On the Occasion of the 3rd Corporate Wellness Conference 2026 | Statement by Shabnam Mallick, Head Of Office - RCO Tanzania

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Colleagues,

Let me begin with a number: one trillion dollars.

According to various sources of research from WHO, ILO, McKinsey and others, that is what the global economy loses every single year — not to war, not to natural disaster — but to poor workplace health. To people who show up but cannot perform. To talented professionals who quietly, gradually, stop showing up altogether

That is not a health statistic. That is a development emergency.

Previously, we were asking whether organizations should support employees through mid-life transitions. That debate is over. The evidence is in. The business case is settled — workplace wellness investments reduce absenteeism significantly (~25%), protect retention, and preserve the institutional knowledge that takes decades to build.

The question before us today is harder and more practical: how do we move from intent to implementation?

That is why this year's theme lands exactly right. Policy that Protects. Wellness that Sustains.

The Edelman Trust Barometer — one of the most authoritative global surveys on institutional confidence — found that globally, the number of employees who trust their employer to do what is right fell to 75% in 2025, a drop Edelman described as unprecedented[1]. Across Africa, business remains among the most trusted institutions — in Kenya, for instance, 72% of respondents expressed confidence in business, even as trust in government fell to just 38%. 

Read that again. In our region, people are not looking to government as their primary source of support. They are looking at their employer.

That is not a burden. That is an invitation.

When an employee navigating menopause, a fertility journey, or a chronic diagnosis looks for support, they are not looking to a ministry hotline. They are looking at their manager. At their HR policy. At whether this organization — their organization — sees them.

The question is whether we are ready to be worthy of that trust.

Now let me tell you what the UN system has been learning — here, in Tanzania — about what happens when we do see people.

UN Women reports[2] indicate, Tanzania's female labour force participation rate has risen (80%) to well above the Sub-Saharan African average (63%) and is among the highest on the continent. That is not an accident. It reflects deliberate investment. In 2021, Tanzania made bold commitments at the Generation Equality Forum and subsequently launched a five-year programme with UN support aimed at dismantling systemic barriers to women's participation and leadership in the economy. 

The results are tangible. By September 2024, this collaboration had resulted in over 250 pledges to advance gender equality[3] — from the private sector, civil society, and innovation hubs across the country. The UN’s Tanzania SDG Acceleration Fund has solid track record promoting gender equality. These are not theoretical commitments. They are investments that are already changing what is possible for working women in this country.

But here is the honest gap: the vast majority of this work focuses on young women entering the workforce — on maternal health, on education, on first employment. The mid-life woman, the one already in the workforce, the one whose productivity and health are being silently eroded — she has largely been invisible in the policy conversation.

That is what this conference intends to address.

The health picture in Tanzania makes this urgency concrete[4]. NCDs now account for 33% of all deaths in Tanzania[5] and are projected to surpass the burden of deaths from infectious diseases — yet the vast majority (62%[6]) of healthcare resources are still allocated to infectious diseases, compared to NCDs (11%[7]). The conditions that cluster in mid-life — cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension — are underfunded, underdiagnosed, and barely visible in workplace policy.[8]

UNFPA has its own lens on this. It frames menopause not merely as a health event but as a human rights issue — one that affects the right to health, to dignity, to economic participation[9]. And yet by 2050, women over 50 are expected to make up about 35% of the global population — a demographic whose workplace needs remain almost entirely unaddressed.

The UN Global Compact calls on businesses to uphold human rights and ensure non-discrimination across all stages of working life. The ILO affirms that safe and healthy conditions are a right — not a benefit. When employees going through menopause, fertility treatment, or chronic illness have nowhere to turn, that is not a gap in a wellness program. That is a gap in policy.  To address these gaps is a complex undertaking – no doubt. SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 8 — health, gender equality, decent work — they converge here, in the lived experience of your employees. No one can address all of these issues alone…but everyone must take up their individual share of the responsibility. The UN system, government and businesses need to work together.

So before you leave today, answer five questions honestly.           

1. Do your health frameworks explicitly name mid-life transitions — menopause, fertility, chronic conditions, mental health?
2. Do your managers know how to respond when an employee raises one of these issues — not just with compassion, but with a clear pathway?
3. Have you actively worked to remove stigma around these topics, not just in policy documents but in daily culture?
4. Do your flexible work arrangements reflect the realities of mid-life health management, not just parenting?
5. And can every employee access quality healthcare?

If you cannot say ‘yes’’ to ALL five today, that is not a failure. That is your starting point.

Tanzania has made important strides — in maternal health, in women's economic participation, in gender-responsive investment. The next frontier is the mid-life workforce. The women and men who built what we have. The people who, with the right support, will take us the rest of the way.

Development that sidelines experienced people at the peak of their contribution is not development. It is waste.

Let today be the day this conference moves from conversation to commitment.

Asanteni sana. Thank you.

ANNEX: 

[1] Great Place To Work®

[2] UN Women report: "Generation Equality Commitment Makers in the Spotlight: Tanzania’s Bold Journey Toward Gender Equality and Inclusive Growth" (published in September 2024 and updated through early 2025) 

[3] UN Women

[4] UN Women "Generation Equality" Progress Report

[5] WHO Tanzania NCD Profile

[6] Tanzania Health Sector Performance Profile (HSSP V)

[7] UN Women/World Bank Health Expenditure Analysis

[8] PubMed Central

[9] UNFPA Guidance: "Menopause and Human Rights — Frequently Asked Questions" (2024)