Programmes

NIR designs and runs programmes that build upon private sector input on how to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development. 

NIR programmes

NIR designs and runs programmes that build upon private sector input on how to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development.

Swedish Workplace Programme

The Swedish Workplace Programme (SWP) promotes enhanced dialogue between management and employees in OECD/DAC countries. The programme is a cooperation between NIR and IF Metall (the Metal and Industrial Workers Union).
View this programme

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.
View this programme

Sustainable Bank Management

The Sustainable Bank Management Programme provides capacity development for professionals within the financial sector in countries with potential to increase the level of international economic integration, access to banking, insurance and financial services.
View this programme

Private Sector Contribution to Social Dialogue

The Private Sector Contribution to Social Dialogue Programme supports dialogue between labour market parties, provides alternative mechanisms for conflict resolution, mediation initiatives and workplace dialogue in post-conflict Colombia.
View this programme

Joint Sustainability Leverage

The Joint Sustainability Leverage initiative brings NIR members together to leverage sustainability in complex markets in multi-stakeholder collaborative action.
View this programme

Innovation for Sustainable Development

The Innovation for Sustainable Development Programme builds upon experiences of the triple helix model of innovation fostering interactions between academia, the industrial sector and the government, the programme supports the development of national innovation systems in an OECD/DAC context.
View this programme

About the programmes

The challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 is more complex than just mobilising the necessary funds. Results in the three dimensions of sustainable development (social, environmental and economic) will require effective governance and a re-orientation of how public and private actors interact. NIR designs and implements programmes in support of this shift.

UP!

Close

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.

Tweet

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