Zimbabwe

The Africa Regional Migration Program (ARMP) focuses on enhancing the capacities of host governments and civil society to support the resilience of local communities. Its primary objective is to strengthen migration governance, promote partnerships, and enhance preparedness for crises. This program will enhance the coordination and cooperation of governments in addressing migration challenges and leveraging multiple opportunities associated with well-managed migration for both migrants and host societies. 

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.

In July 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe has launched a Trafficking in Persons (TiP) National Plan of Action (NAPLAC) to operationalize the Trafficking in Persons Act which was passed in 2014 to fight against human trafficking in the country.

Officially launched by Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the plan was developed with technical support from IOM, UNODC and the SADC Secretariat. 

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.

Guided by the Africa Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030), the National Migration Policy has been launched by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage's immigration department. 

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC have signed an agreement for $3.9 million in grant financing to strengthen investment, human capital and philanthropic engagement from the diaspora in eight African countries.  

In 2020, the Southern African Development Community adopted the Guidelines on the Portability of Social Security Benefits, through a tripartite process to help SADC countries adopt policies and regulations so that workers in SADC countries can accumulate and access social security benefits across different countries in the region.

The African Postal Financial Services initiative is a joint regional programme launched by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Commission in collaboration with the World Bank, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) – a specialized United Nations agency for the postal sector, the World Savings Banks Institute/European Savings Banks Group (WSBI/ESBG) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

The declaration commits signatories to support and strengthen the capacity of national unions for domestic and migrant domestic workers and lobby the three governments to continue to implement their decent work country programmes incorporating the rights of migrant workers. A communication strategy was agreed upon in order to create a platform for the trade union organisations from the three countries to exchange information and share experiences relating to activities executed on the national level. 

IOM's MIDA program, launched in 2001 and operating in eleven African countries, supports the short or longer term (or virtual) return of expatriate skills to key sectors. In each country, a multi-sectoral MIDA Steering Committee is set up, with the aim of greater coherence within the governments. The networks of participants strengthen interactions between origin and destination countries, which may stimulate further returns and development projects involving diaspora and/or the productive use of remittances.