Glossary of Policy Coherence of Labour Migration, Employment and Education/Training

Explanatory notes

The present glossary contains a comprehensive set of concepts and definitions on Policy Coherence of Labour Migration, Employment and Education/Training, coming from the ILO, other international organizations and academic literature. The purpose is to have a collection of existing terms, which could be used as a reference. In some cases, more than one definition has been included, for completeness.

BROWSE ALPHABETICALLY:

  1. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

B

  • Bilateral labour migration agreements
    Bilateral labour migration agreements are arrangements between two States. They describe the specific responsibilities of each of the parties and the actions to be taken by them with a view to accomplishing their goals.

    Source: The ILO Migration for Employment Recommendation (Revised), 1949 (No. 86), which contains in its Annex a Model Agreement on Temporary and Permanent Migration for Employment, including Migration of Refugees and Displaced Persons, Click here
  • Bilateral labour migration agreement cycle
    The bilateral labour migration agreement cycle includes the following phases:
    • Preparation;
    • Negotiation, including signature and ratification;
    • Implementation;
    • Monitoring and evaluation.
    • Revision of the agreement, as appropriate.

    Source: ILO – IOM. 2019. Tool for the Assessment of Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements Pilot-tested in the African region. Click here

C

  • Coherence assessment
    Coherence assessment covers strategies and action plans, which should include detailed indicators of achievement; these are key for measuring the effectiveness of implementation and coherence vis-à-vis the policy priorities. The coherence assessment is usually measured in two steps: the first involves the analysis of policy documents (laws, strategies, action plans, sector policies, etc.) and evaluates their theoretical capacity to achieve the objectives set. The second step assesses whether policy implementation is coherent with the objectives set in the national policy (vertical coherence) and among the relevant specific sector policies (e.g. health, education, social security) involved in the labour migration policy (horizontal coherence).

    Source: General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. Click here

E

  • Employment policy
    Employment policy is described in Article 1 of the ILO Employment Policy Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122) as follows:
    1. With a view to stimulating economic growth and development, raising levels of living, meeting manpower requirements and overcoming unemployment and underemployment, each Member shall declare and pursue, as a major goal, an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment;
    2. The said policy shall aim at ensuring that –
    (a) there is work for all who are available for and seeking work;
    (b) such work is as productive as possible;
    (c) there is freedom of choice of employment and the fullest possible opportunity for each worker to qualify for, and to use his skills and endowments in, a job for which he is well suited, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

    Source: Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169).
    ILO Employment Policy Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122).
  • Employment services
    The essential duty of the employment service shall be to ensure, in co-operation where necessary with other public and private bodies concerned, the best possible organisation of the employment market as an integral part of the national programme for the achievement and maintenance of full employment and the development and use of productive resources. The employment service shall consist of a national system of employment offices under the direction of a national authority.

    Source: Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) (Articles 2 & 3).
  • Employment services providers
    Employment services providers are tasked with providing the services necessary for labour migration and ensuring that returnees have assistance for labour market reinsertion. The employment services providers include public employment services and private employment agencies, as well as other organizations at the forefront of requests for support services to migrant workers (potential, current and returning migrant workers) and refugees.

    Source: ILO 2020. How to facilitate the recognition of skills of migrant workers Second edition. Guide for employment services providers. Click here
  • External labour migration policy coherence
    External labour migration policy coherence relates to the coherence between migration policies and policies of other relevant domains (which are touched upon or are affected by migration), in particular, employment and education/training policies.

    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. Click here

G

  • Gender analysis
    Gender analysis is the critical starting point for gender mainstreaming: The first step in a mainstreaming strategy is the assessment of how and why gender differences and inequalities are relevant to the subject under discussion.

    Source: UNDP. 2016. How to conduct a gender analysis - a guidance note for UNDP staff.
  • Gender mainstreaming
    Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.

    Source: United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
  • Global compact on migration
    The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (A/RES/73/195), is the first intergovernmental agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. It was adopted at an intergovernmental conference on migration in Marrakesh, Morocco on 10 December 2018.

    Source: Click here

H

  • Horizontal dimension of labour migration policy coherence
    Horizontal dimension of labour migration policy coherence reflects the coordination among the different policy fields such as labour migration, employment and education/training policies

    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies Click here

I

  • Internal labour migration policy coherence
    Internal labour migration policy coherence concerns the coherence between policies on different dimensions of migration (which interact in various combinations), such as migration for employment (labour) versus migration for development, policies to control migration and policies to promote or facilitate migration.

    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. ILO 2017. Click here

L

  • Labour Market Information System
    A labour market information system is a network of institutions, persons and information that have mutually recognized roles, agreements and functions with respect to the production, storage, dissemination and use of labour market related information and results in order to maximise the potential for relevant and applicable policy and programme formulation and implementation.

    Source: Click here
  • Labour Market and Migration Information System
    A labour market and migration information system is a labour market information system, including data and information in the field of employment, education and labour migration.

    Source: IOM 2011. Best practices on collecting and sharing labour migration data for the improvement of the labour market information systems (LMISS), Click here
  • Labour mobility
    Temporary or short-term movements of persons for employment-related purposes, particularly in the context of the free movement of workers in regional economic communities.

    Source: Guidelines concerning statistics of international labour migration ICLS 2018.

M

  • Mapping of migration, employment and education/training policies
    A comprehensive overview of policy coherence at the national level regarding the three policy areas of interest: national migration, employment, and education and training policies, as well as tools for the recognition of qualifications, could be done by using the following structure:
    • Membership in regional economic communities, which envisage the possibility of skills mobility:
    • Information on the presence or otherwise of a national employment policy:
    • Information on national education plans and strategies:
    • Interlinkages among national employment, labour migration and education/training policies.
    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. Click here
  • Measuring labour migration policy coherence
    To measure/assess the level of migration policy coherence, there are eight general principles:
    Principle 1
    The labour migration policy design process is clearly and timely organized by the designated institution/line ministry, in close consultation with other relevant institutions such as ministries of labour and other stakeholders, including employers’ and workers’ organizations
    Principle 2
    Labour migration policies are evidence-based and gender-sensitive, and reflect real labour market needs.
    Principle 3
    Labour migration policy contains clear commitments, is budgeted and time-bound.
    Principle 4
    Labour migration, employment and education/training policy interlinkages (synergies and trade-offs) should be carefully considered during the policy drafting process. Other national policies, where relevant (security, trade, etc.) and gender-related aspects should also be taken into account, as appropriate.
    Principle 5
    Labour migration policy reflects a country’s international obligations such as international labour standards, fundamental principles and rights at work, and other ratified treaties and Conventions as well as signed bilateral and multi-lateral labour migration arrangements.
    Principle 6
    Labour migration policy encompasses cooperation efforts at all levels (bilateral, regional and multilateral).
    Principle 7
    There are formal mechanisms to guarantee effective feedback between different levels of government involved in the implementation of the labour migration policy.
    Principle 8
    There are monitoring mechanisms and tools in place to assess labour migration policy implementation.

    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. Click here
  • Memorandum of Understanding
    It is used where the parties have agreements on general principles of cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding will describe broad concepts of mutual understanding, goals, and plans shared by the parties. They are usually non-binding instruments.

    Source: ILO 2018. Good practices and provisions in multilateral and bilateral labour agreements and memoranda of understanding (P. Wickramasekara), Click here
  • Multilateral agreement
    A multilateral agreement is an agreement signed by three or more countries that becomes compulsory once ratified by the signatory parties.

    Source: ILO-IOM. 2019. Tool for the Assessment of Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements Pilot-tested in the African region. Click here

N

  • National education policy
    A national education policy establishes the main goals and priorities pursued by the government in matters of education – at the sector and sub-sector level or in a given field – and the main strategies to achieve them.

    Source: Jallade, L.,Radi, M. and Cuenin, S. 2001. National education policies and programmes and international cooperation - What role for UNESCO? . UNESCO. Click here
  • National employment policy
    A national employment policy is a concerted and coherent vision of a country’s employment objectives and ways to achieve them. It thus refers to a set of multidimensional interventions that are envisaged in order to achieve specific quantitative and qualitative employment objectives and targets in a given country.

    Source: ILO. 2021. Guide for the formulation of national employment policies / International Labour Office, Employment Policy Department. – Geneva. (page 12). Click here
  • National labour migration policy
    Articulation of an explicit national policy framework, strategy and/or action plan on migration is a natural first step towards defining a regime of migration governance. A national framework would usually spell out objectives for policy and action, including economic, developmental, social and political goals, as well as that of upholding and implementing the law. A policy framework would normally also identify the implementation measures and the requisite administrative structures to carry them out, supervise them and evaluate them, as well as designate or identify the roles and responsibilities of different branches of government and of other stakeholders, particularly social partners.

    Source: ILO 2010. International labour migration. A rights-based approach. pp. 218–219).

P

  • Participatory assessment of labour migration policy coherence
    Conventional assessments of policies is usually conducted by an expert, without the involvement of all stakeholders and beneficiaries. Therefore, it is particularly important that people directly connected to labour migration and affected is fully involved in the design, adaptation or change of the policies that need to be assessed. The result is a partnership approach in which all stakeholders are actively engaged in all phases of the assessment.

    Source: ILO 2021. Manual on participatory assessment of policy coherence.
  • Policy coherence
    Policy coherence means ensuring that policies and programmes regarding migration and other areas do not conflict with each other, either directly or unintentionally.

    Source: ILO. 2010. International labour migration – A rights-based approach. (p. 146)
  • Policy coherence cycle
    A policy coordination cycle includes the following steps:
    • Policy design
    • Coherence assessment
    • Implementation
    • Coherence assessment
    • Policy feedback
    • Adaptation of legal framework.
    Source: ILO. 2017. General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. Click here
  • Policy coordination
    Policy coherence makes possible that labour, education and other ministries, social partners, training providers, and employment services worked together to anticipate occupation and skill needs and target training towards meeting them.

    Source: ILO. 2012. Employment for social justice and a fair globalization Overview of ILO programmes. Click here
  • Policy cycle
    A policy cycle is normative, suggesting a logical sequence of recurring events practitioners can use to comprehend and implement the policy task. All components are inter-linked and the completion of the tasks under each component is instrumental to move on to the subsequent one.

    Source: ILO. 2012. Guide for the formulation of national employment policies.
  • Policy reference framework
    A policy reference framework includes policies, strategies and action plans. Policies are decided by the government of the country and correspond to the legal priorities established by the parliament or legal environment. Laws can be implemented directly or require by-laws and other implementing rules to become operational. When faced with complex matters, such as labour migration issues that require the involvement of many actors, resources and gradual implementation, a country may decide to set implementation strategies indicating the priorities to be achieved. The strategy can also include an action plan, which could be adopted separately, indicating the ways and means to achieve the set objectives, including time frames, responsible agencies, etc. These action plans are also useful in coordinating efforts and mobilizing resources.

    Source: General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. ILO 2017 (N. Popova and F. Panzica, 2017). Click here
  • Private employment agency (PrEA)
    According to the ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), the term private employment agency means any natural or legal person, independent of the public authorities, which provides one or more of the following labour market services:
    • services for matching offers of and applications for employment, without the private employment agency becoming a party to the employment relationships which may arise therefrom;
    • services consisting of employing workers with a view to making them available to a third party, who may be a natural or legal person (referred to below as a "user enterprise") which assigns their tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks;
    • other services relating to job seeking, determined by the competent authority after consulting the most representative employers and workers organizations, such as the provision of information, that do not set out to match specific offers of and applications for employment.

    Source: ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181).
  • Procedural policy coherence
    Procedural coherence refers to the degree of coordination and collaboration between the relevant administrative units.

    Source: Morin and Orsini, 2013 in General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. ILO. 2017. Click here
  • Public Policy
    A set of interrelated decisions, taken by public authorities, concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them.

    Source: ILO. 2021. Guide for the formulation of national employment policies / International Labour Office, Employment Policy Department. – Geneva. (page 4). Click here

R

  • Regional economic communities
    The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are regional groupings of African states. The RECs have developed individually and have differing roles and structures. Generally, the purpose of the RECs is to facilitate regional economic integration between members of the individual regions and through the wider African Economic Community (AEC), which was established under the Abuja Treaty (1991).

    Source: Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Click here

    Source: With the same common scope of economic development, other regional communities have been established in other Continents, such as the Caribbean area (CARICOM) and in Asia (ASEAN) Click here

S

  • Social dialogue
    Social dialogue includes all types of negotiation, consultation and exchange of information between or among representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. Social dialogue is both a means to achieve social and economic progress and an end in itself, as it gives people a voice and a stake in their societies and workplaces.

    Source: International Labour Conference, 107th Session. 2018. Social dialogue and tripartism. Click here
  • Social Security Systems
    Social security is a human right which responds to the universal need for protection against certain life risks and social needs. Effective social security systems guarantee income security and health protection, thereby contributing to the prevention and reduction of poverty and inequality, and the promotion of social inclusion and human dignity. They do so through the provision of benefits, in cash or in kind, intended to ensure access to medical care and health services, as well as income security throughout the life cycle, particularly in the event of illness, unemployment, employment injury, maternity, family responsibilities, invalidity, loss of the family breadwinner, as well as during retirement and old age.

    Source: Click here
  • Substantive policy coherence
    Substantive coherence refers to the degree of complementarities between the diverse policies adopted to address the different issues related to a societal challenge.

    Source: Morin and Orsini, 2013 in General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. ILO. 2017. Click here

V

  • Vertical dimension of labour migration policy coherence
    The vertical dimension of labour migration policy coherence assesses whether policy implementation is coherent with the objectives set in the national policy;
    In general terms, the policy coherence is assessed along four levels:
    Local level - In many countries, the implementation of policies can be delegated to local authorities (provinces, municipalities, etc.) or to agencies with decentralized branches (e.g. public employment services);
    National level - The lack of policy coherence at the national level is often due to the absence of coordination and information exchanges between the ministries and government institutions that cover migration;
    Regional level - The possibility for functioning policy coherence to take place in migration governance is much higher within regional economic communities focused on trade and the use of the regional labour pool;
    International level - A lack of policy coherence is often manifested in weak dialogue between origin and destination countries in coordinating migration policies, which in turn prevents the full realization of the positive impact of migration for all parties involved.

    Source: General practical guidance on promoting coherence among employment, education/training and labour migration policies. ILO. 2017. Click here