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My story as a young entrepreneur in Zambia

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mutobaBy Mutoba Ngoma, founder and CEO of Tapera Bio Industries Limited. Mutoba received entrepreneurship training as part of the SIDA-funded, ILO Youth Employment Project in Zambia and shares his story. 

As the sun comes up over Lusaka, a city I share with 2 million others, business is well under way and has been since 3 a.m. The trucks carrying produce from the farms around the city are the first to arrive in the early hours before I wake.

As soon as I do, I am up and out, looking for new contacts and investments to help support and grow my bio-fuel company. Such is the life of a young entrepreneur in this town. Every day is a new opportunity to meet the challenges of keeping a small business alive.

I’m 28 but first started my business in 2006 when I was 21, after being inspired by a TV documentary on renewable energy in Brazil. I put the project on hold for a while to work as an aircraft technician at Zambian Airways Limited. However, they went out of business and I came back to the bio-fuel idea. My alternatives were few, as formal, decent employment opportunities are hard to come by in my country. In fact, a vast majority of young workers are in the informal economy.

I convinced my father to partner with me in the bio-fuel business and initially it was a success. We had seven employees, who were paid a decent salary, above the minimum wage. But this is a new industry in Zambia and it’s hard to compete with the big companies selling fossil fuels. It’s also difficult to find the raw materials we need. At first, we collected waste cooking oil from restaurants to recycle into bio diesel and natural soap but this is now in short supply. Waste oil is often sold instead to low income households, for people to re-use at home, which is a real health hazard.

I am waiting for the local authorities to implement a ban on the irresponsible disposal of used cooking oil, by authorizing registered businesses like mine to properly dispose of it through renewable energy, which would be a service to the community, as well as a help to my business. Without the raw materials and because of tough competition from the big producers, I have had to cut back my staff to two and produce only soap with the vegetable oil I collect myself.

Many of my friends are in a similar position but we try to help each other and are constantly looking for new investment opportunities. Some friends grow tree seedlings on their land to sell to the government for the national re-forestation programme; another one refurbishes car brake pads. I have also partnered with a friend in a mushroom growing and production business.

There is a real entrepreneurial spirit here but it is often in the informal sector and based on small trading which doesn’t always add value to the local economy. Sometimes the challenges may seem insurmountable but I always try to push forward and keep gaining skills and experience.

The training I have completed has been a great help to me in terms of developing entrepreneurial skills and understanding how to run a successful enterprise. It has also provided ideas on developing contacts and building partnerships to access funding to help grow my business.

Education and training are important but opportunity is a bigger factor. I have been lucky enough to have had good support and advice but an enabling environment needs to be created at the country level for all young people. With the right support, young people themselves can help tackle the youth employment crisis. We have the ideas and the motivation. We just need the opportunity and support.

My plan and ambition is to buy land on which to grow my own castor beans for oil and so produce bio-fuels, create jobs for other young people and help the Zambian economy. This is my story as a young entrepreneur in Zambia but I believe many other young people from Africa and from around the world have a similar story to tell.

More news from the ILO:

The ILO is also working with the Zambian Government and worker and employer organizations to improve policies for youth employment and develop a youth employment national plan of action.

An African Youth Panel meeting of experts on youth employment will take place in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia from 22-24 May 2013.

For more information visit: http://www.ilo.org/addisababa/what-we-do/events-and-meetings/WCMS_213504/lang–en/index.htm?ssSourceSiteId=global

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Impressions of Kathmandu: A determined youth

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YP_0513By Yves Perardel, ILO Statistician for the Youth employment program

There has been a return to peace in Nepal, after over a decade of civil conflict. The ILO’s Yves Perardel travelled to Kathmandu in preparation for a survey of young people and their experience of leaving school to enter the world of work. Taking his camera to the streets, he sees a city in transition, young people here, he says, have hope for growth and stability.

Hope is worth much more than money

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N-B-5808

By Beate Andrees

Head of the ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour

When my plane landed in Cuiabá, the Southern Gate to the Brazilian Amazon, the heat almost took my breath away. My first stop was a major construction site where a new stadium is being built for the 2014 World Cup. During the following hours I learned about a fascinating initiative to prevent modern forms of slavery. The idea of the project is simple but effective: workers who have been rescued from what is called “slave labour” in Brazil, or who are at risk of falling prey to exploitative labour practices, are offered a six-month vocational training course. Once they’ve completed the course, most of them are hired by companies under decent conditions of employment. The company building the stadium for the World cup is one of them.

Unscrupulous employers, who have been prosecuted for using “slave labour”, have to pay heavy fines for moral damages. These fines and a unique partnership with local business, including construction companies, cotton producers, and agricultural farms are the financial and economic backbone of the project. But of course this is not enough. Vital to its success is a strong public system and a strong commitment from those involved in the project, including the dynamic superintendent of the Ministry of Labour who started the project four years ago, a non-corruptible labour prosecutor who truly believes in what he does, and vocational trainers of the highest quality.

I talked to two workers who are now employed by the construction company. Both cut sugarcane before they were rescued by the labour inspectors, enrolled in the training programme and were re-employed. When I asked them about the difference between their previous and current job, they just shook their heads and struggled to find the right words: “It’s all different,” they said. “You can’t compare the two jobs. Now, we receive a regular wage and work regular hours.”

What makes people stay in jobs that don’t pay enough to live and to work under humiliating and degrading conditions? When the ILO adopted its first Convention against forced labour in 1930, slavery had already been abolished but people were still trafficked or forced to work under different systems of servitude, bondage or institutions similar to slavery. Today, coercion is more subtle but it is not less effective. Poverty and the hope to find a better life elsewhere make people easy prey to deception and abuse. Workers who don’t know their rights can be threatened and intimidated, their debts are being manipulated and wages not paid. One worker told me: “Workers, who have been in slave labour, have nothing to lose.” But many of them have nothing to gain either if they denounce their exploiters. This is precisely why the initiative in Brazil can make such a big difference. It offers a real and viable alternative.

According to the ILO’s most recent count, there are almost 21 million women, men and children in forced labour. This represents about three in every 1,000 of today’s population and every single case has a devastating impact on an individual’s life. The vast majority of these cases are never identified and victims never receive justice. Women and girls are disproportionately affected.

Despite these staggering figures, dramatic changes have occurred within more than a decade. Brazil’s government was one of the first countries to publicly denounce slave labour in 1995. In 2000, the UN Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, entered into force, which led to sweeping legal changes in many countries. In 2011, for example, EU member States adopted new legislation that guarantees greater rights for trafficked victims – an issue that had been contested in previous years.

Last year, the Government of Myanmar, which had been sanctioned and isolated internationally for its use of forced labour, signed an agreement with the ILO to stop all forms of forced labour by 2015. Also in 2012, US President Obama called for stronger measures to abolish “modern forms of slavery”, a speech that was echoed by Australia’s Prime Minister last month. In the Middle East, some governments are now publicly discussing alternatives to the “kafala system”, which ties migrant workers to their “sponsors” and accords disproportionate power to employers.

Clearly, we have reached a new momentum in the global struggle against slavery. Pressure to change public policies is mounting. Such pressure was crucial when the British Parliament passed the bill that abolished the transatlantic slave trade more than 200 years ago, and it is equally important today. But it is not enough to call for an end of these intolerable forms of exploitation; we also need to think of how to do it.

Our understanding of the dimensions and structural causes of forced labour is still weak. We also know very little about the long-term impact of anti-forced labour initiatives. ILO research, grounded in practical experiences from countries around the world, can make the difference.

When I returned from Brazil, I couldn’t stop thinking that what had happened in Cuiabá should be possible elsewhere too. It’s important to share the lessons learned from these initiatives and to remind governments of their obligation to invest in the long-term prevention of forced labour. With the right strategy in place, preventing the problem is much more cost-effective than addressing its consequences. And the hope this brings to workers like the ones I met in Cuiabá is worth much more than money.

Puntland, between a road and a hard place

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PAUL

By Paul Crook, ILO Chief Technical Advisor in Somalia.

To the outside world, the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland is largely known – if at all – for its pirates. But it has a lot more than that to offer.

Demands from leaders to deliver are high; rightly so. The ILO evidently has a key role to play in the region: every conversation turns to jobs and how to use whatever natural resources there may be in the barren landscape. There is a high probability of gas, if not oil, either inland or offshore.

I recently chaired a meeting in Garowe – the capital of Puntland – of the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralised Service Delivery, JPLG. This programme supports good governance and effective management in district councils with complementary work on decentralisation and administrative strengthening at other levels. It is increasing public investment in basic services and strengthening civic awareness and, as a result, participation in local decision-making and development.

After the meeting we walk along a road the ILO is helping the municipality upgrade in Garowe. People are effusive in their praise, saying improving the road raises the quality of life and opens up opportunities for more business. There are already a few extra workshops, more investment in setting up retail outlets and a tea shop. A common trend when such upgrades are done is for those with road frontage to convert a room into a small “duka” (shop). But what next when everyone has a shop of their own? So we are now also trying to help people become more competitive.

A car carrying khat – a plant chewed by many Somalis for its stimulant effect – zooms past at breakneck speed. With better roads comes the need for social responsibility toward driving.

Whilst in Garowe, I chair a second steering committee meeting on a project in Galkayo – a town split between rival claims by would-be states in their own right or as part of the emergent Federal Somalia. It is also a place where pirates and criminals spend their money, taking advantage of the trade which flows through the town.

There is a feeling that much division and manipulation is going on. The contention could be made that we, in the international community mirror this. We need to constantly coordinate, yet there is competition for resources all meant to be supporting Puntland. The Minister of Environment reflects on this point. There are funds flowing in to address environmental issues; degradation is destroying the very basis for the pastoral subsistence economy. But we are not creating new work as the pastoralist world evolves. The Minister of Labour once again presses me to seek further support. We agree we need more and, with all colleagues in the Puntland Government, agree the ILO will be integral to uplifting the Puntland Development Plan and making sure the international partners have an opportunity to invest in delivery to Puntland’s people.

My day finishes with a dinner with the Minister of Livestock. I ask him why his ministry has not been fully involved in the work in Galkayo so far. He explains how he and several colleagues feel they are bypassed by the international community. We talk on these issues and we agree on a way forward which holds people accountable for delivery. The Minister sums up by saying, “Thank you for the open discussion, we appreciate how you and the ILO team are working and want to see more of this.”

We all reflect on the massive needs and the divisions that go against so much of Somali society. Here, more than anywhere else I have worked, you can, or rather must, engage in forthright debate. There may be disagreements but there is always an openness to work toward delivery whenever the greater good is served.

Our Puntland Government colleagues thank the ILO Team for delivering and being open to talk through issues we still have to address. We will make it work, is the parting sentiment from the Minister of Environment. But we need more technical support, is the rejoinder from the Minister of Labour. How can any of us disagree with a positive, work-related, intent?

What happens in a classroom doesn’t stay in the classroom

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Patricia O'Donovan By Patricia O’ Donovan, Director, International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin

“When I went back to work, I gathered together officials from many Ministries, joined three working parties on law-making, helped draft a Maritime Labour Act and got promoted. Now I hope that the legislation I have worked on will finally be presented to Parliament with high-quality legal back-up and, most importantly, will conform to international labour standards.”

These words are from Suruswadee Jaimsuwan, Legal Officer at the Ministry of Labour of Thailand, recently promoted to assist the Deputy Director of her department. She was one of around 4,500 participants who come every year to the Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO), located in Turin, Italy.

in addition, around 160 students come every year to complete a Masters or Postgraduate programme. Through these programmes, the Turin School of Development enables the Turin Centre to contribute to the preparation of future experts and leaders dealing with the economic and social challenges of the 21st century.

I have been managing the ILO’s Training Centre in Turin for the past two years and I have met project officers, ministers, entrepreneurs, parliamentarians, researchers, lawyers, activists, trade unionists and employees from all continents with diverse backgrounds, ages and work lives.

They all come here to learn and exchange experiences and – hopefully – they all go back with tools, resources, knowledge and ideas which will enable them to leave a footprint on, play a part in, or simply get things moving in their field.

Ultimately, some will set up local economic development projects, while others will assist in drafting national labour policies and legislation or get involved in organizing global campaigns promoting labour rights, safer workplaces or sustainable investments.

Trickling knowledge down… and up

I often ask myself: “we train these women and men to make a difference outside the classroom – but do we also make a difference out there?”

For most of our students, their time at the Turin campus is their first, and sometimes only, contact with the ILO.  I see this as a great opportunity to broaden the knowledge and understanding of the role of the ILO beyond our traditional target groups of labour ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations.

Meeting and discussing with the participants about their work and life experiences, as well as their hopes for the future, present a unique channel to understanding how the policies and tools of the ILO can be improved and made more relevant to the working lives of men and women from so many different countries and backgrounds.

Learning, training and knowledge-sharing is not just for the classroom – it is meant to be at the heart of everything we do.

The ILO goes to Hollywood

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Iselin Danbolt

Iselin Danbolt

By Iselin Danbolt, Brand Management and Marketing Officer, Department of Communication and Public Information

 

 

 

 

With trepidation I stepped on a plane to Hollywood to meet with – let’s face it – some of the world’s most famous workers in their natural habitat.  We live in a world where we are infinitely fascinated by celebrities. Who wears what, who has had cosmetic surgery and who’s dating who are questions you will often find people discussing. I can’t judge, as I am also one of them.

And although I would love to share more details in response to the questions above, I was more interested in finding out about what the industry thought about the ILO.

Of course, the ILO has worked with artists in the past on campaigns to eradicate child labour, end slavery and promote social justice. This time, the focus was on the green economy and how to promote green jobs for the next generation. We were in Hollywood because the publication Vanity Fair had chosen to honour the ILO and its Green Jobs Programme through one of its pre-Oscar parties.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What surprised me was the level of interest in the topic of green jobs for young women and men, and, perhaps more importantly, passion for the ILO’s work, at large. This commitment also rang true for the impressive machineries behind these individuals. Now, there is no doubt that for many, doing charitable work is one way of enhancing one’s brand.  But for most, or should I say for those we met, this was not the case.

I must admit, it was refreshing (not to mention reassuring) to be in a room filled with what the industry calls “the talent”: composers, directors, producers, photographers, musicians and actors— most of whom could identify one or more areas of the ILO’s work they particularly cared for.

Although some asked if they could donate to the organization, most just wanted to use their creativity and talent, to spread the word about our work, which is the purpose of our ArtWorks Programme.

ArtWorks aims to bring together the ILO and artists committed to promoting fundamental rights in the world of work. One composer (who shall remain nameless of course), said that he was tired of creating music for movies he could not care less about and wanted to use his skills and creativity to make a difference. Good for him, I say.

The morning after the night before, I read an article which described the event and its aftermath as follows: “If there’s anything Hollywood likes almost as much as Oscars week, it’s a new cause”. Of course for the ILO, there’s nothing “new” about the notion of sustainable, green and decent jobs. But I can’t but feel that more and more are starting to catch on.

 

Photos from the event: Vanity Fair And The Fiat Brand Celebration Of “Una Notte Verde”

“Freedom is first”, in the movies and in real life

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Nada Al-Nashif

Nada Al-Nashif

By Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant Director-General & ILO Regional Director for Arab States

 

 

I used to think I was pretty good at keeping my personal and professional lives apart – no “work” conversations at dinner parties, only action movies to disengage, no watching the news late at night.

Events in the Arab world have kept us on our toes these past two years and many lines have been crossed. This last week has confirmed that no such distinction is possible. First, I was privileged to have dinner with Clare Short, here in Beirut, at the beginning of the week.  A former UK Secretary of State for International Development, she was touring Palestinian refugee camps and meeting officials as part of a European delegation assessing the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis.  Her passion about refugee rights, her determination to tackle prejudices and myths, and her deep belief in the inevitability of justice, were incredibly inspiring.

The next day, I watched the Oscar-nominated movie “Lincoln”. Historians are quibbling about the details of this Hollywood version of the events leading to the passing of the 13th amendment of the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery, but it’s a powerful story. It contrasts President Lincoln’s unwavering commitment to a nation free of slaves, with the tactics needed to secure the vote. It’s particularly relevant now as the Arab states struggle to define a long-term vision for their societies, even as they respond to demands for social justice and freedom, re-assess economic and social constructs and re-define cultural, even ideological, norms.

It all came together a couple of days later – the official launch of our ILO-UNDP Report “Rethinking Economic Development: Towards Productive and Inclusive Arab Societies”. This was the culmination of a collective UN effort which we have led over the past year, to capture the root causes behind the failure of decades of unequal, unjust and ultimately unsustainable growth.

The Report confirms that political and economic reforms must go hand-in-hand and that the quality of growth is as important as the quantity. Transparency and accountability, it says, are core benchmarks and there is no substitute for the active participation of citizens. We will now take this debate across the region through workers’ groups, advocates of women’s economic empowerment and with young people who are no longer willing to accept exclusion.

A difficult journey lies ahead but we must believe – as they say in “Lincoln” – that “Freedom is First”, and I am proud that the ILO will have a part in it.