KIGALI (ILO News) – The Roundtable on intra-regional migration and labour mobility in Africa convened from 23-25 March in Kigali, Rwanda adopted key policy recommendations including the elaboration of a roadmap for the implementation of the Joint AUC/ILO/ION/ECA Labour Migration Programme (JLMP) in Africa.

During this three day meeting – first of its kind on the continent - about 90 participants from Regional Economic Communities, African States, International Organisations, Civil society and academia discussed different policy initiatives and mechanisms to prioritize migration to unleash African development potential.

The recommendations also include the ratification and domestication of international and regional standards and frameworks on Free Movement by Governments; the enhancement of capacity building of the labour institutions, social partners, civil society as well as other governmental stakeholders to govern and facilitate free movement, labour and mobility.

In the absence of key recent statistics, sharing of data, research, knowledge and information among stakeholders was highly recommended as well as the involvement of different stakeholders, especially labour institutions and labour society in law-making, policy formulation and administration of labour migration and mobility.

The recommendations of this meeting will be submitted for consideration at the African Union/ Specialised Technical Committee (AU/STC) Ministerial meeting on Social Development, Labour and Employment in April 2015.

Kigali Consensus on migration and mobility

“If we sustain this momentum and we encourage all the RECs to develop and implement protocols and that the AU also develops a continental Protocol framework, we will be able to create an environment on our continent where Africans are able to move freely (…)”, said Dr Matlosa Khabele, Director of political affairs of the African Union Commission.

Underlying the importance of migration in the African Union’s implementation of Agenda 2063 and the Common Position of Africa on the Post-2015 development agenda, Khabele stressed the necessity for the continent to consider the issue of female migrants, in line with the African Union Year of women empowerment and development towards Agenda 2063.

The dedication of the year 2016 to human rights, with a special focus on women rights will aim to emphasize on the importance of setting a development agenda in all sectors including migration and labour mobility through a gender approach, underscored the AU representative.

Mrs Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, UN CO-Chair of the Employment and Labour Cluster underscored the exemplary participation of all 8 RECs and the importance of labour mobility for regional integration and development. She highlighted the fact that the issues raised during the Roundtable reinforce the relevance of the AUC/ILO/IOM/ECA Joint Labour Migration Programme to address the labour migration data gaps, mutual recognition of qualifications; portability of social security benefits; inclusive institutional arrangements to facilitate effective dialogue among key stakeholders within RECs as well as building the capacities of the concerned key players. She reiterated the ILO’s commitment to continue supporting the AUC and RECs through the JLMP in close partnership with the IOM and the ECA.

Senior Regional Advisor for Sub-Saharan Africa at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Mr. Charles Kwenin pointed out the fact that the Kigali Meeting provided a framework for a better understanding and awareness of intra-regional mobility and dispel some of the myths about migration and cross-border mobility. According to Mr Kwenin, this meeting will definitely inform governments and RECs to ratify the existing protocols which have not been ratified and those which are yet to be developed.

The Kigali Roundtable will close on the 26th March 2015 with the 2nd AUC-REC Technical Meeting on Labour Migration. The main objective of this technical Meeting is to agree on an indicative plan for the implementation of the Joint Labour Migration programme in the different Regional Economic Communities.