Tripartite Dialogue on labour and Mixed Migration Governance

The International Labour Organization, Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) programme and Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project, in collaboration with the IOM, and UNHCR, UNODC is organizing a High-Level meeting under the theme “Tripartite Dialogue on Labour and Mixed Migration Governance” from 8 – 12 May 2023, in Arusha, Tanzania in a hybrid format (both in-person and virtual). The meeting will draw forty-five high-policy level participants along with the Prime Minister’s Office, Labour, Employment, Youth and People with Disability. Participants will be primarily tripartite in nature (Prime Minister’s Office, Labour, Employment, Youth and People with Disability) with at least 5 representatives (each) of the most representative groups of Workers’ and Employers’ organisations). The Directors and Senior Level Officials attending the five-day event have expertise in labour and mixed migration issues in the country and will contribute effectively to the discussions.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has set a policy objective to promote fair, ethical and effective labour migration governance through tripartism and social dialogue. Demand in economic sectors such as agriculture, fishing, mining, and construction, as well as services such as domestic work, health care, cleaning, restaurants and hotels, and retail trade, are significant drivers of labour mobility. Mixed migration is prominent in the region, with African migrants, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced persons often using the same migration routes. Expert studies and data show that migration, particularly labour migration, is an important enabler and beneficiary of regional integration and economic development in Africa.

Migrants can have a positive impact on economic growth, with the estimated contribution of immigrants to GDP per capita representing up to 19%. In South Africa, recently arrived migrants represent a positive impact on native-born employment rates and monthly wages as well as a decrease in unemployment rates. When migrant workers are employed in the formal economy, their employment can have a positive effect on public finance. However, migrant workers’ contribution to the economy depends on their job and working conditions as well as migration status. Therefore, governments are responsible for ensuring a positive impact of labour migration on economic growth and development, safeguarding the respect for labour rights of all workers, and ensuring that labour migration policies take into consideration labour market needs. Trade unions and workers' organizations also must advocate for the principles of human and labour rights of migrant workers, the prevention of unfair competition with national workers, and the roles and functions of workers' organizations at different levels.

To overcome some of these challenges and improve labour migration governance in the East and Horn of Africa and SADC member states, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is implementing the Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) Programme funded by the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office from September 2021 to March 2025, and the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM), a four-year project (2020-2023) financed by the European Union. The BRMM programme is working in seven East and Horn of African countries with aim of laying the foundations for improving labour migration governance in East Africa by using evidence-based policies, enhancing migrant workers’ qualifications and skills, and actively engaging the social partners for improved development outcomes. Also, the SAMM project targets the 16 SADC Member States to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region. The project also works on the strengthening of labour migration administration (labour migration unit), refugees and asylum seekers’ access to the labour market, reduction of the transfer cost of remittances and the strengthening of the involvement of the diaspora in the development of countries of origin.

This Tripartite Dialogue on Labour and Mixed Migration Governance, among other things aims to strengthen the capacity and coordination among key stakeholders in Tanzania involved in Labour and Mixed Migration work; Take stock and learn about ongoing progress in the formulation, adoption and/or implementation of national labour migration policies or strategies in the SADC region; and Agree on the composition of a National Labour and Mixed Migration Consultative Committee and/or Technical Working Group and respective national focal points responsible for main thematic areas covered during the Dialogue.

“The International community must do better to ensure the world’s 169 million migrant workers are able to realize their basic human and labour rights,” says ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, on International Migrants Day, 2022