Accra – The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) in Ghana, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) hosted a Labour Mobility Forum in Accra on 8 August 2019 on “Promoting International Professional Labour Mobility for Decent Jobs: The Role of the Ghana Public Employment Services.”

The Forum aimed to promote the effective governance of labour mobility and management of migratory flows, and to enhance the positive impact of human mobility on economic, social and environmental development in the country.

The MELR presented seven points to move forward, including to open cooperation channels with other countries in the sub-region and beyond, to promote synergies between public and private employment services, and to enhance collaboration with the Diaspora Affairs Office at the Office of the President.

A particular focus of the Forum was the role of the IOM-supported draft National Labour Migration Policy in promoting regular migration pathways.

“Once the Policy is in place, public employment services will play a critical role in its operationalization, looking at the critical issues of skills and needs matching, recognition of qualifications, migrant workers protection, social security, preparing migrants before they leave, and, most importantly, closing loopholes for unscrupulous intermediaries,” said IOM Chief of Mission Sylvia Lopez-Ekra.

“Migration, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is likely to increase, and thus it is important that it is well-managed so Ghana can fully benefit from it,” said Chief Labour Officer of the Labour Department, Eugene Narh Korletey.

“The Forum is timely given the recent signing of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, in which labour migration features prominently, and which resonates with Sustainable Development Goal 8 and its Target 8.8 on the protection of labour rights and the promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment,” Sylvia Lopez-Ekra concluded.

Participating seasoned experts and practitioners in government ministries, departments and agencies; civil society organizations; development partners and academia discussed the potential of labor migration for the development of the country.

The Forum was organized by the MELR, in collaboration with IOM, Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa), the European Union, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

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For more information, please contact David Darko at IOM Ghana, Tel: +233244958556, Email: DDarko@iom.int