Multi-stakeholder meetings

MULTI-STAKEHOLDERS MEETINGS

 

Two multi-stakeholder meetings have been organized as part of the MADE West Africa project which involved relevant local, national and regional stakeholders with the objective to promote synergies and share good practices.  The goal is to create a space of dialogue between representatives of the civil society and public authorities define legislative, institutional obstacles and establish a roadmap, identify gaps by notably creating working groups on specific questions.

 

Focus Senegal

 

In Senegal, a multi-stakeholder meeting concerning the illegal practices of recruitment conducive to cases of trafficking and smuggling of migrants took place at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Dakar on April 24-25 2018. This meeting has been organized in partnership with the Senegalese organisation DIADEM  (Diaspora Développement Education Migration) 

 

The meeting gathered over 60 participants from many local, national and sub-regional civil society organisations from Benin, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Togo, national ministries and institutions such as the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Interior, the General Delegation of Senegalese Abroad, the European Union and member States representatives, international organisations (IOM, UNODC,ILO), universities and trade unions.  

 

The exchanges which followed made it possible to tackle various questions through different focus groups and debates:

  • The importance of labour migration policy;
  • Awareness and information strategies;
  • The rights and duties of migrants;
  • The articulation of irregular migration and social protection;
  • Consular protection of migrants;
  • The need for regulation for private employment agencies
  • Multi-actor partnerships.

 

Building upon the report and the debates, the following recommendations have been formulated :

  • The need for legislative reforms regarding the protection for victims of trafficking and/or smuggling of migrants 
  • The integration of recruitment and irregular migration into a broad policy framework on labour migration policy. The Ministry of Labour has expressed its interest in having such a policy tool.

Civil society organizations want to advocate for the institutionalization of an African week to combat trafficking in migrants and for ethical recruitment practices. This initiative, open to other African actors and civil society from the North, will be taken at the level of ECOWAS and the African Union through MIGRAFRIQUE and during the Global Forum on Migration and Development. 

Multi-stakeholder meeting report 

Also read "Taking Action Against Trafficking of Migrant Workers"

 

Focus Guinea

The multi-stakeholder meeting on illegal recruitment practices of migrant workers in Guinea that could lead to cases of trafficking and smuggling of migrants was held in Conakry on 9 and 10 May 2018 and welcomed more than 50 participants including representatives from countries of the sub-region (Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Benin). The meeting counted representatives of national ministries and institutions such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the National Office for the Guineans Abroad, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Social Action, and representatives of the IOM, European Union and its member States. Members of the Guinean civil society were also represented with the participation of several NGOs and trade unions.

This meeting has been organized in partnership with the Guinean youth organisation RAJGUI 

Building upon the report and the debates, recommendations have been made to:

  • Develop tools to understand labour migration phenomena and analyse trends for the formulation of equitable policies;
  • Ensure the protection of the rights and dignity of migrant workers through the establishment of an appropriate national and regional legislative framework to guide recruitment for placements abroad;
  • Develop strategies for better management of labour migration
  • Strengthen dialogue between States, technical and financial partners, the private sector and civil society organizations for a better governance of migration

Multi-stakeholder meeting report 

 

 
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