41 per cent of youth which represents 9.3 million aged between 18 -30 years are not engaged in any productive activity, according to the findings contained in the Uganda national labour force survey, the workers are faced with job insecurity and also lack of training skills among them., however, the government says 7 out of every 10 employed Ugandans are working without contracts and job security, with firms preferring the “illegal” arrangement to avoid tax and other mandatory liabilities.

The survey also says that 40 per cent of the youths are engaged in child labour while others 40 per cent are engaged in unpaid care work,21 per cent in subsistence agriculture and 31 per cent in other subsistence works.

Over 150,000 youths from different universities and other tertiary institutions graduate each year in Uganda yet they compete for only about 70,000 formal or collar jobs in the market annually. Many of these youth, therefore, end up in the informal sector where they find some form of employment. Others have taken to external labour where they seek jobs abroad, mainly in the Middle East. But cheap labour in the market has led to the failure of sustainability of some jobs.

According to a new report on labour trends, employees in the informal sector earn an average of 168,000 shillings per month compared to the formal sector workers and this has presented challenges because of the high cost of living. Kagoya Robinah, the Executive Director of Voices for Labour gave highlights on the report.

According to the Labour Act, the principal law in Uganda governing labour relations, it shall be the duty of all parties, including the Minister responsible for labour, labour officers and the Industrial Court to seek to promote equality of opportunity, with a view to eliminating any discrimination.

The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides substantive protections for the rights of workers in the informal economy, for instance, the right to form and join a trade union of their own choice, the right to work, equality and protection from discrimination. But many of the existing laws do not extend these protections to workers in the informal economy.

The informal economy constitutes 85 per cent of Uganda’s labour force, meaning that the majority of the population depends on it for their livelihoods and survival. The informal economy contributes over 50 per cent of Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This shows the significance and importance of informal workers in Uganda’s economic growth.

Ritah Nandera