The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Brenda M. Tambatamba, today received a courtesy call from the Her Excellency, Ofra Farhi, Ambassador of the Republic of Israel in Zambia. These are some of the key points raised by the Minister during the courtesy call:
Strengthening Bilateral Ties with Israel: Zambia and Israel have maintained strong bilateral relations, and this partnership can now be extended into the areas of labour and employment.
Labour Migration Focus: Labour migration is a growing global phenomenon, (an estimated 761 million people migrate within their countries and 281 million people are international migrants, of which 169 million are migrant workers). Zambia is committed to developing rights-based, migrant-centered policies. The Ministry has developed the National Labour Migration Strategy (2024-2028) to improve governance and outcomes for both Zambian and migrant workers.
Key Thematic Areas in the Strategy:
– Governance of labour migration.
– Protection of migrant workers’ rights.
– Harnessing the development potential of labour migration.
– Collection and use of labour migration data.
Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs): Zambia seeks to sign BLMAs with Israel, focusing on sectors like agriculture, health, and construction, to utilize surplus labour in these fields.
3 memoranda of understanding have been signed with 3 countries, namely:
– South Africa on labour migration in 2016, to protect the rights of migrant workers;
– Seychelles, signed in 2019. This agreement has facilitated recruitment of teachers in the Seychelles; and
– Angola in 2023, which allows for Zambia to send health workers to work in Angola.
Zambia also has a social security bilateral agreement with Malawi
Labour Surplus in Zambia: Significant numbers of unemployed nurses, midwives, teachers, and agricultural graduates in Zambia could be engaged in Israel through labour migration partnerships.
As at 2022,
– The nursing and midwifery council of Zambia and the health professional’s council of Zambia had registered a total number of 101,934 out of which 47,323 were not employed.
– Further, the teaching council of Zambia had registered 211,810 teachers, out of which 71, 350 were unemployed; and
– Graduates with certificates and diplomas from colleges of agriculture were 635.
Zambia’s Commitment: The Zambian Government is eager to work with Israel on human resource capacity building, enforcing labour laws, and sharing job opportunity information to improve the welfare of Zambian workers.Talking Notes for Hon. Minister on Israel Courtesy Call_1st October 2024
