Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January to Question 122105 on Zimbabwe: Health Services, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Health Services Bill on (a) workers’ rights, (b) rights of assembly and expression and (c) health service capacity in that country.
The Bill is in part designed to change the legal framework of heath workers' rights in Zimbabwe - including, for example, potential imprisonment for undertaking industrial action.
It is possible this Bill and the potential changes to terms and conditions of service could negatively impact the ability of service providers to recruit and retain staff - thus reducing wider capacity in the health sector.
We regularly raise issues, including freedom of peaceful assembly and association, with the Zimbabwe government. The former Africa Minister discussed these issues with Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister last June, and our Ambassador made a public statement on this in October.