active· Governance

F.a: Strengthening decent work for commerce sector in Nepal

The project has its objective that the interest of all workers including the youth and women are actively promoted and represented with the positive social dialogue environment with employers through the increased membership in trade unions structure in commerce sector in Nepal. The working conditions in this sector are below the standards. For example, there is a lack of proper and well-defined contracts, the wages are below the state?s minimum wage, there are no social security provisions and there is a lack of job security. One reason for the bad working conditions in the sector is the low level of organising. The commerce sector is dominated by youth and women, but these groups have generally quite a negative image on trade unions. To promote the interests of the commerce workers in Nepal, including youth and women, the project has its output objectives that 1) the workers from commerce companies will be organised, 2) better wages and benefits for the workers will be negotiated, 3) the social dialogue will encourage harmonious industrial relations, and 4) the youth and woman participation in the partner union will improve. To explore the potential for organising, 5) a mapping of the companies will be conducted. The beneficiaries of the project are the workers working in the sector, the trade union activists of the sector, the youth and women workers and the worker?s families who are directly affected by the working environment and conditions, and who deserve rights to dignified work and decent livelihood. The project is implemented with UNI Global Union as the contract partner and UNI Nepal Liaison Council as the implementing organisation. UNI has good project management capacity and the Liaison Council has strong ownership for the project.