By BRIAN HATYOKA –

GOVERNMENT is in the process of creating a productivity centre as it strives to achieve high productivity in work places, Vice President Inonge Wina has said.
Ms Wina said the productivity centre would be established with assistance from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
She said this in Livingstone yesterday when she opened the 42nd Ordinary session of the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) governing council meeting and high level symposium.
She said the Zambian Government had identified job creation as one of the strategies in reducing poverty which would ultimately promote equitable as well as inclusive and sustainable development.
Ms Wina said Government had put up strategies such as job creation and industrialisation to facilitate the creation of jobs particularly for the youth.
The conference, which is being held under the theme “Decent work in the global supply chain”, has attracted 20 English Speaking African countries.
She said there was urgent need to link the decent work agenda to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the wider global developmental goal.
She said the importance of promoting decent work especially in the global chain on the African continent could not be overemphasised.
“Global supply chains are important in the creation of jobs as they provide opportunities for upgrading of our people including access to better paying work.
“As we strive to create employment for various social groups in our countries, we have to be mindful of the quality of jobs that are being created,” she said.
Ms Wina also said that effective involvement of unions in regulatory frameworks could make a difference by addressing the challenges of decent work in the global supply chains.
The Vice President noted that the retirement age clause had generated a lot of debate in the country and hoped that Zambia would learn from ARLC member countries on how they managed their retirement age.
Labour and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda said the country was hosting the conference for the second time and that discussions on decent work in the global supply chain were cardinal if the continent was to deliver social justice to the citizens.
“We are meeting at the time when the world is faced with major challenges in the labour market such as youth unemployment, labour migration and abuse of labour rights.
“As a region, we need to come up with coordinated strategies to address these issues and protect our people from exploitation,” Mr Shamenda said.
He said it was incumbent upon ALARC member countries to rise to the challenge and make a difference in the labour management strategies to ensure that workers were subjected to suitable conditions that would enhance productivity and spur economic growth.
ALARC vice chairperson Chris Ngige, who is also Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, thanked Ms Wina for officiating at the conference.