The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC-Africa has urged the African Union to create an African Labour Migration coordination process to articulate its position at the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) on migration.
The General Secretary ITUC-Africa, Akhator Odigie, while commending the establishment of the ‘Doha Dialogue’ on Labour Mobility by the Africa Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council States, Jordan, and Lebanon, called for genuine and inclusive implementation of the initiative.
The ‘Doha dialogue’ is an offshoot of the ITUC-Africa’s six-year sustained campaign in Africa and within the African Union for the creation of such a mechanism which is necessary to improve labour migration governance, especially as stakeholders continue to seek better protection for migrant workers globally.
The labour body added: “We also applaud the State of Qatar for providing the platform to realise this initiative. It is a testament to Qatar’s ever-readiness to engage, collaborate, and contribute to improving the state of play in labour migration governance. We equally salute the African Union and its signatory Member States to this Doha Dialogue for their readiness to reorder and improve their efforts at protecting migrant workers from the continent.”
He also lauded the Gulf Cooperation Council States, Lebanon, and Jordan members for their commitment to the dialogue.
However, ITUC-Africa pointed out that what is perhaps more important is the implementation arrangements and processes are clearly and effectively set out, as the Terms of Reference (ToR) describe, adding, “we look forward to the finalised ToR (it was subjected to a final review that will be concluded in a month).”
The ITUC-Africa urged the African Union to take further steps to ensure the creation of an African Labour Migration coordination process like the Asians’ Colombo Process.
The labour body observed that Asians use the Colombo Process platform to undertake coordination and coherence engagement before going to the meetings of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD).
It explained that a determined and well-organised process helps reduce competition, ease of focus on the issues/themes for discussion, and better target outcomes.
It maintained that Africa needs to avoid the race to the bottom and position its engagement with the GCC, Lebanon, and Jordan in ways that ensure better protection for its people.
The ITUC-Africa said labour migration is a response to the realities of the ever-dynamic global labour market.
“Migrant workers as supply-side responses to the labour demand gaps do not and should not lead to their commodification. The Doha Dialogue is an excellent step in the right direction to utilising social dialogue to improve labour migration governance between the two regions. Partners in the dialogue, including social partners, must all be provided technical support to ensure inclusive, collaborative, and effective implementation. This is where development partners like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) come in,” it stated.
The continental labour body stressed that as organised labour, it shall continue to engage, monitor, and report on the implementation of the Doha Dialogue.
