MEDIA ADVISORY

INTER-RECs Experience Sharing and Capacity Building on Labour Migration Policies

What: The African Union Commission (AUC) - Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Meeting for Experience Sharing and Capacity Building on Labour Migration Policies

Who: This event is organized jointly by the African Union Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development
When: The virtual high-level meeting will be organized on 16 June, 2021 @ 10:00 (EAT)

Why:
The RECs are at various levels in the governance of labour migration. Since 2014, Southern African Development Community (SADC) elaborated its Labour Migration Policy Framework which makes provisions for decent work, protection of migrant workers, maximizing the benefit of migration for sending and receiving countries, facilitation of intra-regional labour migration, data management as well as harmonization of labour migration policies. On the other hand, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has the oldest (long standing) Protocol on Free movement, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment and has developed supplementary protocols to deal with employment, enterprise creation and social protection. The East African Community (EAC) has developed an elaborate Common Market Protocol which covers labour mobility, intra-regional movement for goods, services, labour, rights of residence and establishment. EAC is also working on a regional labour migration framework.

Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are the pillars of the AU and have a key role in promoting the implementation of JLMP and ensuring coordination, harmonization and collaboration with other regional processes which have a bearing on labour migration. In addition, RECs promote labour migration governance and management as an integral part of the regional development agenda through increased intra-regional trade and investment. They also ensure alignment of RECs policies, strategies, programmes and plans with the JLMP to ensure ownership, commitment and involvement in its implementation, monitoring evaluation and reporting.

Objectives:
The objectives of the workshop will be to:
a) Enhance the awareness of RECs on existing continental and international frameworks related to labour mobility and migration.
b) Discuss institutional structures that enhance or impede ratification or domestication of relevant labour migration related instruments.
c) Strengthen the network among the RECs, and agree on mechanism for continuous learning, through information gathering, exchange of good practices.
d) Identify and support opportunities for joint undertakings between RECs with joint or match funding based on complementarity and synergy of programmes existing in RECs and the JLMP.
e) Building on discussions initiated during field visits of the Labour Migration Advisory Committee (LMAC), develop strategies to strengthen the partnership between RECs and social partners, especially regarding protection of African migrant workers including through data collection and preparation of research documents, popularization of existing policy frameworks, feedback, and coordination mechanism from citizens to the RECs, especially on the impact of the policies in their daily lives.
Participants:
The Participants will be drawn the following: 8 AU RECs, which involves Offices in charge of labour migration, statistics, and Free movement regimes; Representatives from IOM/ILO Regional Programmes; LMAC Members; STATAFRIC & Statistics Sweden; Partners; and AUC staff /JLMP Partners.
About JLMP Strategic Framework 2020-2030:
The JLMP Strategic Framework 2020-2030 recommended that RECs promote or advocate for improved labour migration governance and management as an integral part of the regional development agenda through increased intra-regional trade and investment. Potential areas of collaboration among RECs include data collection and sharing of information for the protection of migrant workers and members of their families, communication, advocacy for the development/ratification/domestication of relevant continental or regional frameworks related to labour migration, experience sharing on Bilateral labour migration agreements (BLMAs) and their effectiveness within and outside Africa, support to Member States and exchange of good practice on labour migration governance.
Read more about the JLMP Strategic Framework 2020-2030 @ https://jlmp.au.int/en/documents/2020-12-09/strategic-framework-2020-2030
Representatives of the media, are invited to cover the Inter-RECs experience sharing and capacity building on labour migration policies

For more information related to the meeting, please contact:

Mr. Oumar Diop, JLMP Support Unit Coordinator, African Union Commission, Email: DiopO@africa-union.org

For media inquiries, please contact:
1. Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Information and Communications Directorate | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org
2. Ms. Sarah Abdel-Mohsen Elsayed, Communication Officer, African Union Commission, Email: ElsayedS@africa-union.org

For further information:
Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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