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The International Council of Swedish Industry

Improving business conditions in complex markets

Our journey to promote sustainable business began 60 years ago. Promoting economically, socially and environmentally sustainable business is more important than ever.

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Annual Report
2022

Our 2022 Annual Report sums up the dynamic year we had – adding value for our members and partners from across the globe as an enabler of proactive collaborations and new partnerships.
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Our Programmes

Swedish Workplace Programme

The Swedish Workplace Programme (SWP) promotes workplace dialogue through partnerships between management and employees in OECD/DAC countries. The programme is a cooperation between NIR and IF Metall (the Metal and Industrial Workers Union).
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Sustainability Impact Accelerator

The Sustainability Impact Accelerator (SIA) provides targeted capacity development in support of sustainable investments in projects that align with the local 2030 Agenda in OECD/DAC countries. The programme is a cooperation between NIR and Team Sweden.
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Increasing the potential to produce clean energy

This is one of the projects of the  Sustainability Impact Accelerator. The accelerator develops sustainability of projects to align with the 2030 Agenda in OECD/DAC countries.  

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Who we are

NIR is a member-based non-profit organisation which improves business conditions in complex markets by promoting sustainability. Our members represent some of Sweden’s largest exporting companies and the financial sector. NIR has been operating as a nexus between aid and trade since 1960, interacting with a multitude of stakeholders from governments, agencies and business to academia and NGOs in Sweden and partner countries.
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Want to know more about NIR? Do not hesitate to contact us. Our main office is in Stockholm, Sweden. Regional programme coordinators work out of Kenya, South Africa, Colombia and Vietnam.
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UP!

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UPSKILLING OF UNION SHOP STEWARDS

A lack of enabling environment for social dialogue at the workplace level, despite the provision of legislative acts that protect and promote workplace cooperation is a reoccuring issue  in Kenya. To implement good policy there must be a fertil ground.

Therefore SWP developed the UP!  project. Together with Swedish companies as an entry point, and with unions i South africa and Kenya. 

In Kenya SWP created the SWP UP! Programme targeting skills development of the union Shop Stewards from 18 companies in the Automotive sector in Kenya during 2021. As a result, the Stewards were able to use their skills to build trust and cooperation with management in new ways to avoid conflicts. 

A second cohort of training, in close cooperation with union AUKMW, takes place in 2022.

The training allows shop stewards to step out of their daily routines and understand their role and the purpose of their union, understand the labour market context, the laws that regulate relationships and the business itself. But on a human level, many shop stewards also highlighted that they feel respected as human beings, and that they have developed the skills to engage with supervisors and management and experience respect in professional relations. The experiences had deeply impressed them and helped to project the vision of dialogue and mutual respect and their own potential as a means to change workplaces.

The intervention of the SWP programme had a direct effect at the workplaces, where shop stewards listed several cases where they had managed to intervene and secure results in dialogue with management, avert crises or find solutions based on opportunities and the communication skills obtained during the SWP training. For the Amalgamated Metal Workers Unions in Kenya, the shop stewards pointed to how the training had enabled them to design their own strategies at the workplace in relation to supervisors and staff, and to achieve many concrete results.

Based on this shop steward upskilling, I feel confident that as a union we now have change ambassadors that will grow the industry, protect, and promote decent work principles for both the employer and the employees represented. And that disputes will be dealt with at the workplace level by though consultative dialogue.

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Rose Omamo

General Secretary
Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT AND TRAININGS IN THE UP! PROJECT IN KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA
Click Here