Pan-African Parliament reviews new model law to strengthen labour migration governance in Africa

South Africa, Midrand (ILO News) -The International Labour Organization (ILO) this week presented the draft Model Law on Labour Migration in Africa to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), marking a significant milestone toward strengthening fair, effective, and rights-based labour migration governance across the continent.

Speaking on behalf of the ILO, Director of the Decent Work Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mr Alexio Musindo, the Organization reaffirmed its longstanding partnership with the Pan-African Parliament, rooted in the 2021 ILO–PAP Action Plan, which seeks to promote decent work, fair recruitment, and improved labour migration governance. With an estimated 168 million migrant workers worldwide—nearly 5 per cent of the global workforce—and 12.4 million international migrants working within Africa, labour mobility remains a defining feature of the continent’s labour markets.

Despite their contributions, migrant workers continue to face numerous challenges, including precarious working conditions, limited access to social protection, discrimination, and restricted regular migration pathways. The ILO emphasized that ensuring migration occurs under fair and decent conditions is essential for harnessing its full development potential for countries of origin, transit, and destination.

Against this backdrop, the Pan-African Parliament embarked on drafting the Model Law on Labour Migration, aligned with International Labour Standards and key African Union instruments such as the Migration Policy Framework for Africa. The Model Law aims to support AU Member States and Regional Economic Communities in developing coherent, harmonized, gender-responsive, and rights-based labour migration legislation and agreements.

The ILO highlighted the centrality of social dialogue in shaping effective labour migration governance and called for greater engagement of governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations throughout policy development and implementation processes.

Reaffirming its commitment, the ILO expressed appreciation to the Pan-African Parliament and the African Union for the continued collaboration and underscored its readiness to provide technical support as Member States work toward improved protection of migrant workers and strengthened regional integration across Africa.