Labor Mobility

The Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration (better known as the Joint Labour Migration Programme or JLMP) in Africa is a long-term joint undertaking between the four organizations, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to implement the 5th Key Priority Area of the Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development adopted by the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments (AU/Assembly/AU/20(XXIV)/Annex 3, January 2015) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2015.

Belgium and Tunisia have implemented a skills mobility partnership: Paving the way for future labour migration. This initiative is a multidimensional cooperation framework between different stakeholders from both countries (e.g., immigration office, public employment services, employers’ associations) aimed at assessing labour market needs, streamlining procedures, selecting candidates.

Justice for Wage Theft is a campaign platform created by Migrant Forum in Asia calling for measures to protect migrant workers who have been denied wages and repatriated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform contains:

• policy briefs and other information about the situation
• curated news articles
• a petition that visitors can sign
• a submission form that visitors can use to alert Migrant Forum in Asia to cases of non-payment of wages, benefits and dues
• campaign posters

The Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) is collaborating with IOM on labour mobility and human development, including employability of youth to enhance the welfare of Egyptian society and migrants.

Canada’s Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP) empowers regional partners and stakeholders, including local governments and the private sector, to help immigration address regional and local labour, economic and demographic challenges and create complementary pathways for the protection of refugees and durable solutions through labour mobility, family reunification, and education.

Spain offers universal access to basic health services. Beyond the most favourable scheme enjoyed by EU nationals covered by EU common legislation, all migrants staying in Spain, irrespective of legal status, have access to the basic national health system. This measure has proved its utility during the pandemic.

This policy brief provides information and identifies a number of key recommendations to assist governments and other stakeholders in designing COVID-19 policy responses that can help to ensure the protection of migrant workers, as well as to inform responses for the protection of refugees and those displaced working in countries other than their own, differentiated by gender as appropriate and based upon relevant international labour standards, and ILO guidance and good practices.

IOM formally formulated the model of Skills Mobility Partnerships (SMPs) in 2019. 

SMPs are inter-state agreements concluded between states to promote human capital development and positive labour market outcomes for both country of origin and destination.

They are an innovative mechanism to share the benefits of migration and mobility and to serve the interests of migrants, communities and employers. 

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.