Pre-meeting of Presenters on Monday, 7th December, and
Final Meeting on Tuesday, 8th December 2009
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Context: International labour migration has been a long traditional and on-going phenomenon. It has been a coping strategy for moving out from poverty for many Cambodians. The increased needs for low skilled workers in the international labour market like Thailand, Malaysia, and elsewhere become a pull factor for the unemployed and the underemployed Cambodian workers to reap a better income from working abroad, in spite of the fact that it may fraught with many dangers in the forms of labour exploitation, abusive treatments, and human trafficking. However the problems arise when people are traveling from one sovereign country to another for economic and political purposes which may create social and political consequences in the countries of origin and destination. This has compelled the governments to intervene and formulate migration polices and programmes in order to regulate the flows of migration.
The approach to formulation of the national labour migration policy will be carried out through a process of stakeholder consultations, and be guided by the ILO Conventions No. 97 (Migration for Employment), No. 143 on Migration in Abusive Condition and Equality of Treatment, No. 181 on Private Employment Agencies, and the ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour migration. The labour migration policy for Cambodia will cover the following key components:
I. Promoting good governance on and regulation of international labour migration based on consultative process with social partners and civil society (Governance and regulation of migration);
II. Providing effective protection, empowerment and services to migrant workers (Protecting migrant workers).
III. Mobilizing development contributions of labour migration in terms of remittances, reintegration of returning migrant workers, and linking with transnational communities (Migration and development).
The first consultative meeting was held on 5 May 2009 in Phnom Penh, where the MOLVT gave overview on development on labour migration, and the ILO outlined the roadmap to formulation of the labour migration policy and the key policy challenges in Cambodia. The second consultative meeting was held in Siem Reap between 23 – 25 June 2009 to discuss in details on key issues under three policy components, namely, i.e. governance on labour migration, protection of migrant workers, and migration and development. Based on inputs from stakeholders at these consultative workshops, a draft policy paper was prepared and translated into Khmer for discussion at the third consultative meeting held in Sihanoukville. At the third consultative workshop, the participants reviewed the draft policy paper and provided inputs with respect to the key policy areas, strategic areas, policy options and action plan. With contributions from stakeholders, the final draft Labour Migration Policy for Cambodia have been further refined and submitted to MOLVT for editing the Khmer version. The ILO and the MOLVT together prepared the programme for the final consultative meeting which is scheduled to be held in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, 8th December 2009. To ensure the consistency of the final presentations, it was also agreed that the pre-meeting of presenters will be held on 7th December 2009 in Phnom Penh.
Meeting of Presenters: A half-day meeting on 7th December 2009 will be held with participants who agree to prepare their presentation on the selected subjects for the final meeting. The meeting is aimed to review and refine the contents of their presentations. The meeting will be held at the premises of MOLVT.
Modality of the Final Consultative Meeting: As agreed at the third consultative meeting, the presentations will be divided into five sections, namely, (1) overview on current situation of economic, demographic and migration trends; (2) gender dimension of labour migration; (3) governance of labour migration; (4) protection and empowerment of migrant workers; and (5) migration and development. To ensure ownership and participatory approach, some participants had been nominated to prepare their presentations at the final meeting.
Intended participants: There will be about 70-80 participants comprising senior officials from MOLVT involving in labour migration which include MTOSB, MOLSVY, MOWA, MOFA, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Economic and Finance, Ministry of Planning, Council of Ministers, workers’ and employers’ organizations, recruitment agency, NGOs (CARAM, LSW, CWPD), UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNIAP, and IOM.
Expected outcome: The policy paper will be finalized and submitted to MOLVT for adoption and printing.
Programme of the meeting:
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
0800 – 0830 hrs Registration
0830 – 0900 hrs Opening ceremony
- Welcome remark by ILO
- Opening remark by MOLVT (tentatively by Secretary of State)
0900 – 0915 hrs Presentation on background of the policy formulation
(Director-General of General Department of Labour)
0915 – 0945 hrs Presentation on current situations of economic, demographic and migration trends (Pracha Vasuprasat, CTA, ILO/Japan)
Presentation on gender dimension of labour migration
(Tous Sophorn, Project coordinator, ILO Gender programme)
0945 – 1015 hrs Questions and Answers
1015 – 1030 hrs Coffee/tea break
1030 – 1100 hrs Presentation on governance of labour migration
(Choup Narath, MOLVT and Khiev Serey Vuthea, MOWA)
1100 – 1115 hrs Questions and Answers
1115 – 1200 hrs Presentation on protection and empowerment of migrant workers
(Mom Sokchar, LSCW, Hem Syon, CAMFEBA, Heng Chenda, C.CAWDU)
1200 – 1230 hrs Questions and Answers
1230 – 1400 hrs Lunch
1400 – 1430 hrs Presentation on migration and development
(Noun Vireak, Council of Minister and Bun Sophea, Ministry of Planning)
1430 – 1445 hrs Questions and Answers
1445 - 1500 hrs Summary of the discussions
(Pracha Vasuprasat, CTA, ILO/Japan)
1500 – 1515 hrs Coffee/tea break
1515 – 1600 hrs Closing ceremony
- Official report of the outcomes of discussion on the final draft Labour Migration Policy for Cambodia
(Director-General, General Department of Labour, MOLVT)
- Official closing remark
(H.E. Mr. Vong Sauth, Minister of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training)
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