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Africa & Arab countries

Africa and Arab countries form one of the four regions in the PSI structure. Our 153 affiliated organisations in some 43 countries represent a membership of around 1.5 million people here. The regional secretariat is based in Lomé, Togo. Contact our regional offices.

Liberia: Trade union actions on decent work for people with disabilities

04 April 2019
Daintowon Domah Paybayee, Advocate for persons with disabilities in Liberia

The Liberia Labor Congress held a joint workshop with ILO ACTRAV and the ILO Abuja office on decent work for persons with disabilities in December 2018. Since the end of the civil war in 2003, the nation has made significant progress towards decent work for all, but still has progress to make on eliminating social, economic and cultural injustice for persons with disability.

Unions, Social Inequalities and the Senegalese Health System

04 April 2019
Dr. Mbaye Kamara

From the 1980s, the Senegalese health system has evolved from a relatively modern and efficient system into a two-tiered system of privatised and commercialised healthcare delivery. Private provision has become increasingly widespread, while user fees and pharmaceutical charges finance a significant part of the public health sector.

25 Years After Apartheid: Health Inequities Persist in South Africa

04 April 2019
Young workers at the PSI People’s National Health Insurance Conference.

Although South Africa’s health system has undergone many positive changes in the last 25 years, social inequalities in health are widening across social groups and races. 50 million South Africans access the under-funded public health system while just over 8 million have access to well-resourced private care that is steeped in corruption.

Towards World Health Day 2019

25 March 2019

7 April has been celebrated since 1950 as World Health Day (WHD). This is to commemorate the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1947, and quite importantly to draw global attention to important issues in international health. WHO provides institutional leadership for WHD as a global health awareness day. This includes setting a theme.

22 March - Water for all... no exception

21 March 2019

As we celebrate World Water Day one week after the successful global students strike for climate, similarities between the two events find an echo in the frustration with political systems which refuse to address obvious and urgent needs of the people.

Human rights to water and sanitation lead the way to leaving no one behind, says UN expert

21 March 2019

The call to action comes from Léo Heller, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Handbook: Addressing violence and harassment against women in the world of work

21 March 2019

All women and men have the right to live and work free from violence and harassment. However, while this is generally accepted, violence and harassment remains pervasive throughout the world of work. It affects all jobs, sectors and occupations. It has serious consequences for workers, their families and communities, as well as for enterprises’ reputations and productivity.

PSI stands with Detroit and public workers

29 August 2013
Background image is part of a mural by Diego Rivera called Detroit Industry, North Wall at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Detroit is the largest city to file for bankruptcy in United States history. But it is not the only city in economic crisis, and what happens in Detroit matters—it matters to AFSCME members who have dedicated their working lives to providing quality public services to the city and community, it matters to workers and retirees across the United States and around the world, it matters to all public sector workers who we depend upon to provide quality public services to citizens around the world. Detroit matters to all of us and we stand in solidarity with the workers and retirees of the city.

Sign the Quality Public Services Charter

27 August 2013
Quality Public Services - Action Now

PSI invites you to join the world-wide campaigns for quality public services, the foundation of both free and equal societies, and a strong, modern economy.The common good must not be undermined by the desire of a few to increase their profits. We work to influence international organisations to put people first. And in local communities, rank and file union members deliver the same message.

Why trade agreements are a new global threat to public services

08 August 2013
New deals, new danger

Recently, the way trade deals are negotiated has changed from WTO multilateral negotiations where hundreds of countries negotiated one agreement and information about negotiations was publically available, to hundreds of separate secret negotiations held behind closed doors.

The secret nature of trade talks held outside of the WTO creates a new challenge for PSI. We must focus our activity on the key threats and better engage and support our affiliates and civil society in the key stakeholder countries.

23 June Public Services Day: A global tax justice movement to end inequality

23 June 2013

On 23 June, World Public Services Day, PSI stands with the world’s largest labour and non-governmental organisations in “putting world leaders on notice – members of civil society are uniting for tax justice everywhere.”



Public Services International leader Rosa Pavanelli says, “We are proud to be working at the forefront of the rapidly growing global movement to demand tax justice and accountability in public spending for the common good. Redistributing the wealth that workers help to create is not an option, it is an imperative.”

To win quality public services we must have tax justice

24 May 2013

More and more people are seeing the damage caused by regressive taxes. Stagnant economies. Lost jobs. Sky-high youth unemployment. Deep cuts in public services. The result is a dramatic privatisation of services; associated corruption is often one of the major consequences which impacts public budgets, prices and tax policies.


It’s a world-wide trend. It requires a unified, coordinated response backed by positive solutions.

Your Future in Public Hands

14 May 2013
Green poster: Your Future in Public Hands

Public services are under attack and action is needed to ensure that in the future quality public services will be available to young and old, generating social justice and equality for all.

International Workers' Day - 1 May 2013

26 April 2013
PSI Poster for 1 May 2013

Your future is in public hands - quality public services for all!


The international labour movement celebrates 1 May in memory of the activists who were killed in the Haymarket massacre of 1886 while demonstrating for the eight-hour work day. Today, using the pretext of the economic and financial crises, neo-liberal forces around the world are determined to eliminate workers’ right to bargain collectively and hard-won social and labour rights. Workers and our communities are uniting to turn back the wave of measures being used to increase privatisation, claw back public spending, reduce the size and role of the state, and to attack social dialogue and collective bargaining in public sector workplaces.

Voices of the living and the dead cry out for justice in Guatemala

28 March 2013

Two women trade unionists, Santa Alvarado, member of PSI affiliate SNTSG, and Kira Zulueta Enriquez Mena, have been brutally murdered in two separate incidents in Guatemala. These follow on the murder of Carlos Hernández Mendoza, SNTSG union leader shot dead at 8:30 am on 8 March 2013 by two men on a motorcycle. Some five other members of SNTSG were also murdered in the last year as were several civil society activists, including agrarian reform and indigenous right activists.

End violence against women now! International Women's Day 8 March 2013

08 March 2013
Poster for International Women's Day with heading End violence against women

Public Services International joins our members across the globe in celebrating the social, political and economic change and achievements of women on 8th March. PSI promotes the work of women trade unionists and stands united with our sisters who place themselves on the frontline to deliver vital public services.

More arrests of Turkish trade unionists - take action now!

27 February 2013
demonstrators in Turkey holding a KESK banner

Latest update: 72 members of the public sector union were released from jail on 10 April, some after nearly ten months of detention. The bad news is that the charges were not dropped and they all need to appear in court again in July. Another 15 union leaders, all of them women, are due to appear in court on 18 April.

18 December International Migrants Day - “Workers’ solidarity is needed in times of crisis”

13 December 2012
Young woman migrant worker

On 18 December 2012 – United Nations International Migrants Day - “Workers’ solidarity is needed in times of crisis,” says Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary, Public Services International.

Chad: Unionists sentenced to prison

28 September 2012

Three trade union leaders in Chad have been sentenced to 18 months in prison after denouncing the situation in the country. Another unionist was sentenced to three months in prison for having smiled in the courtroom. These PSI affiliate members are now asking for support from unions around the world.

PSI Solidarity message to Egyptian trade unions

10 September 2012
Tahir square February 2011

PSI sends solidarity message to Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions - EFITU.

Swaziland - Stop the crackdown on public workers

08 August 2012
Swaziland protestors photo by Garry Knight

The government of Swaziland is cracking down on public sector workers across the board. Civil servants, nurses, teachers and transport workers are all under threat. In support of their affiliates in Swaziland, Public Services International, Education International and the International Transport Workers' Federation have organised a joint protest action on Labourstart.

A gold medal for solidarity

25 July 2012

London's bus workers have won a huge victory. Now, it's the cleaners' turn.
Just three days before the opening of the Olympic games in London, London's bus drivers have won a big victory. As their union Unite reported, the workers "overwhelmingly voted to accept an offer of an Olympic award, meaning most workers will get £577 for the massive increase in workload over the Olympics.”

Spotlight Report: "Reclaiming Policies for the Public"

07 July 2017

Report by the Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Reclaiming Public Services: How cities and citizens are turning back privatisation

26 June 2017

Reclaiming Public Services is vital reading for anyone interested in the future of local, democratic services like energy, water and health care. This is an in-depth world tour of new initiatives in public ownership and the variety of approaches to deprivatisation.

Manifesto of the PSI Human Right to Health Global Campaign

13 April 2017

A better Future with Public Health for All: PSI's global campaign for the Human Right to Health aims at building a mass global movement that could influence concrete policies towards attaining Universal Public Health Coverage (UPHC).

Global PSI LRG/Municipal Workers’ Network Charter

04 April 2017

The Global PSI Local and Regional Government (LRG)/Municipal Workers’ Network Charter is available for download in English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic.

PSI research paper explores options for sustainable and fair local and regional government funding

03 April 2017

PSI has just published a research briefing note that reviews options for local and regional governments (LRGs) to sustainably and progressively fund quality public services for local communities and tackle the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and increasing demands placed upon LRGs  in a context of shrinking resources, corporate tax avoidance and rising city and territory-based tax competition. The brief summarizes the related discussion paper, which is open for comments and contributions till the end of May 2017.

PPPs and the SDGs: Dont believe the hype!

30 March 2017

This study, written by Jeff Powell of the Public Services International Research Unit at Greenwich University, draws on extensive research and outlines a range of issues with PPPs which are often ignored including the lack of real efficiency gains, higher long term costs and the rife opportunities for corruption.

Statement from the "Public-Private Partnership and the Right to Health" seminar

28 March 2017

At the initiative of PSI and in conjunction with the National Federation of Public Service Unions of Togo, a sub-regional seminar on "Public-Private Partnership and the Right to Health" was organised from 7 to 8 February 2017 at Jesse House Hotel, in Lomé, TOGO.

Global Unions Statement: Support the inclusion and retention of the full and substantive role of the ILO in the UNCSW61 Agreed Conclusions

22 March 2017

Member states at the annual Sessions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) are currently negotiating ‘Agreed Conclusions’ on this year’s priority theme: ‘Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work’.

Report: The Role of Public Service Trade Unions in achieving Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

21 March 2017

PSI, with ILO/ACTRAV and ILO/GED support, held a meeting 8-9 of December 2016, on "The Role of Public Service Trade Unions in achieving Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities" in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting built on a survey conducted by PSI and ILO of PSI affiliates’ initiatives on disability inclusion, and on ILO research giving a global overview of trade unions actions on disability inclusion.

Presentations: The Role of Public Service Trade Unions in achieving Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

21 March 2017

These presentations were made at the PSI meeting held 8-9 December 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland with ACTRAV and GED support. The meeting builds on a survey conducted by PSI and ILO of PSI affiliates’ initiatives on disability inclusion, and on ILO research giving a global overview of trade unions actions on disability inclusion.

A passport to worker and union rights in South Africa

10 March 2017
A passport to worker and union rights in South Africa

The passport for worker and union rights in South Africa has been developed by PSI and its affiliated trade unions in order to provide migrant workers with essential information related to their rights, recruitment, documentation and employment before they migrate to South Africa. It also covers those migrant workers already working in the country.

Zero Fees in the Recruitment Process

14 February 2017

What are recruitment fees and why should they be scrapped? Join PSIs' campaign for fair and ethical recruitment. www.world-psi.org/NRF -- #NoRecruitmentFees.

Health Ministerial Meeting: Joint trade union statement

13 January 2017

The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the Public Services International (PSI) have prepared a joint statement prior to the OECD Health Ministerial Meeting taking place in Paris on 17 January where Ministers from over 35 OECD and partner countries will exchange their ideas, ambitions and challenges for The Next Generation of Health Reforms.

PSI briefing: The Future of Health

13 January 2017

PSI has commissioned a new briefing entitled “The Future of Health: Person Centred Care in Policy and Practice”, by Kate Baylis, SOAS, University of London.

Banners: A better future with public health for all

12 December 2016

The banners "A better future with public health for all" - size 700x430 and size 800x800 - are available for download in English, French and Spanish (jpg format).

Event: The Role of Public Service Trade Unions in achieving Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

07 November 2016

Achieving Decent Work for All, and realising the Sustainable Development Goals, requires focussed work to include persons with disabilities. This PSI meeting, with the support of ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) and the Gender, Equality and Diversity branch (GED), is an opportunity to develop knowledge, awareness and advocacy relevant for a range of actors in their governance, actions and aims.

PSI 30th World Congress

25 October 2016

PSI’s 30th World Congress will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Monday 30th October to Friday 3 November 2017, at the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG).

PSI at the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights

24 October 2016

From 24 to 28 October 2016, Public Services International, together with Governments, regional and political groups, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, NGOs and many other relevant stakeholders, will be participating in the 2nd public meetings of the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIWG), which could lead to the adoption of an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations (TNCs or MNEs).

First meeting of the Guideline Development Group for the WHO

10 October 2016
Community health worker - Direct Relief - Creative Commons

PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli has been invited to participate as an expert in the Guideline Development Group (GDG) for the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on health policy and systems support for community health worker programmes. The GDG will meet in Geneva for the first time on October 10-11 2016.

Culmination Conference of the PSI Project on Decent Work and Social Protection for Migrant Workers in the Public Services (Philippines)

06 October 2016

The PSI Project on Decent Work and Social Protection for Migrant Workers in the Public Services, is a three-year project (2014-2016) which aims to promote access to decent work and social protection for migrant workers in the public services. This conference will launch key campaigns of the project, culminate the work over the last three years, and pave the way to the future work of the PSI on migration and refugee issues.

PSI Migration Project - Joint monitoring meeting and Symposium (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone)

06 October 2016

The PSI Project on Decent Work and Social Protection for Migrant Workers in the Public Services will hold a project monitoring and planning meeting and Symposium in Parkview Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, on 11-13th October 2016.

International Conference: Free trade and the right to (not) migrate (Brussels)

27 September 2016

The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung is organising a Conference on Free Trade and the Right to (Not) Migrate on 29 September – 1 October in Brussels. PSI Migration Programme Coordinator, Genevieve Gencianos, is speaking in a panel on “Lessons for the future: 21st Trade Agenda, TTIP and Migration” on 30 September between 16h30 and 19h.

How unpaid internships undermine human rights

22 September 2016
unpaid internships

This event "How unpaid internships undermine human rights", taking place in Geneva on 27 September, is co-organized by the Fair Internship Initiative (FII), Public Services International and the "We Pay Our Interns" coalition representatives. On the sidelines of the Human Rights Council, Unions, NGOs and youth activists come together to highlight the urgent need for international organisations and governments to tackle the issue of unpaid internships, both in the wider economy and within their own halls.

UN General Assembly High Level Summit on Large Flows of Migrants and Refugees (New York)

17 September 2016

The summit, to be held on 19 September at the UN in New York, will call for a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees, which includes a comprehensive response plan on refugees and the strengthening of the global governance of migration.

Global local and regional government (LRG) sector workers' network meeting (Brussels)

16 September 2016
Municipal Services

PSI is pleased to convene the first PSI Global Local and Regional Government Workers’ Network Meeting that will be held on 19 September 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. This will be followed by the EPSU Local and Regional Government Standing Committee on 20 September 2016, enabling PSI affiliates from other regions to take part as observers. Both events will take place in Room B at the International Trade Union House (ITUH), 5, Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 1210 Brussels, Belgium from 8:30 to 18:00.

ILO Tripartite Technical Meeting on Recruitment

06 September 2016
ILO TTM on refugees

The Tripartite Meeting of Experts to Develop Guidance on Fair Recruitment is being held at the ILO in Geneva on 5-7 September. The objective is to adopt ILO guidelines on fair recruitment, encompassing both cross-border and national recruitment. PSI Migration Programme Coordinator, Genevieve Gencianos, delivered a speech on 5 September at the opening session of the meeting.

PSI at the Stockholm World Water Week

27 August 2016
Stockholm WWWeek

PSI Deputy General Secretary David Boys is invited to speak on two panels at the 2016 Stockholm Water Week.

Video: Rosa Pavanelli at the UN High-Level session on advancing gender equality

09 March 2015

Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, addresses the UN High-level panel session on advancing gender equality in New York, 6 March 2015.

Video: Water and power: are public services still public?

10 February 2015

This new video by the Municipal Services Project examines the question of corporatisation and how it can affect public services, specifically in the energy and water sectors.

Video: PSI names the 325 health workers killed by Ebola

25 November 2014

"Over 300 workers have died on the job in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, trying to save lives and contain the Ebola outbreak. They were doctors, nurses, midwives, cleaners, ambulance drivers, pharmacists, community health workers – among others.
PSI wants to remember all of those workers one by one, name by name. We will honour their sacrifice by pledging to ensure that all workers enjoy safe working conditions everywhere and to strengthen the fight for quality public healthcare for all."

Video: Ellen Gould - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

17 October 2014

Ellen Gould, keynote speaker at PSI’s Global Trade in Services Forum, From GATS to TISA, held in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network. Ellen Gould is the author of the Special Report "The Really Good Friends of Transnational Corporations Agreement" which focuses on how TISA could be used to accomplish the deregulatory agenda.

Video: Tony Salvador, Lawyer, IDEALS, Philippines

17 October 2014

"Migrant workers should be protected by the labour laws of host countries, with TISA they run the risk of being considered as independent service providers, no longer covered by labour laws" says Tony Salvador, keynote speaker PSI’s Global Trade in Services Forum, From GATS to TISA, held in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network.

Video: Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Professor of law, former member of Parliament and Minister of Justice, Germany

17 October 2014

'It is important to consult not only European parliamentarians but also national parliamentarians" says Herta Däubler-Gmelin, keynote speaker at PSI’s Global Trade in Services Forum, From GATS to TISA, held in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS) network.

Photos: PSI Global Trade Summit

23 September 2014

PSI, affiliate leaders and partners convened in Washington, D.C., 15-17 September 2014 to discuss the new threats posed to workers, public services, democracy and our communities by trade and investment agreements.

Photos: People's Climate March 2014

23 September 2014

Following the strategic discussion on advancing social ownership of energy organised by the Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED), PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, and participants joined in the People's Climate March where over 400,000 people demonstrated in the streets of New York.

Video: Climate Change and Energy Democracy

22 September 2014

Ahead of the People's Climate March on 21 September in New York City, PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, and author and activist Naomi Klein, talk about Climate Change, Energy Democracy and the role of the trade unions.

Audio: RadioLabour report on the Global Trade Summit

19 September 2014

Public services unions worldwide are determined to open to public scrutiny a new wave of global trade agreements, which are now being discussed behind closed doors. Listen to the RadioLabour report on PSI's Global Trade Summit.

Video: The history and geopolitics of trade in services

18 September 2014

Listen to Robert Stumberg, Professor of Law and Director Harrison Institute for Public Law/Georgetown Law, on how 30 years of liberalization and the new wave of trade agreements limit the role of government and deepen corporate power.

Video: Union leaders open new trade agreements to public debate

18 September 2014

Union leaders from around the world convened in Washington DC, 15-17 September 2014, to discuss the new threats posed to workers, public services, democracy and our communities by trade and investment agreements.

Video: From GATS to TISA: Corporate power, inequality and the new attacks on public services

17 September 2014

Listen to Deborah James', Director of International Programs Centre for Economic and Policy Research, analysis of the results of 30 years of liberalization and how the new wave of trade agreements limit the role of government and deepen corporate power.

Audio: Globe Trade Agreements for Corporations

04 September 2014

RadioLabour has prepared a special report on the global trade agreements: What they are and how they will affect working people.

Video: Trade agreements and the threat to quality public services

24 June 2014

Sanya Reid Smith - Third World Network, Guest speaker at PSI's Executive Board meeting in Nyon, Switzerland 24-25 June 2014.