October 21, 2021 (Djibouti, Djibouti) The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Ministerial Conference officially endorsed the Djibouti Declaration on Labour, Employment and Labour migration in the IGAD region. After three days of consultation with experts and ministers from member states.
The ministerial conference was presided over by His Excellency Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, Prime Minster of the Republic of Djibouti in the presence of His Excellency Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, the Executive Secretary of IGAD, and ILO Country Office Director for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, and representatives of employers organisations and trade unions. Representatives of development partners. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Labour and Social Development of the Republic of Sudan.
The Conference was held to deliberate on effective actions and regional coordination mechanisms to enhance the governance of labour, employment, and labour migration in the IGAD region.
In his opening remarks, Dr Workneh Gebeyehu the Executive Secretary of IGAD highlighted the need to have mechanism at bilateral, multilateral and regional levels to address comprehensively the situation of migrant workers from IGAD region; and provide and ensure decent working conditions. He also proposed the establishment of a regional observatory that will closely monitor labour market trends & make projections that will inform policy direction &implementation.
“People of IGAD are our first asset as the working population represents over 53.6% of our total population.” Dr. Workneh added.
The Executive secretary further reminded the audience that the IGAD region is the second most popular destination for migrant workers in the African continent, after South African region.
Prime minster Abdulkader Kamil Mohamed in his opening remarks stated that employment issue is of utmost importance in the IGAD region and is an engine for development and poverty eradication.“We should give special focus on ways to use the new digital technology tools to develop the employment sector, particularly, for our growing population of youth,” said the Prime Minister.
Ministers from IGAD member states were united in calling for harmonization of policies in related to labour and labour migration to benefit the region. In adopting the Declaration, they decided to among other issues, to:
- Establish the IGAD Ministerial Committee on Labour,Employment & Labour Migration.
- Adopt the ToR & Standard Operating Procedures for the IGAD Ministerial Committee on Labour, Employment & Labour Migration
- Adopt the IGAD Regional Guidelines on Rights Based Bilateral Labour Agreements;
- Develop a Plan of Action to implement this Djibouti Declaration on Labour, Employment and Labour Migration (2021) with clear monitoring and reporting mechanism.
The conference was organized in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and supported by the European Union.
Click on the link below to view full video of the Executive Secretary Speech.
Download Declaration in English and French Below
