WageIndicator in Zanzibar

 Introduction

WageIndicator in Zanzibar

The goal of the project is to collect data on wages and labour conditions in Zanzibar. In order to find out what the real wages are in Zanzibar, approx. 1,000 randomly selected workers on Zanzibar are interviewed, using an offline face-to-face survey. This survey was successfully used before in East Africa, and elsewhere. It had been be adapted to the Zanzibar labour market, yet remains basically identical and its data therefore are internationally comparable.

Project page

Project: WageIndicator in Zanzibar

Project duration:  01-01-2014 till 01-016–2014

Funded by: Dutch embassy, Dar es Salaam

Project management: Paulien Osse, WageIndicator Foundation

To implement the WageIndicator in Zanzibar project, the following activities were carried out:

1. Interview up to 1,000 individuals from amongst the Zanzibar workforce, using the offline face-to-face survey. The random sample was created by the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Amsterdam. This survey was used before in a number of other developing countries, but was adapted to Zanzibar circumstances. The survey maps the wages in Zanzibar and makes them comparable to wages in other countries.
2. Create a Salary Check for Zanzibar, using the outcomes of the face-to-face survey as its solid foundation. Through this tool the results of the survey were immediately available in service of the interests of the Zanzibar workforce. With the Salary Check people can find out whether the wage they receive is reasonable.
3. Labour law/Decent Work Check. Relevant and important labour law of Zanzibar was collected and presented on the website in a user friendly way. It uses the so called Decent Work Check, which gives a quick and easy to use overview of the labour law in 49 questions and answers. The Decent Work Check can be used online and offline. Is also used as an awareness raising tool.
4. Minimum wages. In addition to the survey, which collects information about actual wages, the minimum wages of Zanzibar were collected and presented in an internationally comparable way on the WageIndicator website.
5. A basic website mywage.org/Zanzibar was built and made available in English and Swahili.
6. Report on wages.

The project was made possible by a grant of the Dutch embassy in Tanzania.