The International Labor Organization is calling on East African countries to adopt global labor standards and harmonize migrant labor laws.
This week, the ILO’s East Africa office brought together government and labor rights experts in Zanzibar to push for a common agenda on adopting labor standards as mandated by the global workers’ organization.
And as neighboring countries work to achieve the free movement of labor, the ILO says a common migrant labor policy can help protect workers and ensure only necessary labor is available.
Mr. Wellington Chibebe, Director of the ILO Country Office for the East Africa region which includes Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, told the audience that the region must work towards a common policy to ensure that legal migrant labor is classified in the same way throughout the region. .
“There is a need to formulate and implement coherent, comprehensive, consistent and transparent policies in line with international labor standards, for better protection of migrant workers,” he said, according to a speech shared with the media.
“Let us domesticate, ratify and implement relevant international labor standards to effectively manage labor migration in a win-win way.”
All member states of the East African Community have passed some labor laws, including a ban on child labor and trafficking. But not all have minimum wage policies, for example.
In some cases, employers have taken advantage of the lack of a minimum wage and lack of travel documents to force workers to pay low wages.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the ILO met officials from the Better Regional Migration Management Program (BRMM). The meeting was the first high-level labor migration advisory group (LMAG) for East and the Horn of Africa, aimed at discussing opportunities and challenges in labor migration.
Jamal Kassim Ali, minister of state in the Zanzibar president’s office, said the region must jointly address the effects of labor migration to fill the loopholes used by the bad elements.
Every country in the broader East African region has faced irregular labor policies and this kind of meeting was supposed to be a platform to exchange lessons about what works.
“Kenya hopes to benefit from this programme, which aims to strengthen the capacities of East and the Horn of Africa to govern labor migration by implementing evidence-based policies, upgrading the qualifications and skills of migrant workers, and engaging social partners. ”said a statement. of the National Employment Authority.
The Principal Secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Labour, Geoffrey Kaituko, informed the meeting that Kenya will soon launch its labor migration policy.
The meeting featured state officials, union representatives and employers’ organizations from Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Djibouti, as well as representatives from the regional blocs IGAD and EAC, and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Africa, the International Organization of Employers and the UK Foreign Affairs Commonwealth Development Office.
