Main area: Migration
Theme: Labour mobility
Assessment: ODA-eligible
Provider country: Switzerland
Recipient country: African Union Member States
Implementing agency: ILO, IOM, GIZ
Budget (USD million): 2 per year
Year(s): 2021-25
Purpose code: 15190
Case number: Migration / 14
Labour migration governance for development and integration in Africa

Basic insights
Copy link to Basic insightsBackground information
Copy link to Background informationThe biggest driver of migration is the search for jobs. Most labour migrants from Sub-Saharan African countries remain on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa has the second highest level of intraregional migration (63%) of any world region. Migrant workers on the continent are often found in settings characterized by low incomes and wages, lack of social protection, precarious jobs and workplaces as well as difficult working conditions. An effective labour migration governance in line with the needs of regional and national labour markets is not in place. The Joint Labour Migration Programme (JLMP) under the leadership of the African Union (AU) will improve the labour migration governance and therefore promote regional integration and sustainable economic development in Africa.
Objectives and concrete activities
Copy link to Objectives and concrete activitiesOverall objective: strengthening the effective governance and regulation of labour migration and mobility for enhanced sustainable development for inclusive economic growth and regional integration of the African Continent.
Examples of activities:
Support AU Member States in the organization of tripartite workshops to validate the rights-based and gender-responsive policies and legal frameworks, gain political support for implementation.
Organise training workshops for national structures in charge of labour migration as well as policy makers and practitioners on labour migration governance.
Conduct a qualitative survey and study in DRC and Côte d’Ivoire respectively on working conditions (working time, wages, end of contract entitlements) of African migrant workers in mining and domestic sectors.
Conduct study on skills mobility in the textile/agricultural sector in COMESA Member States.
Provide technical assistance and support selected AU Member States to develop/establish Integrated Labour Market Information Systems with labour migration data.
Results
Copy link to ResultsStrengthened effective governance and regulation of labour migration and mobility in Africa for women and men migrant workers.
Women and men migrant workers in both the formal and informal sectors enjoy safe and secure working environments, access to social protection and mutual recognition of skills and educational levels.
Increased utilisation of labour migration disaggregated data and statistics by AU Member States (MS) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) for evidenced based decision-making, policy planning, formulation and application.
Assessment of the project’s ODA-eligibility
Copy link to Assessment of the project’s ODA-eligibilityThis activity is deemed ODA-eligible. It aims to strengthen the labour migration governance and the regional integration in Africa, which will contribute to sustainable economic development in this region. The benefits reaped target migrants and families concerned as well as African countries. Activities conducted in ODA-eligible countries that focus on giving access to decent labour opportunities and protecting the rights of migrants are ODA-eligible, as specified in Criterion 7.
This work was approved and declassified by the Development Assistance Committee’s Working Party on Development Finance Statistics.
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