- THE GUEST OF HONOUR, COPPERBELT PROVINCIAL PERMANENT SECRETARY MR. AUGUSTINE KASONGO
- THE NDOLA COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON
- THE NDOLA DISTRICT COMMISSIONER AND ALL SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS THAT ARE PRESENT
- THE SECRETARY GENERAL ZAMBIA CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS MR. JOY BEENE
- THE ILO COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR ZAMBIA, MALAWI AND MOZAMBIQUE MR. WELLINGTON CHIBEBE
- THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, ZAPD MR. FRANKSON MUSUKWA
- THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SOCIAL SECURITY MR. VICTOR CHIKALANGA
- THE PRINCIPAL NVRC MRS LUNGU.
- COLLEAGUES FROM THE MEDIA
- DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY ONE.
WE ARE GLAD AS ZAMBIA FEDERATION OF EMPLOYERS TO BE PRESENT AT THIS EVENT WHICH IN OUR VIEW IS AN IMPORTANT EVENT THROUGH WHICH THE VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS GATHERED HERE HAVE RECOGNISED THE FACT THAT THERE MUST BE INCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SO AS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT FOR THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
WE NOTE FROM THE PROGRAM THAT THIS EVENT IS ABOUT STRENGTHENING SKILLS TRAINING, EMPLOYABILITY AND INCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE OPEN LABOUR MARKET.
GUEST OF HONOUR YOU MAY WISH TO KNOW THAT THE ZFE WHICH IS AN EMPLOYERS ORGANISATION CREATED BY AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT WHICH IS THE INDUSTRIAL AND LABOUR RELATIONS ACT, CAP 268 OF THE LAWS OF ZAMBIA HAS FOR SOME TIME NOW BEEN PROMOTING EMPLOYABILITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. WE HAVE DONE THIS THROUGH PLACEMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE ZFE MEMBER COMPANIES AS INTERNS AND A NUMBER OF THEM HAVE SINCE BEEN EMPLOYED. IN 2023 WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION ZFE PLACED 37 PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WHOSE QUALIFICATIONS RANGED FROM DIPLOMA TO DEGREE LEVELS FOR 4 MONTHS PERIOD AND AT THE END OF THE 4 MONTHS PERIOD 17 OF THEM GOT EMPLOYED AND ARE STILL WORKING FOR THE COMPANIES THAT EMPLOYED THEM. THE ZFE HAS GONE FURTHER IN THE INDUSTRY TO PROVIDE TRAINING TO EMPLOYERS ON INCLUSIVENESS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND ALSO TO GET FEED BACK IN TERMS OF PRODUCTIVITY LEVELS FROM THIS CATEGORY OF EMPLOYEES. THE DISABILITY INCLUSIVENESS TRAINING HAS BEEN WELL RECEIVED BY THE EMPLOYERS AND FOLLOWING THIS POSITIVE RECEIVE WE HAVE IN WORKING TOGETHER WITH ILO AND SIGHTSAVERS BEEN ABLE TO FORM THE ZAMBIA BUSINESS NETWORK FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO WHICH THE WORKERS COMPESATION FUND CONTROL BOARD IS A MEMBER.
IN TERMS OF PRODUCTIVITY LEVELS BY THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITY WORKERS, TESTIMONY FROM THE INDUSTRY IS THAT THEY ARE SO PRODUCTIVE IN THE SENSE THAT THEY PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THEIR WORK, THEY CREATE NO IDLE TIME DURING WORK HOURS AND THEY ARE ALWAYS IN TIME IN TERMS OF REPORTING FOR WORK AND THOSE INVOLVED IN PRODUCTION OF TANGIBLE PRODUCTS THEY ARE VERY ACCURATE IN REGARDS TO FOLLOWING THE SPECS. AT TIMES EVEN DURING HOLIDAYS WHEN THEY ARE CALLED UPON TO WORK THEY DO REPORT FOR WORK WITHOUT ANY COMPLAINTS THAT DO COME FROM EMPLOYEES WITHOUT ANY FORM OF DISABILITY.
THEREFORE, GUEST OF HONOUR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS EMPLOYERS WE HAVE COME TO A CONCLUSION THAT EMPLOYING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IS AS GOOD AS EMPLOYEE ANY OTHER PERSON WITHOUT A DISABILITY. THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FROM EMPLOYERS IS THAT THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES MUST HAVE THE RELEVANT SKILLS THAT MAY BE REQUIRED FOR ONE TO PERFORM CERTAIN FUNCTIONS IN A COMPANY SO THAT THEY BECOME COMPETITIVE LIKE ANY OTHER EMPLOYEE IN INDUSTRY. FOR THIS REASON, THE ZFE THEREFORE CALLS ON OUR GOVERNMENT, OUR COOPERATING PARTNERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS IN THE SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AGENDA TO WORK TOWARDS INCREASING ACCESS TO ACQUISITION OF MARKETABLE SKILLS BY THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. THIS WE BELIEVE CAN START FROM PROVIDING ACCESS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO TRAINING INSTITUTIONS SO THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO ACQUIRE MARKETABLE SKILLS THAT ARE REQUIRED ON THE LABOUR MARKET.
GUEST OF HONOUR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES LIVE IN CONDITIONS OF POVERTY, AND IN THIS REGARD RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO ADDRESS THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF POVERTY ON PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IS CRITICAL. PROVIDING THEM WITH BOTH LIFE SKILLS AND MARKETABLE SKILLS TO BECOME COMPETITIVE ON THE JOB MARKET IS JUST ONE WAY OF DRIVING THEM OUT OF POVERTY.
THROUGH OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, THE ZAMBIA FEDERATION OF EMPLOYERS HAVE COME TO RECOGNISE THE VALUED EXISTING AND POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO THE OVERALL WELL-BEING AND DIVERSITY OF THEIR COMMUNITIES, AND THAT THE PROMOTION OF THE FULL ENJOYMENT BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES OF THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS AND OF FULL PARTICIPATION BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WILL RESULT IN THEIR ENHANCED SENSE OF BELONGING AND IN SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN THE HUMAN, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY AND THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY.
WE THEREFORE, COMMEND THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION FOR JOINING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS IN PROMOTING THE WELL FARE OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN ZAMBIA BY SUPPORTING THE WORK OF THE ZAMBIA BUSINESS DISABILITY NET WORK AS WELL AS FOR THE DONATIONS OF EQUIPMENT THAT IS GOING TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE NATIONAL VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION CENTRE (NVRC) TODAY.
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND MAY GOD BLESS US ALL.