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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.

Migration is here to stay, funding public services is vital to address it

20 December 2018
George de Moussa - Lebanon

In an Op-ed published around the world, Geneviève Gencianos, PSI Migration Programme Coordinator, writes about public service workers who are at the frontline providing basic services to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. It is through public services that we can fight inequality and build resilient and inclusive societies.

Time for quality revolution in healthcare

19 December 2018
Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary

A major focus of this edition of Right to Health is the need to go beyond the tokenism which favours profit-making for health companies over the provision of “universal health coverage.” PSI has always maintained that we need quality health for all, and this is possible only when it is publicly delivered, says Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary.

International Migrants Day - 18 December

18 December 2018

“In the face of conflict and climate related migration, we uphold the human right to quality public services in welcoming migrants and supporting inclusive and resilient communities.”

PSI joins civil society in welcoming the UN Global Compact on Refugees

18 December 2018

17 December 2018 marks the approval by the UN General Assembly of the United Nations Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). A result of a series of thematic discussions and formal consultations conducted by the UNHCR from 2017 through 2018, the GCR aims to strengthen the international response to large movements of refugees and protracted refugee situations.

Quality Public Health for All: Time for Action

17 December 2018

Last year the UN General Assembly officially established 12 December as an international day, making 12 December 2018 the first International Universal Health Coverage Day. For PSI, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the unacceptable health inequities between and within countries across the world. Considering the abundant wealth available to humankind and major advances made in healthcare delivery, this situation is indefensible.

Japan Enacts a Revised Water Supply Act to all for-profit PPPs

14 December 2018

Despite the mounting evidence of the problems of public-private partnerships (PPPs), private concessions, or other forms of turning public water utilities into profit machines for private corporations, the pro-market national government of Japan snuck in a legislative provision to do just that. PSI supports Jichiro, Zensuido and allies opposing water privatisation bill in Japan.

Salute to Amit Sengupta!

14 December 2018

Dr Amit Sengupta, a leading figure in the global struggle for the right to health, died on 29 November in a swimming accident off the Betalbatim beach in Goa, India, at 60 years of age. For four decades, he committed his life to the struggle for a better world, a struggle which prioritised the furtherance of scientific knowledge and public health for all

Badge for International Womens' Day (IWD) 2016

01 March 2016

This badge has been published by Public Services International for International Women's Day, 8 March 2016. It is available in English, French and Spanish.

Action guide for international women's day campaign - 8 March 2016

26 February 2016

In 2015, the World Women's Committee (WOC) decided to make Equal Pay the main theme of its celebration of International Women's Day in 2016. PSI has already achieved a lot on this issue, as is widely recognised. It took the lead in calling on its affiliates, the global union federations, the ILO, governments and women's organisations to defend economic rights. PSI is now internationally recognised as a union that defends women's rights at work and in society in general.

Posters for International Womens' Day (IWD) 2016

26 February 2016

These posters have been published by Public Services International for International Women's Day, 8 March 2016. They are available in English, French and Spanish and in both high- and low-resolutions.

Mistreated: The tax treaties that are depriving the world’s poorest countries of vital revenue

25 February 2016
Mistreated

ActionAid has released a new report that reveals how tax treaties are reducing the tax that some of the world’s poorest countries can collect from multinational companies.

Resolution from AFRECON Young Workers' Seminar

17 February 2016

Resolution presented at the end of the Young Workers' Seminar held during the 12th African and Arab countries Regional Conference (AFRECON)
of Public Services International (PSI) held in Gaborone, Botswana, 22-25 September 2015

Collective bargaining - a policy guide

08 December 2015

How can governments advance the effective recognition of this fundamental right? Which policies and institutions promote collective bargaining and how might they be established?

The Free Fracking Agreement - Proposed TiSA Annex on Energy Related Services

02 December 2015

Public Services International (PSI) and International Forum on Globalisation released the first known analysis of the proposed Annex on Energy Related Services to inform the COP 21 climate summit.

Protecting the Public Interest from Predatory Privatization and Outsourcing: A Call to Action

01 December 2015

Joint statement by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Public services International (PSI) for the meeting discussing the global push for privatization, linking unions' national campaigns to regional and global dynamics taking place in Washington, D.C. on 2-3 December.

Posters: Climate change 2015

23 November 2015
Posters

The 2015 posters on climate change for COP21 are now available for download in English, French and Spanish

Posters: End violence against women 25 November 2015

23 November 2015

These two PSI posters for the International day for the elimination of violence against women on 25 November 2015 are available for download in English, French and Spanish.

Emergency resolution in response to the release of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement text

19 November 2015

In response to the release of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) text the 19th PSI Steering Committee meeting that met in Geneva, Switzerland on 17-18 November adopted the following resolution.

Table of missing tax payments

10 November 2015

Corporations do not always want to pay tax on their profits where they are making their profits. They often engage in a strategy called profit shifting whereby, through artificial subsidiary companies they shift their profits into low or no tax countries and thereby avoid paying taxes where profits are made. Research by the Tax Justice Network reveals the real figures behind missing tax.

Still Broken

09 November 2015

Governments must do more to fix the international corporate tax system
New research shows that the gap between where companies pay tax and where they really do their business is huge. In 2012, US multinationals alone shifted $500–700bn, mostly to countries where these profits are not taxed, or taxed at very low rates. G20 countries themselves are among the biggest losers. The measures recently announced by the OECD leave the fundamentals of a broken tax system intact and do not stop the race to the bottom in corporate taxation. G20 governments must do more and should strongly support further reforms.

Joint statement to the UNCSW60

04 November 2015

Joint statement submitted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Education International (EI), Public Services International (PSI) and International Transport Federation (ITF), civil society organisations with consultative status at the Economic and Social Council to the upcoming UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW60).

Reports from pension fund meetings, September 2015

28 October 2015
Hands holding coins and two leaves

A number of PSI affiliates are concerned about pension fund investments in privatization, a process that is likely to increase under pressure from the G-20 and the OECD. These two documents describe the on-going work related to investment practices and policies of capitalized pension funds.

58th UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW)

10 March 2014

Priority theme:
Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls.

Review theme:
Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work (agreed conclusions from the fifty-fifth session).