Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth - 8.8 on labor rights for migrant workers

‘Partnerships for development oriented labour migration’ (PAM) aims to implement developmentoriented migration models for training and employment. Strong partnerships between state, private sector, and civil society actors are intended to create added value for the countries of origin of trainees and skilled workers. The structures in the vocational training sector in the partner countries are to be strengthened and the recognition of migrants' qualifications and skills promoted.

The successful reintegration of migrant workers once they return to Sri Lanka relies on the workers providing evidence of their expertise and experience acquired overseas. Furthermore, a worker's ability to secure employment is linked with their skills and competencies. Presenting proof of expertise and experience acquired can be difficult for low and semi-skilled returnee migrant workers and workers in Sri Lanka. Although Sri Lanka has an established national skills assessment system, there is no systematic method of recognizing the skills of workers.

Zimbabwe’s National Diaspora Policy provides for a comprehensive national framework to formally mainstream the diaspora into national development processes. It aims to develop measures to enhance protection of Zimbabweans abroad, and establish mechanisms for the transfer and repatriation of terminal, pension, and social security benefits for retired returnees through conclusion of bilateral labour agreements with host countries.

Zimbabwe is destination, transit and largely sending country for labour migrants to countries in Southern Africa and further afield. Labour migration in Zimbabwe has been characterized by many challenges, including brain drain, irregular migration, lack of a mechanism for social protection of migrant workers and lack of up-to-date statistics on labour migration.

The project PEM N'Zassa, which is deeply rooted in the two countries in which it is being implemented, Côte d'Ivoire and Belgium, aims to support the entrepreneurial ecosystems in each country. The project proposes a circular mobility model for 120 Ivorian entrepreneurs and SME employees who have developed an innovative entrepreneurial project, and for whom mobility to Belgium represents an opportunity to create value.

This circular mobility scheme makes knowledge and practical exchange possible between Belgian and Senegalese companies. With a view to building the capacities of Senegalese entrepreneurs and connecting them to their Belgian peers, the project aims to offer short-term migration opportunities for business purposes while contributing to the construction of a sustainable economic partnership between the two countries.

This project intended to experiment and test the Global Skills Partnership (GSP) model between Morocco and Belgium, and thereby facilitate the cooperation between the two countries in the management of regular migration.

A Global Skill Partnership is a bilateral labor migration agreement between equal partners. The country of destination agrees to provide technology and finance to train potential migrants with targeted skills in the country of origin, prior to migration, and gets migrants with precisely the skills they need to integrate and contribute best upon arrival. The country of origin agrees to provide that training and gets support for the training of non-migrants too – increasing rather than draining human capital.

The U.S. government is committed to ensuring high labor standards, bringing workers' voices to the decision-making table, and enforcing rules against unfair labor practices – not just at home, but around the world. That is why President Biden launched the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally, the first whole-of-government approach to advance workers’ rights by directing departments and agencies to elevate labor rights in their work abroad.

The Presidential Memorandum on Global Labor Rights helps to:

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has been campaigning for comprehensive immigration and labour law reform to ensure decent work and rights for all workers, regardless of immigration status, and has developed a series of tools and resources to facilitate migrants’ awareness of their rights.