Feasibility study on the establishment of a regional qualifications framework in South Asian countries

This report provides a comparative framework of the skills and qualifications of the existing and future migrant workers in South Asia. It is aimed at bringing equal opportunities and fairness in the recruitment process and remunerations linked with it. It also captures the process undertaken to develop the framework.

This feasibility study was commissioned by ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for South Asia and was based on several of the national, regional and global discussions on labour migration, recommending the development of a regional framework to recognize qualifications across borders as a means to facilitate and improve outcomes of labour mobility.

The framework will enable employers in countries of destination to compare qualifications of the workers across several countries of origin, and to implement evidence-based selection procedures. A regional framework will also contribute to a more level playing field that is based on the competency of the workers, and not their ability to pay high recruitment fees.

The framework will be the basis for the development of the recommended mechanism that will enable the mobility of workers, contributing to ongoing initiatives to further strengthen good governance of labour migration.

It also serves as an input to the UN Joint Programme implemented by ILO, IOM and UN Women called ‘Governance of Labour Migration in South and South East Asia (GOALS)’ to take forward with the stakeholders a South Asia regional qualification referencing framework and the corresponding mechanisms required to operationalize and implement it.