Developing, negotiating and implementing Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs)

Cairo, Egypt (ILO News) - The Ministry of Manpower and the International Labour Organization, through the “Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa” (THAMM) Programme, in partnership with the International Training Centre of the ILO launched a training workshop on “Developing, Negotiating and Implementing Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs)“, with a view to increasing the potential of BLMAs to improve the governance of labour migration and promote and protect the rights of migrant workers.
The workshop took place from 12 to 16 March 2023 in Cairo, Egypt.

This training targeted a number of Egyptian officials from the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs, Ministry of Social Solidarity, and the National Organization for Social Insurance and equipped them with the relevant skills to better implement existing BLMAs and negotiate new BLMAs to strengthen the protection of Egyptian migrant workers.

Participants have acquired a set of skills that will allow them to:

• review existing BLMAs and address challenges for effective implementation of existing BLMAs;
• learn about good practices from neighbouring countries,
• negotiate new BLMAs following relevant guidance at international and regional levels to integrate social protection and skills modules and adopt a gender-sensitive approach,
• and understand the negotiation process and techniques for effective drafting, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of BLMAs , including through the simulation of negotiating an agreement.

In her opening remarks, Ms Amal AbdelMawgoud, International relations Undersecretary, Ministry of Manpower, asserted that

“The THAMM project is one of the successful projects that provided outputs supporting the Ministry’s activities in several axes, including enhancing human institutional capacities that are active in the various activities of the Ministry. This project represents a harmonious system of cooperation between all the participating parties, which affected the results of the technical level as well, with the aim of improving the level of public service provided to a wide sector of those wishing to work internally and abroad, and through today’s program we look forward to developing the capacities of the participants regarding drafting bilateral agreements while deepening knowledge of their importance”.

Ms Farah El Batrawi, National Coordinator of the THAMM Project, ILO indicated that “This training programme on Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements is designed to adapt to the Egyptian context. Furthermore, the programme targets the relevant officials to enhance their capacities in drafting, concluding, reviewing and implementing Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements that are in line with international labour standards, which ultimately contributes to strengthening protection mechanisms with countries of destination”.