013 by 12 of the most representative and independent employers and trade unions in East Africa to join forces for the first time in history. After having approached the DI and LO/FTF Council, the East African social partners decided to synchronize their lobby and advocacy work to remove barriers to free movement of labour. With the collective voice of more than 2.5 mill workers, 8,600 companies and over 100 employer associations, the pilot project led to a change of mindset having showcased that it is possible to get the attention of decision makers when the two social partners got together to harmonize and coordinate their labour market advocacy. It is against this background that social partners in the EAC wish to use the momentum to strengthen their innovative collaboration to intensify future bi- and tripartite social dialogue through a longer-term project with DI and LO/FTF Council supported by Danida.

3 3 The main challenge in recent years has been the slow implementation of the Common Market Protocol (CMP) in general, and the CMP provisions on free movement of labour in particular. Other challenges that remain to be addressed include: EAC does not have any powers to put pressure on partner states to implement joint decisions Social partners have historically not been heard in the regional EAC policy-making process Low public awareness of free movement of labour within EAC Lack of portability of social security benefits and uncoordinated social security systems On the national markets, unclarity of social partners roles, rights and obligations or they suffer from being under-budgeted or under-staffed. The basis for this project s Theory of Change (ToC) is the concept of changing the character of social dialogue practices and consultations in East Africa from being dispute driven to consensus-seeking social dialogue that ultimately will contribute to more stable, sustainable and well-functioning labour markets in East Africa. Overall, it is assumed that the five EAC countries will continue to pursue a regional economic integration agenda with priority to free movement of labour. Resource efficiency The project partners have developed a project that includes a total in-kind contribution of almost DKK 4 mill. All partners will moreover seek to integrate the project in other relevant activities and through this increase impact. This project supplements the ILO Decent Work programmes in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, and builds on the partnerships established through the DI partnership programmes as well as the LO/FTF Council framework programme in East Africa. The organizational capacity and internal structures of the individual partners are strengthened through these programmes. However, the programmes have not focused nor accommodated a bi-partite approach. The partners are fully aware of avoiding overlaps or double-funding when starting this project, and Danish embassies in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have confirmed that planned activities will be complementary and could strengthen synergies with on-going and planned initiatives within sector/country programmes. Challenges and underlying reflections The two Danish partners possess the advantage of having profound experience with collaborating with partners in the East African region, and most recently through the pilot project bridged interest and experienced potential for fostering change through social dialogue. Nonetheless, partners recognize that the project s ToC is based on the following key assumptions: Through the pilot project , the continued trust established between social partners in East Africa and Denmark will allow for an effective dialogue and transfer of experiences between partners (careful facilitation is required to uphold this assumption);

4 4 The positive experiences from the pilot project will function as sufficient incentive for the East African social partners to agree on joint activities targeting specific changes within the labour market in each of the countries as well as within the EAC; A sustained political will amongst social partners in East Africa and strengthened institutional capacity will capacitate the social partners to effectively lobby regional institutions, national governments, as well as to develop constructive social dialogue within selected sectors and/or workplaces; If inter-regional trade, investments and economic benefits from labour and skills development within the EAC is to be boosted, a key element will be for the EAC institutions to facilitate a more well-functioning labour market within the EAC, and to stimulate an interest among national policy makers and EAC institutions (e.g. Council of Ministers) to build a shared ownership to changes with labour market organisations in alliance with other stakeholders. In general, embassies confirm that dialogue and formation of consensus will take time and the reality on the grounds needs to be acknowledged. This also confirms the relevance of continued support to a change process initiated during the pilot project. Overall objectives The development objective (by 2025) is that social dialogue in the EAC region has been improved with more focus on decent work, consensus and constructive agreements and effective dispute handling. Immediate objectives: The immediate objectives (by 2018) are two-fold: 1. Strengthened institutional capacity of social partners in East Africa to advocate and raise awareness about free movement of labour and productivity. 2. Bi-partite social dialogue mechanisms have been strengthened to improve decent working conditions and productivity in private industries Corresponding indicators at outcome and output level specified in the project document support these objectives. The expected main results are as follows: - Regional Forum on social dialogue has been established and is well-functioning to promote social dialogue and policy framework at EAC (eg. social security); - Alliances with relevant key stakeholders have been initiated to raise public awareness about the importance of sound industrial relations bi-partite leaders and negotiators are competent in the principles behind social dialogue at national, sectorial and workplace levels (international good practices and lessons learned provided), - Nine bipartite sectorial committees have been established to facilitate joint agreements in industrial sectors and workplaces. Project description

5 5 The project will focus on three intervention areas with five corresponding groups of activities (regional forum and roundtables, training of social partners, production of MoUs and codes of good conduct, lobby and advocacy and project monitoring/active roles to ensure progress): Area 1: Strengthened institutional capacity of social partners towards EAC - Includes alliance building by East African Employers Organisation (EAEO) an East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) with key regional stakeholders to intensify the pressure on EAC Councils and Forums, reach out to civil society as well as qualifying the consultations with the EAC secretariat. Area 2: Bi-partite lobby on national policy and socio-economic development - Includes efforts to strengthen the influence and recognition of social partners contributing to national priorities related to the labour market as well as democratic and socioeconomic development, EAC agendas (through the national CMP implementation committees), and other national priorities. Area 3: Improve industrial relations through bi-partite social dialogue - Includes efforts to strengthen and deepen the cooperative relations and open a possibility for direct bi-partite initiatives within the labour market itself. In this project, the direct beneficiaries are 15,000 elected employers and trade union leaders and representatives, staff, trainers, paralegals, shop stewards, corporate managers and activists. At the regional level, it adds up to more than 300 elected leaders, other representatives and staff from employer and labour organisations. The intended beneficiaries are at least 2.5 million organized workers and management staff in 8,600 companies/business entities and over 100 associations in the five countries. Capacity building and training of regional and national partners in social dialogue will take place through technical assistance and value-addition from transfer of Danish and international experiences by DI, LO/FTF Council, Danish Metal/CO-Industry and other social dialogue experts. Monitoring and evaluation LO/FTF Council is the lead organisation responsible for the administration of the funds and yearly reporting and a completion report according to rules detailed in the administrative guidelines Administrative retningslinjer for puljer og faciliteter under den strategiske platform for innovative partnerskaber (marts 2015). LO/FTF Council and DI will allocate an internal team for review and evaluation. A Steering Committee consisting of representatives from the four principal partners will focus on delivering the stated project objectives. Previous results The overall objective of the pilot project between DI and LO/FTF Council in collaboration with social partners in East Africa (Sept June 2015) is that social partners in East Africa

6 6 contribute to the free movement of labour in the EAC and thereby increase regional integration and economic growth trends. Progress in bi-partite collaboration between social partners has been achieved, and EAC social partners have taken up the agenda on free movement of labour. Lessons learned in the process have been carried over into the configuration of this project. The pilit project was funded as part of a larger commitment of 160 million DKK in 2011 to enhance regional economic integration in East Africa. Special considerations and priorities Better Labour Markets supports innovative and broad partnerships within the theme of fostering social dialogue, with reference to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition: [ ] all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. Based on the Danish experience, social dialogue is considered an important element in the development of a sustainable, peaceful society building respect for human rights and conflict resolution. This project proposal complies with international standards and declarations, particularly UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ILO Conventions and the Decent Work Agenda. It is well-noted that partners refers to UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and emphasizes how tripartite partners must engage in social dialogue and meet their human labour rights obligations in a non-discriminatory and equal manner. This project also aim at contributing to the green growth and environment agenda by support to an environmentally sustainable growth strategy in the East African region, and will actively promote social dialogue as a tool to improve the working environment through the use of clean(er) technologies. In accordance with gender targets, at least 30% of participants are women in the supported activities. Budget The budget is DKK 11.9 million covering activities such as five regional dialogue forums, 18 national bi-partite workshops on collective bargaining, 36 bipartite sectorial training sessions etc. Consultancy specified by activity accounts for approximately DKK 3.5 mill. to the Danish partners. Wages to local project managers in EAEO and EATUC accounts for DKK 1 mill. The funding will be made in instalments (cf. administrative guidelines): 1) First rate upon approval 2) Once a year upon request from the lead organisation, provided that the organisation has spent minimum 70% of the former payment.

7 7 The applicants adhere to the general Danida rule of not allocating more than 7 % of total funding for administration and max. overhead for activity based consultancy. Significant risks and mitigation measures The partners have prepared a risk assessment (Annex 10 in project document), and identified various risks of which none are considered major. The main contextual risk is that the EAC implementation process and regional social dialogue are slowed further down due to political resistance in some countries in the region. The programmatic risk is that political or civil instability caused by terror related to the situation in countries surrounding EAC limits the attention to labour market issues, and may spill-over in restrictions to democratic representation through trade unions (e.g. Burundi). Government may also introduce adversarial policies that impede bi-partite social dialogue. The institutional risk is misuse, corruption and fraud by participating Danish and East African partners, and/or lack of local political will in working together with Danish social partners. Mitigative measures will be discussed in the steering committee, project management team and with partners throughout the implementation period.

8 8 Annex 1 - Partners: The LO/FTF Council (lead organization) The LO/FTF Council is the Danish Trade Union Council for International Development Cooperation with the overall objective to support a sustainable and democratic development of the labour market in collaboration with its partner organisations as well as with employers' and government institutions in the countries where the programmes are being implemented. The LO/FTF Council is part of the Danish union network (LO, FTF and CO-Industry) providing knowledge and information to the trade unions' interventions to eradicate poverty, improve working and living conditions of workers worldwide as well as to promote social dialogue. As a secretariat under the LO and FTF, the comparative advantages of the LO/FTF Council rest with its linkages to the Danish trade union movement and its more than 1.3 mill. members in particular the two confederations LO and FTF and their affiliated unions who all exercise bi/tripartite social dialogue on a daily basis in Denmark. LO/FTF Council has continuously been in various programme collaboration with regional, national and sectorial partners in East Africa (EAC region) since Currently, the LO/FTF Council under its framework agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is implementing a four-year programme ( ) "Decent work and Labour Market Integration in Africa with an East Africa component. Through contact to the international umbrella organisations such as the International Trade Union Council (ITUC), employers' organisations and partner organisations, the LO/FTF Council has established a good understanding of the labour market situation and the economic and social challenges in developing countries. The LO/FTF Council has several years of experience in the co-operation with the ILO, and both the LO and FTF participates in the annual ILO Conference. The core competences of the LO/FTF Council are to support capacity building, advocacy and strengthening social dialogue mechanisms locally as well as nationally through trade union, employers and government representatives. The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) DI is the largest business and employers' association in Denmark. It is active within a range of different fields stretching from policy advocacy - at local, national, and international level membership services - information, advisory services, and consulting network relations - between members and with society at large. A core service and the very raison d etre of DI lies within the field of industrial relations where it is a dominant player building on more than 100 years experience. With the aim of improving the business environment in the least developing countries and emerging markets, DI has for the past 16 years assisted sister organizations in these markets build their capacity through various donor financed projects. DI has so far supported Business

9 9 Membership Organizations (BMOs) in more than 21 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to upgrade their capacity. The main focus of DI working with its sister organisations is to upgrade their capacity to advocate correctly and fairly in the interest of their members without supporting single companies interest. A growing concern among the sister organisations members have increasingly shifted the focus of DIs capacity building to focus on CSR, social dialogue and industrial relations. Key hereto have been the economic development experienced and increasing demands from international buyers. The experience from these two areas is today integrated in BMO projects widely and is also the center of attention for specific projects. This has led to projects in the MENA region, East and West Africa where DI are helping BMOs understand the premises of shaping public and corporate perception of the role and responsibilities of companies in society and helping them change from a confrontational to a consensus seeking policy in their industrial relations. DI has solid experience with Danida-funded projects incl. with social dialogue and workers' rights projects e.g. the current project "Partnership for Inclusive Growth and Job Creation" in the MENA region ( ), and the recent pilot on fostering social dialogue in EAC, both in collaboration with LO/FTF Council based on a collaboration agreement entered in East African Employers Organisation (EAEO) The regional umbrella organisation EAEO founded in 2012 represents the six employer organisations with a (potential) outreach to more than 8,600 companies/business entities and over 100 associations and chambers affiliated to national employers organisations. EAEO is a relatively young organization gradually building up its links to its member associations. East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) The regional apex confederation EATUC (2003) represents more than 2.5 million workers organized in trade union affiliated to six national centers12 and is a well-established subregional organization that enjoys a formal observer status at the EAC. In recent years, EATUC has had the mandate to effectively lobby for the integration of decent work agenda in the regional integration process. Over the years, position papers and inputs have been submitted to EAC with success on the social dimension of the regional integration. The social partners in East Africa are the legitimate and institutional players in the labour markets. They are the most representative employer and labour organisations from each of the five EAC countries Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Uganda, and Rwanda. As democratic and member-based organisations, they have been elected to represent their constituents resp. employers interests to enhance competitiveness of its corporate members and workers needs for decent labour rights and work (regular democratic congress and elections are laid down in constitutions and statutes). As national tripartite parties, they deal with labour markets and broader political and socioeconomic national development agendas through tripartite legal frameworks (as per labour laws) while negotiating collective agreements in most sectors (through affiliated unions) as well as for individual companies on behalf of individual members. EATUC and EAEO are regional apex organisations mandated by national trade union centres

10 10 and national employer organisations respectively to coordinate their positions for policy advocacy towards EAC to eliminate differentiated work permit fee charges and to speed up implementation of the common market protocol in EAC thereby securing exchange of evidence-based information and experiences and ensuring coordinated and collective actions and voices vis-à-vis EAC. Annex 2 - Background facts: N/A Annex 3 - Indicators: A detailed table illustrating indicators at outcome and output level to obtain the objectives is attached. Annex 4 - List of relevant supplementary material: N/A