Americas

The Caribbean Community Free Movement of Persons Act (2006) provides for the free movement of certain categories of skilled labour.

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.

IOM also conducts research projects to improve knowledge for developing new integration policies or programmes. In Portugal, for example, previous IOM-supported research projects have included a 2006 study of the different levels of socio-economic integration of immigrants across different geographical areas (regions, and major metropolitan areas). The study was part of a wider EU-financed initiative which included research projects in Italy, France, Spain and the UK.

Official representatives from 38 member countries and associate members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) adopted the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, which contains a series of agreements to strengthen the implementation of population and development issues beyond 2014, at the end of the First session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held from 12 to 15 August 2013 in the capital of Uruguay.

In his report to the 2014 International Labour Conference, the ILO Director-General called for an ILO Agenda for Fair Migration and emphasised the growing concern about abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices affecting migrant workers.

In response to those challenges, in 2014 the ILO launched a global “Fair Recruitment Initiative” to:

• help prevent human trafficking and forced labour

In 2010, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU) agreed on a Joint Declaration on Migration and Development that was endorsed by the ACP-EU Council in June 2010. In this declaration, the parties committed to strengthen and deepen cooperation in the area of migration, in particular based on three pillars:

The International Remittance Network (IRnet®) was established in 1999 to facilitate remittance flows from the US to Latin America.

World Council of Credit Unions (WCUU )established the Network based on the urging of member credit unions from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Jamaica, and according to the World Bank it resulted in lower fees charged by the IRnet compared to major Money Transfer Companies (MTOs) - a flat rate of $10 to send up to $1000.

The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) was established in 2003 under the aegis of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to ensure that the education programmes of medicine and other health professions offered by institutions in participating countries are recognised nationally and regionally to be of international standard. This single, common registration mechanism enables doctors and nurses from CARICOM countries to do only one exam and practise anywhere in the region.

Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) has effectively raised regional awareness of the consequences of people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime. It is a forum for policy dialogue, information sharing and practical cooperation to help the region address these challenges. The Bali Process, co-chaired by Indonesia and Australia, has more than 48 members, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization fo