Pakistan and ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative
The ILO is embarking on a project funded by the European Union on ‘Fair Recruitment practices’ - “Global Action to Improve the Recruitment Framework of Labour Migration or REFRAME. In this regard, a national consultation was held in Islamabad on 11th October 2017 to identify the challenges and priorities for action and implementation modalities of this new project
11 October 2017
ISLAMABAD (ILO News): Recruitment is an integral part of the labour migration and impacts the entire migration cycle. Promoting fair recruitment, in line with international human rights and labour standards, will reduce the hardships faced by workers going abroad for various forms of employments and improve migration outcomes for migrant workers as well as for countries of origin and destination. Pakistan is a major labour sending country – mainly to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries- and is part of ILO’s Global Action to Improve the Recruitment Framework of Labour Migration (REFRAME) project, funded by the European Union (EU). This new project, based on international labour standards and on the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment, builds on results of the previous EU funded South Asia Labour Migration Governance Project which came to an end in June 2016.
A national consultation was held in Islamabad on 11th October 2017 to discuss identified challenges and priorities for action and implementation modalities of the new project. The event was attended by senior Government officials, employers, workers, academia, overseas employment promoters and international development partners.
“The project is well timed as the Government of Pakistan is preparing its first ‘National Emigration and Protection Policy for Overseas Pakistanis’, said Mr Manzoor Kayani, Joint Secretary (Emigration), Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource development. He also highlighted objectives of the Policy which covers 3 main areas: promotion of overseas employments for Pakistani workers; welfare of migrant workers and their families both at destination and at origin and return and reintegration of migrant workers.
The Chief Technical Adviser of the Project, Ms Maria Gallotti highlighted the main components of the project. She said that as part of the Fair Recruitment Initiative, REFRAME has been designed as a global, multi stakeholder project aimed at reducing abusive practices and violations of human and labour rights and enhancing the protection of migrant workers during the recruitment process, hence maximizing their contribution to development. The project will seek to achieve three specific objectives, i.e., (i) Test and develop fair recruitment pilot interventions for selected migration corridors; (ii) improve capacity of social partners, business, civil society organizations and the media to deliver more and better information and services to migrant workers throughout the recruitment process; and (iii) produce global knowledge and promote policy dialogue about fair recruitment.
The ILO Representative, Ms Belinda Chanda said that “migrant workers contribute to growth and development in their countries of destination, while countries of origin greatly benefit from their remittances and the skills acquired during their migration experience. Yet, the migration process implies complex challenges in terms of governance, migrant workers' protection, migration and development linkages, and international cooperation. The ILO works to forge policies to maximize the benefits of labour migration for all those involved.” She also highlighted various ILO Conventions and other standards about labour migration and fair recruitment.
The participants identified a number of issues affecting recruitment process including capacity of state institutions, high cost of migration, limited mechanism for effective access to justice for migrant workers, gender disparities in labour participation and in migration processes, lack of awareness among intending migrants about rights and legal channels, lack of skills and lack of information about overseas labour market.
The consultation concluded with prioritizing focused interventions at policy as well as operational levels to improve recruitment processes for Pakistani migrant workers. The ultimate beneficiaries of the Project will be female and male migrant workers who will benefit through the pilot interventions which will include policy and legislative reform, capacity building of relevant actors, awareness–raising activities and better access to information on recruitment channels and practices.
The REFRAME project is part of ILO’s global “Fair Recruitment Initiative” launched in 2014 to help prevent human trafficking and forced labour; protect the rights of workers, including migrant workers, from abusive and fraudulent practices during the recruitment process (including pre-selection, selection, transportation, placement and possibility to return); and reduce the cost of labour migration and enhance development outcomes for migrant workers and their families, as well as for countries of origin and destination.
A national consultation was held in Islamabad on 11th October 2017 to discuss identified challenges and priorities for action and implementation modalities of the new project. The event was attended by senior Government officials, employers, workers, academia, overseas employment promoters and international development partners.
“The project is well timed as the Government of Pakistan is preparing its first ‘National Emigration and Protection Policy for Overseas Pakistanis’, said Mr Manzoor Kayani, Joint Secretary (Emigration), Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource development. He also highlighted objectives of the Policy which covers 3 main areas: promotion of overseas employments for Pakistani workers; welfare of migrant workers and their families both at destination and at origin and return and reintegration of migrant workers.
The Chief Technical Adviser of the Project, Ms Maria Gallotti highlighted the main components of the project. She said that as part of the Fair Recruitment Initiative, REFRAME has been designed as a global, multi stakeholder project aimed at reducing abusive practices and violations of human and labour rights and enhancing the protection of migrant workers during the recruitment process, hence maximizing their contribution to development. The project will seek to achieve three specific objectives, i.e., (i) Test and develop fair recruitment pilot interventions for selected migration corridors; (ii) improve capacity of social partners, business, civil society organizations and the media to deliver more and better information and services to migrant workers throughout the recruitment process; and (iii) produce global knowledge and promote policy dialogue about fair recruitment.
The ILO Representative, Ms Belinda Chanda said that “migrant workers contribute to growth and development in their countries of destination, while countries of origin greatly benefit from their remittances and the skills acquired during their migration experience. Yet, the migration process implies complex challenges in terms of governance, migrant workers' protection, migration and development linkages, and international cooperation. The ILO works to forge policies to maximize the benefits of labour migration for all those involved.” She also highlighted various ILO Conventions and other standards about labour migration and fair recruitment.
The participants identified a number of issues affecting recruitment process including capacity of state institutions, high cost of migration, limited mechanism for effective access to justice for migrant workers, gender disparities in labour participation and in migration processes, lack of awareness among intending migrants about rights and legal channels, lack of skills and lack of information about overseas labour market.
The consultation concluded with prioritizing focused interventions at policy as well as operational levels to improve recruitment processes for Pakistani migrant workers. The ultimate beneficiaries of the Project will be female and male migrant workers who will benefit through the pilot interventions which will include policy and legislative reform, capacity building of relevant actors, awareness–raising activities and better access to information on recruitment channels and practices.
The REFRAME project is part of ILO’s global “Fair Recruitment Initiative” launched in 2014 to help prevent human trafficking and forced labour; protect the rights of workers, including migrant workers, from abusive and fraudulent practices during the recruitment process (including pre-selection, selection, transportation, placement and possibility to return); and reduce the cost of labour migration and enhance development outcomes for migrant workers and their families, as well as for countries of origin and destination.