Committing to Organising CHWs in Zambia and Malawi
Sep 25, 2024
- #Malawi
- #Zambia
- #Health & Social Care Services
- #National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi
- #Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia
- #Zambia National Union of Health and Allied Workers
- #Health Workers Union of Zambia
- #PSI
- #Africa & Arab Countries
- #Southern Africa
- #Care
- #Health & Social Care Services
Community health workers (CHWs) and representatives from health unions in Zambia and Malawi convened in Lusaka, Zambia on 16-17 September 2024. This meeting was part of the project "Advancing Workers' Rights in Africa," implemented by PSI in partnership with the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland (SASK). The primary focus was to discuss strategies for organising CHWs in both countries.
The following PSI-affiliated unions participated in the event: Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ), Zambia National Union of Health and Allied Workers (ZNUHAW), Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ), and National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM).
Participants committed to securing broader union support for plans to incorporate CHWs into the union in Malawi and to establish an association in Zambia under the national centre.
In Malawi, where CHWs are formalised, recent improvements in training qualifications are expected to enhance the pay grade for CHWs who complete this training. The union emphasises the importance of providing all CHWs with the opportunity to upskill through this new course. Additionally, they advocate for recognising and certifying the experience and on-the-job learning of long-serving community workers.
Zambian unions anticipate the government updating the CHW policy and stress the importance of labour's involvement in these discussions. Participants agreed that the principle of "nothing for us, without us" should apply, ensuring workers have a seat at the table when policies are being discussed.
The meeting included a review of the outcome of the International Labour Conference (ILC) general discussion on decent work and the care economy, which was presented to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Secretariat. Participants identified key advocacy points to address with their respective governments, particularly focusing on the following recommendation:
Government, employers, and unions, together with the ILO, should "design and implement policies and strategies to achieve maximum limits on working time, occupational safety and health, including preventing and addressing violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, and adequate minimum wages whether statutory or negotiated. Public sector care providers should lead by example in this regard".
Participants agreed that unions could demand that CHW policies in Malawi and Zambia be developed in line with the 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) guideline on health policy and system support to optimise community health worker programmes. They discussed how this guideline could be used to further steer policy direction on community health work and developed an initial set of demands for organising CHWs, to be refined into an advocacy strategy.
The unions defined the key demand for organising CHWs as 'permanent and pensionable jobs'.