The workshop was organised to identify the priorities of ECCAS and COMESA on social protection, skills development, and recognition in relation to migrant workers. The JLMP project team also presented the proposed project activities to the RECs and solicited ECCAS & COMESA support and contribution to achieve the expected results. The ILO also seized the occasion to improve knowledge of the RECs representatives on ILO approach, norms, and relevant experiences on the governance of labour migration, protection of migrant workers' rights and extending social protection to migrant workers and skills recognition.

Introduction:

From the 3-6 April 2023, the ILO JLMP-ACTION programme in coordination with ITC/ILO conducted a four-day capacity building and planning meeting for the representatives of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Common Market for East and Central Africa (COMESA) in Turin, Italy. The objective of the planning meeting was to identify the priorities of ECCAS and COMESA RECs on social protection and skills development; to adjust the JLMP-Action activities to respond to expressed priorities and solicit collaboration of the RECs for the achievement of the expected results. The planning meeting was attended by a total of 21 participants (10 male and 11 female) from the ECCAS, COMESA, African Union, IOM, ILO thematic specialists and the JLMP protect team.

Activity:

During the four- day planning meeting, participants engaged with their peers, ILO specialists and highly experienced experts through live interactive sessions. ILO regional and thematic specialists led sessions on bilateral and multilateral social security agreements, mutual recognition of skills and qualifications, skills anticipation and responding to labour market needs, developing mechanisms for skills portability and mobility etc. Furthermore, JLMP priorities on social protection and skills for migrant workers were also presented and aligned to RECs’ priorities. The meeting was concluded with the presentation of the plan of activities by the RECs and review of the draft terms of reference for key studies on social protection in the ECCAs region and skills recognition in the COMESA region.

The engagement with the RECs was structured in three phases, adopting a blended innovative approach. Phase I from 20-30 March 2023 was a virtual pre-course learning. Online self-guided modules were provided to the representatives of ECCAS, COMESA, AUC and IOM online at the ITCILO (International Training Centre of the ILO) e-Campus consisting also of a series of webinars which addressed the key concepts on extension of social protection to migrant workers as well as the skills dimensions of labour migration. Phase II from 3-6 April 2023 was the face-to-face capacity building and planning meeting in Turin. Phase III (10-28 April) consisted of an online follow up phase online. Participants evaluated their learning experience, adopted the workplan and validated the draft ToR for the conduct of baseline studies on social protection and skills recognition respectively. Following the successful planning meeting, the terms of reference for the conduct of baseline studies in ECCAS and COMESA has been published.

Conclusion:

Outcomes of the planning meeting & next steps: Technical and thematic presentations made by ILO specialists strengthened the capacity of ECCAS, COMESA, IOM and AUC representatives in the following key areas: Bilateral and multilateral social security agreements; SWOT analysis by the RECs on the situation regarding extension of social protection in the regions; identification of actions to prioritize extending social protection to migrant workers; Social security in the bilateral labour migration agreements. Capacity of representatives of ECCAS and COMESA on extending social protection to migrant workers and skills was improved; the workplan of both RECS were also developed. Furthermore, priority and workplans of ECCAS and COMESA were developed, as well as adoption of the terms of reference for the conduct of the studies on social protection and skills recognition in the regions.