Govt dares businesses on decent jobs, human rights

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango says the formulation of Malawi guidelines on business and human rights will help to create decent jobs in all sectors, including mining, tea and tobacco. Mhango highlighted this on Wednesday in Lilongwe at the validation meeting on Malawi National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, the policy that seeks to align Malawi with United Nations’ (UN) principles on business and human rights. He said the modern investment climate requires businesses to respect workers and communities’ rights as this guarantees mutual cooperation and easy conflict resolution to ensure sustainability of projects.

Mhango said: “Respect on Malawian workers is very important for both business development and decent work. The UN Sustainable Goal number eight is very clear on the need of decent work. “I call upon businesses, especially in mining sector and the tea estates, that we need to respect the dignity of Malawians workers.” During the meeting, a draft policy was presented, for government approval, from a technical committee that has been consulting at different levels to come up with the National Action Plan.

“In this way, the National Action Plan is also important for protecting environmental sustainability, strengthening social cohesion, and supporting a more peaceful and predictable development pathway,” she said. Meanwhile, Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) deputy director of economic social and cultural rights Lucius Pendame said his office receives numerous complaints from workers and communities on the subject which confirms the need for policy intervention. “The picture is not so good. Every time we see reports in the media or complaints that come to the commission through our monitoring of businesses that workers and communities complain about the alleged violations of their rights as they are interrupting with businesses,” Pendame said.