Regional Consultative Processes and International Regional Fora

The ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) is a regional tripartite platform to discuss issues faced by women and men migrant workers from and within ASEAN.

The ILMS Database is the first of its kind in the region. It gathers together official government data from a number of statistical sources on international migrant workers’ stocks and flows within the region as well as on countries’ nationals living or working abroad. In doing so it fills an important knowledge gap, creating a powerful research tool through which policymakers and others can profile and monitor the international migrant labour force within the region.

The Free Movement and Migration (FMM) West Africa project seeks to support the development of standardized procedures to collect and process migration-relevant data. The project also  supports the ECOWAS Commission in the development of a regional migration profile, providing an overview of migration data and trends in the ECOWAS region.

Art. 35 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (2001) covers the issue of acceptance of Diplomas, Certificates, and other Evidence of Qualifications among CARICOM countries. It mentions that Member States shall establish or employ, as the case may be, appropriate mechanisms to establish common standards to determine equivalency or accord accreditation to diplomas, certificates and other evidence of qualifications secured by nationals of other Member States.

The Caribbean Association of Training Agencies (CANTA) was created to establish and govern a Regional Training and Certification System to harmonize national TVET systems and develop regional standards in training and establish a system for assessment, certification and recognition of skills. All certification in the region comes under the CARICOM Vocational Qualification (CVQ) framework.

The Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) is one of the five pillars of the African Peace and Security architecture (APSA). 

The CEWS is responsible for data collection and analysis and is mandated to collaborate with “the UN, its agencies, other relevant international organizations, research centres, academic institutions and NGOs” with its information to be used by the Chairperson of the Commission” to advise the Peace and Security Council (PSC), on potential conflicts and threats to peace and security in Africa and recommend the best course of action.”

All ASEAN Member States adopted  in 2007 the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

The Declaration underlines ASEAN Member States’ commitments to, among others, promote decent, humane, and dignified employment, as well as prevent and curb smuggling and trafficking of persons. Indonesia and ASEAN member states are now working towards the establishment of a legally-binding instrument on the protection of all migrant workers, regardless of their employment status.

The Regional Conference on Migration (RCM or Puebla Process) is a multilateral regional forum on international migration which involves countries that, from different perspectives, share a common problem, based on experiences relating situations of origin, transit and destination for migration. 

RCM member countries includes Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Dominican Republic. 

Budapest Process is a good example of cooperation between countries of two regions; Europe and Asia. A successful process, it gathers over 50 countries and more than ten international organisations. It aims to foster dialogue and share best practices in managing migration flows in order to achieve concrete and results-oriented outcomes.

The Almaty Process aims to address the multiple challenges resulting from complex migration dynamics and mixed migratory movements in Central Asia and the wider region, in a cooperative and coordinated manner.

The Almaty Process promotes sustained dialogue and exchange of information on migration issues and on refugee protection challenges such as, but not limited to:

• Irregular migration
• Human Trafficking
• Migrant Vulnerabilities
• Migrant Integration
• Human Mobility
• Human Rights of Migrants.