UASA Media Release: 23 October 2024
In Picture: Delegates of the Sub-Saharan Africa Human Rights Due Diligence and African Industrialisation Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Statement by Abigail Moyo, spokesperson of the trade union UASA:
The dire need to understand human rights and due diligence between labour and employers is the leading concept of the two-day IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa Human Rights Due Diligence and African Industrialisation Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
UASA is attending the conference in affiliation with IndustriALL Global Union.
The conference addresses critical issues concerning human and workers’ rights in industrial sectors, challenges in global supply chains and strategies to promote African industrialisation.
With many African countries grappling with weak labour laws, IndustriALL Vice President Rose Omamo highlighted that lacking labour rights in most African countries results in exploitation of workers, low wages and unfair working conditions.
“Labour must lead and take charge of human rights due diligence matters. Labour is the primary protector of workers’ rights and a bridge between all economic stakeholders, government and workers, making it labour’s responsibility to protect the rights and needs of workers and the African economy at large.”
Addressing conference delegates, Dr Hod Anyingba, Executive Director at the Africa Labour Research and Education Institute (ALREI) of the African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) in Lomé, Togo, provided recommendations to assist labour and stakeholders in tackling human rights due diligence challenges, including:
• Developing policy options to manage the downside effects of globalisation.
• Financial deepening – low access to credit.
• Promotion of regional economic integration.
• Boosting in-human capacity.
• Boosting infrastructural and industrial development.
• Boosting in-trade facilitation.
The conference also emphasised the importance of corporate accountability. The conference highlighted the growing concern that multinational corporations often operate in African countries without adequate oversight, which can lead to human rights abuses, unsafe working conditions and unfair wages.
IndustriALL continues to be a leading voice in advocating for mandatory human rights due diligence in global supply chains, bringing in experts and continued research to find solutions on how due diligence frameworks can help labour shift the paradigm (i.e., confronting Africa’s resources curse).
UASA supports this initiative and believes that future collaborations to improve labour conditions and advance Africa’s industrial capacity are significant for all workers and advanced economic growth.
For further enquiries or to set up a personal interview, contact Abigail Moyo at 065 170 0162.