The Social Protection and Decent Work Program (PS-TD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was officially launched during a ceremony held on Thursday September 14, 2023. This program, implemented by the Belgian Development Agency- Enabel aims to provide better social protection and promote decent work for women and young people aged 16 to 35.
The PS-TD will be deployed in three cities in the DRC, namely Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Kolwezi. The categories of people concerned include women traders, market gardeners, agricultural product processors, motorcycle taxi drivers, domestic workers, artisanal miners and job seekers.
With funding of 16.2 million euros over a period of 5 years, the program aims to enable young people and women of working age to engage in decent work, while benefiting from better social protection and by promoting more inclusive social dialogue.
The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Claudine Ndusi M’Kembe, underlined the importance of this program to reduce poverty and create jobs in the DRC. She also expressed her gratitude to the Kingdom of Belgium for its commitment and collaboration in setting up this program.
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the DRC, Madame Roxane de Bilderling, stressed that social protection is an essential element of a just and equitable society. She highlighted the changes expected thanks to this program, in particular the improvement of the living conditions of the different categories of beneficiaries, with emphasis on the informal sector and precarious jobs.
The PS-TD aims to create 12,000 decent jobs, inform more than a million people about labor rights, train 5,000 people on labor standards and rights, and ensure better social protection for 50,000 people, and to promote social dialogue by training and supporting union representatives.
This program is the result of a collaboration between Enabel, government actors and key partners in the DRC, such as the Ministry of Employment, Labor and Social Security, the National Employment Office and the Fédération des Entreprises du Congo.
Through the Social Protection and Decent Work Program, the DRC hopes to create decent employment opportunities and improve working conditions and social protection for women and young people, thus contributing to reducing poverty and promoting the economic and social development of the country. country.