The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the first and oldest specialised agencies of the UN. The ILO has 187 member states: 186 out of 193 UN member states plus the Cook Islands. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with around 40 field offices around the world, and employs some 3,381 staff across 107 nations, of whom 1,698 work in technical cooperation programmes and projects.
Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than 200 km (120 mi) north to south and 130 km (81 mi) east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld.
The Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) is the military of the Southern African Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland). It is used primarily during domestic protests, with some border and customs duties; the force has never been involved in a foreign conflict. The army has struggled with high rates of HIV infection. Since measures were put in place the rate is dropping.
Mswati III is the King of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger wives, Ntfombi Tfwala. He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, thus becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at that time. Together with his mother, Ntfombi Tfwala, now Queen Mother (Ndlovukati), he rules the country as an absolute monarch. Mswati III is known for his practice of polygamy and currently has 15 wives.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910.
The People's United Democratic Movement is the largest opposition party in Eswatini. It is a democratic socialist party. Formed in 1983 at the University of Eswatini, it is led by Mlungisi Makhanya. The Swazi government has been monitoring PUDEMO closely since it launched the Ulibambe Lingashoni campaign, which aims for a "total liberation" of Eswatini, and has recently cracked down heavily on even small manifestations of support for PUDEMO, such as the death in custody of PUDEMO member Sipho Jele, who was arrested for wearing a PUDEMO t-shirt in May 2010.
Mario Thembeka Masuku was a Swazi politician who was the leader of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Eswatini's banned opposition party.
Child labour in Eswatini is a controversial issue that affects a large portion of the country's population. Child labour is often seen as a human rights concern because it is "work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development," as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Additionally, child labour is harmful in that it restricts a child's ability to attend school or receive an education. The ILO recognizes that not all forms of children working are harmful, but this article will focus on the type of child labour that is generally accepted as harmful to the child involved.
Mbabane Swallows Football Club is a Eswatini football club based in Mbabane.
The Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was a trade union federation in South Africa.
The Global Labour University (GLU) is an international network of universities, trade unions, NGOs and the International Labour Organisation. It was initiated in 2002 and offers master's programs, academic certificate programs and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) on sustainable development, social justice, international labour standards and trade/labour unions, economic policies and global institutions.
Vincent Ncongwane (1962-2021) was born on 19 April 1962 in South Africa and died on 7 October 2021. He was secretary general of the Swaziland United Democratic Front and secretary general of the Swaziland Federation of Labour and the Swaziland Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers.
Sipho Jele was a member of the banned Swazi political party People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) as well as the Swaziland Agricultural and Plantations Workers Union (SAPWU), part of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU). He died in police custody in Swaziland, after having been arrested on 1 May 2010, at the SFTU May Day celebrations, for having worn a T-shirt with a Pudemo logo. Sipho Jele was found hanging from the rafters of a toilet at the Sidvwashini Correctional facility where he was being held on 4 May.
Maxwell Dlamini is the Secretary General of SWAYOCO and the former President of the University of Swaziland Students Representative Council. During the so-called "April 12 Swazi Uprising" in April 2011, he and fellow activist Musa Ngubeni were arrested on charges of possession of explosives under Sections 8 and 9 of Swaziland’s Explosives Act 4 of 1961. They were both allegedly tortured and were subsequently refused bail. They were imprisoned at the Manzini Remand Centre.
Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini is the union government created by the constitution of Eswatini where the monarch holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The Ngwenyama (lion) is a hereditary leader, rules the country, with the assistance of a council of ministers and a national legislature.
The Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) was a national trade union center in Swaziland. It was founded in 1983 and dissolved into the Trade Union Congress of Eswatini (TUCOSWA) in 2012.
A series of protests in Eswatini against the monarchy and for democratisation began in late June 2021. Starting as a peaceful protest on 20 June, they escalated after 25 June into violence and looting over the weekend as the government took a hardline stance against the demonstrations and prohibited the delivery of petitions.
The Unthinkable is a documentary film directed by Comfort Ndzinisa, which provides a view of the civil strive in The Kingdom of Eswatini through a blend of in-person interviews with victims and survivors of the state crack-down on pro-democracy 2021 Eswatini protests and footage. The unrest follows the death of a Law student, Thabani Nkomonye allegedly in the hands of the police.
