Zambia Green Jobs Programme

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Office for Zambia has on behalf of five UN Agencies (International Labour Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme, International Trade Centre, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) signed a Euro 5,730,000 (approximately ZMW 41,026,800) agreement with the Government of Finland to finance the implementation of a joint programme aimed at enhancing competitiveness and sustainable business among Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Zambian building construction industry. This is known as the Zambia Green Jobs Programme.

What are Green Jobs?

The ILO defines Green Jobs as follows:

Jobs are green when they help reduce negative environmental impact ultimately leading to environmentally, economically and socially sustainable enterprises and economies. More precisely green jobs are decent jobs that:

  • Improve energy and raw materials efficiency
  • Limit greenhouse gas emissions
  • Minimize waste and pollution
  • Protect and restore ecosystems
  • Support adaptation to the effects of climate change

Creating Green Jobs in Zambia

The Green Jobs Programme Zambia through MSME development in the Zambian building industry, seeks to unlock the green job potential of Zambia’s building industry by focusing on the value chain for green building goods and services. The programme outcomes are three-fold.

  1. increase awareness for green building principles to gradually change the perception held in Zambia’s market  place towards green building.
  2. refine the industry’s regulatory framework to facilitate a more enabling regulatory environment for green businesses.
  3. enhance MSMEs capacity to effectively participate in the building industry and green building goods and services market, to stimulate local uptake in such markets.

This programme aims to create at least 5,000 jobs particularly for youth entrepreneurs, improving the incomes of at least 8,000 households and improve the quality of at least 2,000 jobs in the MSME sector. Moreover, and significantly, the programme will directly contribute to environmental conservation efforts, in terms of reduced consumption of electricity from non-renewable sources in newly constructed buildings or by retrofitting buildings in line with greener building standards.

The Zambia Green Jobs Programme

The Zambia Green Jobs Programme recently concluded a 12 month inception phase during which analytical research on the Zambian building construction industry was conducted with the view to generate the evidence needed to align implementation phase interventions to the needs of the programme stakeholders and target groups. The programme implementation phase commenced operations on 1st September 2013 and aims to apply a human and environment rights-based approach to support creation of sustainable livelihoods for rural and urban families through private sector development, in particular by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to engage in sustainable business practices which promote creation of green jobs.

Further Information

For further information on the ILO Green Job Programme visit: ILO Green Job Project

5 thoughts on “Zambia Green Jobs Programme”

  1. Great great programme..!!! I am very excited about it!! This is exactly what Zambia needs in order to enhance development. This programme will not only ensure environmental sustainability but it will also create opportunities for entrepreneurs, and create jobs for many young Zambia. THIS IS A REAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME!!

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