Press Releases

Experts Meet to Validate Report on Labour Migration Governance Structures in African Member States and Regional Economic Communities

Nov 07, 2021

Addis Ababa- Representatives from African Union (AU) Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AU Labour Migration Advisory Committee (LMAC), civil society organizations, research and academic institutions gathered virtually on Monday to validate the study, “Labour Migration Governance: Gaps and Challenges in Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS), East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Selected Member States: A Baseline Assessment”.Under the auspices of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration (better known as the Joint Labour Migration Programme, or JLMP), a long-term joint undertaking among the four organizations in coordination with other relevant partners operating in Africa, IOM commissioned the baseline assessment with the objective of strengthening the capacity of ECOWAS, SADC, and EAC in managing labour migration within their regions.The baseline assessment ascertains the status of labour migration management in these selected RECs and Member States (MS), including the state of social dialogue, and the capacity of labour market institutions to govern labour migration.During his opening remarks JLMP Programme Coordinator at the African Union Commission, Oumar Diop, said the meeting was aimed at validating the baseline assessment to identify existing labour migration needs and priorities of selected RECs and Member States.He added, “The study covers EAC, ECOWAS, SADC and the following Member States: Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, gives a broad overview of the state-of-affairs in the pilot RECs and Member States and will help to shape future programming and intervention on labour migration.”The study highlights gaps in human resource, technology and funding mechanisms in the selected RECs. It says how labour migration is regulated and governed in the region should be clearly defined and documented.It also advises developing procedures to involve key social partners in labour governance. Moreover, it highlights that Member States must consider gender responsive policies as they harmonise their labour migration policies and laws, and to respond to regional labour migration needs. The assessment also recommends MSs to expedite the signing and ratification of relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) standards and instruments related to ethical recruitment and protection of migrant workers (e.g., C097, C102, C157, C197). Additionally, capacity building of social partners in all MSs should be on-going so as to improve awareness of labour migration policies and to protect labour migrants.Hicham Achabi, a delegate from Morocco, said, “The Report is very enriching from both a theoretical and practical perspective, and as Member States we must implement the recommendations, for example, establishing memoranda of understating (MOUs) that allow us to improve the work and social life of our citizens living in other countries. Such instruments enable us to have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of issues, allowing our competent citizens to compete in the international labour market.”He cited agreements with Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia as key labour MOUs that his government needed to update.It was also noted during the meeting that developing robust national and regional level labour data information systems was crucial for policy development and implementation.About JLMPThe JLMP seeks to improve labour migration governance in order to achieve safe, orderly and regular migration in Africa, as committed in relevant frameworks of the AU and RECs, international labour conventions and other processes. The programme, launched in 2015, works with AU Member States, RECs, social partner organizations, migrants and diaspora associations to address identified challenges to effective labour migration management in many countries. These include labour and skills shortages, dearth of statistics, weak ratification and domestication of labour standards and free circulation frameworks and addressing the challenge of jobless growth and widespread youth unemployment. ...

JLMP poised to expand support to labour migration governance in Africa

Apr 05, 2021

JLMP outlines ongoing assistance to labour migration governance in Africa

Nov 13, 2020

IOM Releases Guidance for Employers and Businesses on Protection of Migrant Workers During the COVID-19 Crisis

Apr 07, 2020

JLMP Priority Technical Committee Meeting highlighted the key achievements

Feb 20, 2020

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 20 February, 2020: Technical Experts from African Union Commission (AUC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour organization (ILO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Liaison Offices (East African Community, Economic Community of West African States, Economic Community of Central African States, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and Intergovernmental Authority on Development) met to discuss progress, challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the 3-year Priority Project of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP), which is funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The overall objective of the project is to improve the governance of labour migration to achieve safer, orderly and regular migration in Africa as committed in relevant frameworks of the African Union (AU) and RECs, as well as international labour conventions and other cooperation processes.The meeting highlighted the key achievements of the project in 2019 and the work plan for 2020 was reviewed, to keep stakeholders informed of key activities. On challenges, implementing partners noted the need for additional resources to respond to the growing needs identified during implementation of the project, i.e. more flexibility in the disbursement of funds, establishment of a Secretariat for the African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee (AU-LMAC) to enhance the Committee’s capacity to implement its mandate. It was noted, that global and continental frameworks such as Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) present opportunities for continued engagement towards realizing the project objectives. “We appreciate project partners for their support to the AUC, and we need to continue to leverage existing processes at the global, continental, regional and national levels for the benefit of the project” said the JLMP Coordinator, Mr. Oumar Diop, who was representing the AUC Commissioner for Social Affairs. He further noted that the key achievements of the project so far include the finalization the second edition of the Labour Migration Statistics Report, the JLMP Labour Migration Capacity Building Strategy, and the JLMP Communication Strategy. Other achievements include operationalization of the Labour Migration Advisory Committee, installation of the Project Support Unit at the AUC, and roll out of capacity building activities for statisticians, employers and workers’ organizations.On behalf of SIDA, Mr. Ibrahim Kasso, Programme Manager, Migration and Employment commended the work done so far and encouraged all stakeholders to work together to fast track the implementation rate of the project. “Improving the implementation rate of the project will be useful in the process of engaging more donors through results that have been achieved” he emphasized.In addition, stakeholders agreed on the modalities and timelines for the mid-term evaluation of the project, which aims to assess the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the JLMP Priority project. Participants also discussed modalities for the upcoming JLMP Steering Committee meeting and validation workshop of the JLMP Strategic Framework scheduled for 17-20 March 2020. The Steering Committee provides strategic policy direction to the project and comprises all JLMP initiatives. In conclusion, the project team was advised to leverage on the presence of the RECs Liaison Offices in Addis Ababa, to fast track implementation and ease responses from the Secretariats and Member States.The JLMP Priority Project contributes to the 10-year Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance and Integration, better known as JLMP, which is a long-term joint undertaking by African Union Commission (AUC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO), United National Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government in 2015 (Assembly/AU/20(XXIV).For more information related to the meeting, please contact: Mr. Oumar Diop, JLMP Support Unit Coordinator, African Union Commission | Email: DiopO@africa-union.org Ms. Adaeze Emily Molokwu, Consultant, African Union Commission | Email: MolokwuA@africa-union.org ...

Jan 24, 2020

Nairobi – The rescue last week of roughly 100 children and young Ugandan women here as they prepared to fly to United Arab Emirates to labour as domestic workers, reinforces the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) recent assessment that human trafficking has become a menace in East Africa over the past decade. The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) staff in Kenya are all too familiar with these sorts of cases. Last May 19 Ugandan girls were rescued and in Sept 2018, nearly 60 others were rescued as they prepared to board a flight to Oman. “Sadly, there are similar stories from countries across the region,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa. “It is important to ensure countries have policies and legislation in place to address the violations of migrant workers’ rights, smuggling and trafficking in persons as well as combatting organized crime.” A two-day forum of Labour and Social Protection Ministers and high-level government officials from the East and Horn of Africa this week signed a regional cooperation agreement that is an important step in that direction, making it harder for human traffickers to exploit young people looking for work in Gulf states. The agreement, finalized signed Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Kenyan government, with support from IOM and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), aims to harmonize labour migration policies in the region to make labour migration, safe, orderly and humane by establishing a common platform for engagement with the Gulf states and other countries that are major employers of African migrants. Attendees from Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. The lack of harmonized labour migration policies means migrants risk exploitation and abuse through unfair practices including excessive working hours, passport confiscation, confinement and denial of salary. Representatives also agreed to form a Regional Ministerial Labour and Social Protection Forum, with a rotational chairmanship. “This committee, with additional membership from development partners, will take the lead in driving the implementation of key agreements from the Forum,” said Kenya’s cabinet secretary for Labour and Social Protection Simon Chelugui. “It will also advise and provide progress reports to the ministers in charge of Labour Migration in the region on the Agenda of this and subsequent forums.” The ministers agreed to cooperate on the provision of diplomatic and consular assistance for migrant workers, especially in countries where some states did not have diplomatic representation, and committed themselves to expanding bilateral labour migration agreements beyond the level of unskilled workers, such as domestic workers, to incorporate other professionals. ...

IOM, Rwanda Development Board Lead Capacity-building Training for Key Stakeholders on Labour Mobility Management

Jan 02, 2020

Capacity Building Workshop to ECCAS Mss on the Collection of New Types of Data on Labour Migration

Dec 06, 2019

Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo. 03-06 December 2019: Labour migration is continuously becoming a key priority area of concern amongst African countries. Socio-economic status, poverty, political, security, environmental as well as global structural causes all prompt migration within and from Africa, affecting the national and regional labour markets. As demand for cross-border mobility continues to increase, effective governance of migration remains a critical challenge for African states to overcome. Paucity of migration data and subjective analysis contributes to the misperception of migration which can have negative consequences at the national, regional and global arena. The lack of a strong evidence base also leads to poorly designed and ineffective labour migration policies and programmatic interventions. The revised African Union (AU) Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA), the Joint AU/ILO/IOM/ECA Labour Migration Programme (JLMP), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) all emphasize the importance of improving data on migration, especially in regions such as Africa where migration data capacities are often limited.From 3–6 December 2019, African Union Institute for Statistics (STATAFRIC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized a capacity building workshop for experts on labour migration from National Statistical Offices, Immigration Directorate and Ministries of Labour of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) involved in the capture of administrative data, border control statistics, population registers. The objective was to strengthen the collection of new data types with critical indicators for labour migration statistics adopting international statistical standards.Mr. Edwin Righa, representative of IOM, stated that as part of the JLMP programme implementing partners, IOM has adopted a strategy that focuses on intra-African labour migration by supporting the achievements of the first Ten Year Plan of the AU Agenda 2063 and that of the SDGs as committed in relevant frameworks of the AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). “Our goal is to achieve an effective intra-African policy on labour migration and mobility, with good governance, development oriented, and focused on integrating Africa. To meet these goals and make them effective, policies that are grounded on strong evidence, based on data collected on migrant workers by sector and employment patterns are critical.” The African Union Acting Director of Economic Affairs, Mr. Jean-Denis Gabikini stated that the migration phenomenon is a priority for the African Union, expressed through the adoption of the JLMP and the migration statistics project implemented by Statistics Sweden. He noted the need for evidence base which is critical for the achievement of a prosperous Africa. He noted that in the first edition on migration data, 37 countries participated, while in the second edition, 50 Member States have participated. He also informed the meeting that AUC has developed a methodology to capture the data on irregular migration and associated protection risks. The methodology will be piloted in the following countries such as Botswana, Kenya and Tunisia. He expressed hopes for concrete actions from the discussions. He concluded by announcing that the 3rd Edition of Labour Migration Statistics Report in Africa, will be available in 2020, and he called up all the ECCAS Member States to participate in that edition. In her opening remarks, the representative of the Director General of National Institute of Statistics of Congo, Madame Kibangou Hombessa Eudoxie Claudine, Statistics Departmental Director, stated that a framework at the continental level is imperative for quality migration data management. She added that the government of Congo have put in place a framework for improved migration data collection and management, including incorporation of a module on labour migration in the census. She underlined the need for experience sharing among migration data experts in Africa.The meeting was organized by the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Labour Migration Governance Programme for Regional Development and Integration in Africa, also known as the JLMP. JLMP was adopted in January 2015 by Heads of States in Africa to contribute to improved labour migration governance to achieve safe, orderly and regular migration in Africa.For More information, please contact: Mrs. Leila Ben Ali, Head of Statistics Division, Department of Economic Affairs, AUC. Tel: +251911864903, Email: leilabenali@yahoo.fr Media Queries contact: Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of Information, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission Tel: +251 911361185, E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com ...

IOM, Burundi Broaden Cooperation on Negotiating Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements

Nov 26, 2019

High level meeting of African Ambassadors of main countries of origin of African migrants in the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Oct 29, 2019

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 29 October, 2019 - African Experts drawn from major countries of origin of migrant workers in the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperating Countries met to share experiences on international labour migration cooperation mechanisms aimed at improving labour migration governance and explore avenues for policy dialogue with Middle East Countries. This meeting responds to the recommendations by stakeholders in labour migration governance in Africa, for a multilateral process, for enhanced protection of teeming number of migrant workers of African descent in the Middle East.The engagement of the African Union Commission with the diaspora in the Gulf started in 2016 with a desk study that maps the African diaspora living in the gulf and understands the modes and waves of migration. Since then, two field visits have been carried out to United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.Available data show that the Middle East region is the second largest region of destination for African migrant workers due to cultural, religious and historic factors. An increasing number of African Member States have negotiated bilateral labour agreements with Middle East countries, including Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, mainly for the supply of domestic workers. Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Africa and Uganda account for top African migrant workers in the Middle East.Remittances from the Middle East continue to increase, with United Arab Emirates accounting for the second highest remittance sending country in 2017, followed by Saudi Arabia (World bank, 2017). In 2018, Egypt and Nigeria were the top receiving remittance countries in Africa, with a total of USD 28.9 million and USD 24.3 million respectively.In spite of this, labour migration governance in the Middle East and GCC region is in dire need of policy and structural reforms in various areas including training and ethical recruitment, decent jobs, skills recognition, legal and consular services as well as protection of human rights in line with international standards. Qatar for instance, has announced its landmark labour reforms in the Kafala system , as labour migrants will be free to change jobs, do not require exit permits and are no longer subject to discriminatory minimum wage by 2020.Unlike Asian countries, Africa does not have any labour migration multilateral cooperation agreement with the Middle East, hence there are gaps in the protection of African migrant workers and their families. To address this, Sri Lanka as the previous Chair of the Colombo process was invited to the meeting to share its experiences in managing Asian labour migrant workers. In his words, H.E. Ambassador Mr. Sumith Dassanayake stated that “As the previous chair of the Colombo process, Sri Lanka is delighted to share its experiences on managing labour migration from Sri Lanka to the Middle East and GCC region noting that migration is a global phenomenon with opportunities for both countries of origin and destination as well as migrants themselves”.The multilateral framework on labour migration management will be a State-led dialogue process to address issues of common interest between Africa and Middle East, mainly bothering protection of labour migrants, provision of decent jobs, fair and non-discriminatory wages as well as ensuring ethical practices in recruitment and employment.On behalf of the ILO, Ms. Silvia Cormaci, the Manager for the Priority Actions of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa said that, “Current estimates, place the number of African migrants to the Middle East & GCC at three million. There is a need to identify solutions to the identified common challenges and enhance cooperation mechanisms between the key countries of origin and destination for migrant workers. Joint voice by many countries have greater impact than the lone voice of a single country. The ILO remains committed to support the process of engagement and the overall implementation of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP Priority).Also speaking during the meeting, the International Organization for Migration shared its experiences in establishing Inter State Consultation Mechanisms on Migration (ISCMs). The Chief of Mission, Ms. Maureen Achieng noted that “Though it is not as widely publicized in the media as migration to Europe, the GCC is increasingly a major destination of African migrants leaving the continent. The trends and more recent data show that the Middle East is the second largest region of destination for African migrant workers. Beyond existing bilateral agreements, a more integrated approach, in particular an inter-regional mechanism, is needed for African governments to engage the Middle East Countries to explore regular migration mechanisms, protection of migrant workers and their families and dignified return and reintegration for migrants who decide to go back to their home countries.. ”Making her remarks, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs for Ethiopia, Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye stated that “As primary duty bearers to ensure the protection of the rights of migrant workers, the onus is on us, governments, to take the leadership and ownership of the processes of engagement with key receiving countries for our labour migrants. We have a critical role to ensure that we are well informed of the pre-existing information-sharing and policy dialogue forums at the regional, inter-regional or global level.”On behalf of the Commissioner for Social Affairs, the Director, Ms. Mariama Cisse stated the need for African to learn from existing multilateral processes like the Colombo Process and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue which has helped in improving the situation of Asian migrant workers in the Gulf countries. In her words “ Gulf States are willing to engage the African region for a common interest and the Commission is ready to provide all necessary cooperation to make this a success”. She noted that the outcomes of the discussions will be presented during the Africa-Middle East Dialogue which will be held in February, 2020.In his remarks, H.E. Mr. Fafre Camara, the Ambassador of Mali and Chair of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) on Multilateral Cooperation said, “Migration is an opportunity and a development and cohesion. We need to see the different opportunities offered by migration and collectively address the multitude of issues that our migrant workers face within and beyond the continent” The meeting was organized within the auspices of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Labour Migration Governance Programme for Regional Development and Integration in Africa, better known as the JLMP. The programme was adopted in January 2015 by Heads of States with the aim to contribute to improved labour migration governance to achieve safe, orderly and regular migration in Africa.For more information related to the consultation, please contact: Mr. Oumar Diop, JLMP Support Unit Coordinator, African Union Commission, Email: DiopO@africa-union.org For media enquires contact: Mr. Gamal Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer| Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org ...