JLMP

Background:
The African Union Commission (AUC)-International Labour Organization (ILO)-International Organization for Migration (IOM)-Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration (better known as the Joint Labour Migration Programme or JLMP) in Africa is a long-term joint undertaking between the four organizations, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to implement the 5th Key Priority Area of the Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development adopted by the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments (AU/Assembly/AU/20(XXIV)/Annex 3, January 2015) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2015. Its strategy focuses on intra-African labour migration and supports achievement of the First 2023 Ten Year Plan of the AU’s Agenda 2063 and of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The JLMP has been designed in response to identified challenges in many African countries, such as labour and skills shortages in some sectors and unemployment and a growing youth bulge in others. Moreover, 46.1 percent of migrants in Africa are women who often end up working in traditionally unremunerated roles at destination within the global economy. Female migrant workers are thus a vulnerable group of migrants who are susceptible to working in the informal economy, which renders them even more vulnerable.

JLMP Priority:
In order to have a significant and realistic take-off of the Programme, a Three-Year Project (JLMP Priority) was developed and launched in 2018 with the overall objective of improving 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 Regional Economic Commissions (RECs), as well as international labour conventions and other cooperation processes.

Objectives of the JLMP Priority:
The JLMP Priority prioritizes four specific objectives closely drawn from the JLMP:
1. Outcome 1: Enhanced effectiveness and transparency of operations of labour migration stakeholders, such as labour market actors and institutions, migration authorities, in consultation and cooperation with workers and employers’ organizations, the private sector, recruitment industry and relevant civil society organizations, in delivering improved labour migration governance services.
2. Outcome 2: Improved policy and regulatory systems on labour migration at Member State (MS) and Regional Economic Communities (REC) levels, and considering the gender dimension and relevant international human rights and labour standards.
3. Outcome 3: Multi-stakeholder policy consultation and practical coordination on labour migration and mobility to provide advisory support to MS, AU and REC decision makers; and
Outcome 4: Strengthened capacity of the AUC for continental and regional operational leadership in labour migration management including spearheading/steering the implementation of the JLMP at all levels.