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.
The PSI Ebola Response Strategy, focusing on argumentation, networking and lobby work, is almost coming to an end, and the participating unions are still as active as ever. In Liberia, where the PSI affiliates set up a wide collaboration between trade unions and civil society organisations, the Project Management Committee (PMC) with representatives of NAHWAL, NTUPAW, CTIL, CSA and HRM organised two workshops to boost the expertise and means of action of the broad network.
There has been a renewed surge of the cholera outbreak in Kenya, with 146 persons affected at an international conference in June and a further 146 at the China Trade Fair in July. The current epidemic commenced on 10 October 2016 at the Tana county, but had been brought under control by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
The 21st session of the Health Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was held on 26-27 June 2017 at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris. Baba Aye, the PSI Health and Social Services Officer and Cyrille Duch, International Secretary of the French CFDT Health affiliate of PSI represented the trade union movement at the meeting, on the platform of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC).
In 2016, the United Nations Secretary General convened a High-Level Summit on Large Movements of Migrants and Refugees. This came as a response to the unprecedented levels of forced displacement in war-torn areas in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, particularly in Syria, leading to millions of migrants and refugees crossing to neighbouring countries and beyond.
Lena Vennberg from Vårdförbundet, Sweden was the first person from a PSI affiliate to participate in the annual WHA Watch organised for young health professionals, academics and activists by the People’s Health Movement held in May in Geneva. In an increasingly globalised world, this is an invaluable dimension of capacity-building for young health workers. It is also part of the PSI strategy of building closer collaboration with the civil society movement.
The 70th World Health Assembly (WHA) discussed and adopted Working for Health: A Five-Year Action Plan for Health Employment and Inclusive Economic Growth (2017-21), on 29 May 2017. The document is a joint intersectoral programme of work across WHO, ILO and OECD aimed at supporting Member States in the effective implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth.
Dr Tedros Adhanom assumed office on 1 July 2017 as the 9th Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) since its inception in 1948. He has given his word that this marks a new era for the organization in its pivotal role of coordinating and directing international health policy. And the top priority of this era will be to ensure that all roads lead to universal health coverage.
Realising the right to health requires concerted efforts that put people, not profit, at the centre of policy. A better future can be guaranteed for humankind only when health for all is an undisputable reality. PSI welcomes the renewed vigour that Dr Tedros Adhanom has brought to bear in emphasising his total commitment to universal health coverage.
This year, the day is dedicated to celebrating young people’s contributions to conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace. The current generation of youth is the largest in history and young people often comprise the majority in countries marked by armed conflict or unrest.
The Philippines is about to become the first Asian country to ratify the so called "Labour Relations Public Service Convention (1978)", which deals with the protection of the right to organise and procedures for determining conditions of employment in the Public Service. This victory comes after 7 years of work led by PSI affiliates and other public sector unions in the country.
PSI along with Corporate Accountability International and other partners is circulating a letter in support of the Our Water Our Right coalition in Lagos - to show global support for their opposition to a NEW and IMMINENT privatization threat. PSI has been fighting water privatization in Lagos for several years.
Unions and civil society organisations have warned about the devastating effects of the privatisation of education on both students and teachers during the launch of a new study on Liberia’s PSL project.
Over 170 unions and civil society organisations from around the world have released a statement calling on investors to cease support for Bridge International Academies, a company running over 500 commercial private schools in the Global South with the support of international donors and investors.
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are driving privatisation on a global scale. They pose a very real threat to public sector services and may even prevent attempts to re-nationalise when privatisation fails.
Hundreds marched in the streets of Hyderabad on 24 July 2017 in opposition to the 19th round of negotiations of the mega 16 nation Free Trade Agreement (FTA) called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
During the founding meeting of the PSI Education Support and Cultural Workers Network (ESCW), that took place on 18-19 November 2014 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a charter of the network was adopted.
Privatisation on the backfoot as new book shows that the growing wave of cities putting water back under public control has now spread to 37 countries impacting 100 million people.
Agenda for the 12th Regional Conference for Africa & Arab countries (AFRECON) and related meetings taking place in Gaborne, Botswana from 22-25 September 2015.
Public service trade unions and the Global Alliance for Tax Justice invite members to join in marching this May Day under the banner “Working people pay taxes – corporations must pay their share!”
PSI welcomes the establishment in New York of a commission of international tax experts to examine reform to corporate taxation from the perspective of the public interest. Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary gives evidence to the commission
The new report Why Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) don’t work: The many advantages of the public alternative contains a combination of 30 years of research by David Hall, former Director of Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) University of Greenwich, UK.
This new research, released on 17 March, by campaign group Global Justice Now shows that since 2002, £140 million of UK aid money has been spent by the Department for International Development (DfID) on projects to support the privatisation of Nigeria’s energy system, with disastrous consequences for people in Nigeria.
This report published by the Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation provides an overview of the dimensions of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) relevant to health, the process and findings of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) - including characterising the potential health impacts based on the literature and stakeholder input - and recommendations to the Australian Government to avoid or mitigate potential harms from the TPP. The authors intend for the HIA to inform negotiations and health sector advocacy on the TPP.
This report is the product of a coalition of European and American trade unions, representing more than 15 million workers in different sectors of the economy in 40 countries, and War on Want, the U.K.-based anti-poverty campaign group. The members of the coalition work towards an economy built on decent jobs and a fair, progressive tax system at the global, E.U., and national levels. It is the first time that we have joined forces to highlight an example of corporate tax avoidance, a critical issue a¬ecting the future of democracy and the welfare state.
This research paper published by Oxfam International shows that the richest 1 percent have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014 and at this rate will be more than 50 percent in 2016.
This leaflet on water privatization in Jakarta is the forth in a series of four leaflets published by Public Services International, Transnational Institute, Amrta Institute for Water Literacy and Jakarta Water Trade Union.
On 18th December 2014, PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli, and EI General Secretary, Fred Van Leeuwen, signed a cooperation agreement that will strengthen public sector unions in their joint action.
The next FORUM & FEDERATION Lunch-time Symposium on workers’ health will take place on 26 June from 12:00 to 14:00 at the International Labour Office (ILO), Room 3. The focus is the “Right to Work and Right to Health: Workers with Physical and Mental Disabilities”.
Unions from 30 countries will gather in Marseille, France to express loud and clear their concerns about water policies. The occasion is the triennial World Water Forum –WWF6, a corporate tradeshow which masquerades as a global policy arena. The water forum was the brainchild of the French multinational corporations Veolia and Suez, in cahoots with the World Bank, created back when privatisation was the only solution for getting water to poor people in developing countries. Now, the gloss is off the rose, and only the sharp spines are left.
On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2012, Public Services International recognises and applauds the work of women trade unionists, who are always at the very heart of our struggle for human and labour rights and equality.
Union women from around the world are gathering in New York for the United Nations’ 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW56), starting on 27th February 2012. Focusing on decent work for rural women, quality public services, social protection and human rights, the trade union delegation to UNCSW56 will call on governments to commit to concrete measures to ensure that women living and working in rural areas enjoy opportunities for economic, social and human development.
On 7 October we celebrate the World Day for Decent Work. Public Services International (PSI) joins the international trade union movement in demanding decent work for all and an end to the continuous attacks on trade union rights around the world. We want jobs that provide decent salaries and social security with safe working conditions.
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol, will be held in Durban, South Africa.
The primary objective of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference is to bring together a broad range of stakeholders from the water, energy and food sectors in an effort to improve understanding of the interdependencies and develop a joint perspective on the common challenges.
The “Each One Teach One” WOP conference is an opportunity for those who are interested in beginning a new WOP with partners in the North or partners in the South. It will be an interesting meeting point for policy makers and water operators on capacity development for our ultimate goal: Universal access to drinking water and sanitation in a safe environment.