AU receives delegates from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)  

As part of the Government of Switzerland’s support to the African Union in the implementation of the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Program on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP), three high level officials from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation visited the African Union to discuss the implementation of the recently launched Catalytic Actions of the AU/ILO/IOM/UNECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP Action).  

JLMP Action complements the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) funded Priority Actions of the Joint Labour Migration Programme (2019-2022) and its successive project which is being negotiated. The project covers two Regional Economic Communities (RECs), namely Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and five Member States namely Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Malawi and Morocco. The project commenced 1 July 2021 and will run until 31 December 2024.  

During the meeting, JLMP partners namely AUC, IOM, ILO and GIZ recounted initial achievements so far and brainstormed on ways to enhance implementation for more impactful results to beneficiaries. “The project has produced very important policy guidelines and documents to guide labour migration governance in the continent and these have been well received by Member States,” noted Mr. Sabelo Mbokazi, Head of the Labour, Employment and Migration Department.   

Given the scope of the project, implementing agencies also discussed strategies for coordination and synergy of interventions to ensure alignment with the JLMP Strategic Framework and other AU policy frameworks.  

“For coherence, we must promote a one-JLMP approach with regards to the governance, staffing, evaluation and reporting of the different contributing projects,” noted Ms. Odile Roberts, Deputy Head of the migration and development programme of SDC.  

Participants also discussed the findings of the Gender Analysis of the project and explored mechanisms to ensure gender-responsiveness, including amplifying the voices of the migrant men and women who are the final beneficiaries of the project. The project will also roll out capacity building activities for the project staff and beneficiary agencies in line with the Gender Action Plan.