Zimbabwe

• Capital: Harare
• Area: 390,580 km2
• Population: 11,34 million
• GDP per capita: US$ 2,400
• Languages: English, Shona and Sindebele
• Map of Zimbabwe

Economic situation

The government has abandoned compliance with the conditions of its stand-by loan agreement with the IMF, which has suspended further disbursements. After the 2002 presidential elections the government announced that it was dropping the IMF/World Bank-inspired structural adjustment policies. The privatisation of some state corporations has been announced. The social and political unrest in 2000 up to the 2002 presidential elections makes all predictions highly tentative.

Inflation reached 122.5% in June 2002 and is expected to gallop further. Real GDP growth contracted by 8.6% in 2001. Heavy domestic borrowing has continued. Zimbabwe's current economic crisis, including run-away inflation and foreign exchange shortages, will continue throughout 2002 as the government is forced to increase its borrowings to finance maize imports. Manufacturing and mining production have fallen. The agricultural sector has not been spared either: the chaotic agrarian reform as well as the 2001-2002 drought resulted in the sector performing badly.

The stock exchange and the financial sector have performed surprisingly well up to March 2002 despite the adverse economic climate. Foreign trade & payments: the government is in arrears of payments to foreign creditors. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Zimbabwean companies to secure foreign credit lines.

On the whole the relatively dual Zimbabwean economy has performed poorly during the last two years. This is partly due to a very unstable investment climate, an agrarian reform characterised by violence, poor weather (Zimbabwe was also negatively affected by the 1999 floods as well as the 2001/02 drought) and finally Zimbabwe's involvement in the civil war in Congo, which costs an estimated 1-2 million US$ per day.

Political and tripartism situation

Beginning in 1999, Zimbabwe has experienced a period of considerable political and economic upheaval. The year 1999 saw the formation of the current main political party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by the former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai.

A February 2000 national referendum rejected the government's proposed constitution. The parliamentary election was held in June 2000 and despite many reports of intimidation campaign by the ruling ZANU-PF party the elections were calm and peaceful. The main opposition party, MDC, captured 57 seats in the Parliament and ZANU-PF, the ruling party, captured 62 seats while the last elected seat went to an independent candidate.

The presidential election was held in March 2002. President Mugabe secured victory. The opposition and some international observers condemned the election, as they believed that it was not free and fair. The country was subsequently suspended from the Commonwealth for a year and the EU and US applied targeted sanctions against most ZANU-PF members. Concerned African leaders, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, are pushing for talks between the two main political parties to seek a solution to the political impasse.

Tripartism

In general the tripartite system in Zimbabwe has well establish structures, but both the unions and the employers stress that government do not respect decisions of the structures.

Social situation

Indicators of poverty are on the increase especially in the urban areas. The increased poverty is a result of higher unemployment rates, reduced real income and less government services. Altogether, this has led to a highly volatile situation, particularly in the urban areas, both among the relatively well-educated middle class and the poor. The government’s attempt to blame minorities has not been effective and there is genuine dissatisfaction with economic policies, corruption and the participation in the Democratic Republic of Congo war.

International Labour Standards:

Zimbabwe has ratified seven of the eight fundamental Conventions (29, 98, 100, 105, 111, 138 and 182). Through various tripartite activities over the last couple of years ILO/SAMAT has been creating public awareness of the Declaration and the importance of the ratification of ILO fundamental Conventions. ILO will seek to establish a constructive dialogue with the Parliament with special ratification and implementation of the core Convention no. 87

Some of the TC projects planned for 2002 include:

• Follow-up on work related to “Vana Vana!!,” a children’s play designed to raise awareness among parents and the community on child labour;
• Tripartite update course regarding the country’s constitutional obligations on labour standards and rights at work;
• Conduct an employment formulation mission and workshop to review the Zimbabwe Draft State of Employment Report; assist the government revise and formulate appropriate employment policies; and conduct studies on macro-economic policies that promote employment creation and poverty reduction.
• Conduct workshop on actualisation of decent work;
• Development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives in the export-oriented sector; develop and promote policies and programmes for introduction of entrepreneurship development and enterprise culture; formulation and implementation of policies and programmes that will promote employment creation in the informal sector; Development of SME business services; and extend Social Security Provisions to workers in the informal sector.
• Monitor implementation of the Jobs for Africa (JFA) Programme;
• Serve as representative on the UNDAF Thematic Group on Economy and Poverty Reduction;
• Development of project proposal to improve labour market information (LMI); and continue to input labour market indicators into the SamatData database;
• Conduct research on Zimbabwe for In-Focus Programme on Social and Economic Security;
• Implementation of a Social Security Provision for domestic workers;
• Review legislation on maternity coverage and extension of maternity benefits coverage;
• Promotion of international labour standards (ILS) and occupational safety and health (OSH);
• Creation of action programmes on OSH SAFEWORK;
• Initiate SAFEWORK programme;
• Conduct workshop on ILO Declarations;
• Conduct an evaluation workshop on the Occupation Health and Safety (OSH) Project;
• Conduct workshop on Trade Unions and child labour;
• Conduct workshop on “Training of Trainers in Workers’ Education”;v
• Propose gender mainstreaming strategy for SAMAT;
• Conduct a workshop to develop a policy and code of practice on HIV/AIDS in the workplace;
• Development of employment of policies to address HIV/AIDS in small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
• Implement ILO Personnel Policy on HIV/AIDS in SAMAT;assistance to be provided by SAMAT’s Focal Points on HIV/AIDS; and develop workers’ education manual on HIV/AIDS; and
• Conduct training seminars for local and national government officials on employment creation in the informal sector.