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By Joyce Mukucha
In the quest to address operational challenges of migration and ensure the provision of decent working conditions for all, human dignity, well-being and safety for labour migrants, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe is implementing a project entitled “Strengthening Capacities for Labour Mobility Governance in Zimbabwe” through supporting the implementation of prioritized actions defined in the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) and its Implementation Plan.
The NLMP which was launched in June this year seeks to ensure maximisation of both inward and outward labour migration through safe migration, provision of decent working conditions for labour migrants especially female labour migrants and protection of their fundamental human and labour rights and those if their families.
Against this background, IOM and the Government have jointly hosted a workshop with Registered Private Employment Agencies to sensitise them on the policy, whilst further elaborating on key concerns with respect to labour mobility governance in Zimbabwe as well as to make sure that these agencies prioritize migrant protection.
It has been learnt that due to unethical recruitment for labour migrants, the consequences then include exploitative practices, high recruitment fees to job seeker that leads to job bondage, false promises or misrepresentation of the job offer, document and property retention, contract substitution, indicator of human trafficking or forced labour, skills mismatches and poor retention, occupational health and safety issues.
In his opening remarks which were read on his behalf by the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Nyasha Bore during the workshop in Harare on the 23rd of November 2021, the Permanent Secretary, Simon Masanga said Government recognizes the importance of ensuring that key stakeholders are aware of their respective roles to inform the implementation of the policy.
He emphasised that through well-managed labour migration, there is no doubt for economic development to be witnessed highlighting that it is also a key contributor to the attainment of Vision 2030 and helps the nation to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) thus the need to promote safe migration by ensuring the full implementation and upholding of the NLMP.
“The policy is designed to improve the Governance of labour migration and ensure effective regulation of labour migration, empower and protect labour migrants against abuses, malpractices and exploitation, promote the welfare of labour migrants and families. It also seeks to ensure that migration contributes to Zimbabwe’s socio-economic development.
“Full implementation of the policy will fortify Zimbabwe’s ambition to deepen free trade among and countries and globally. It also helps the human development experience of labour migration. The policy framework signifies the commitment by the Government of Zimbabwe to promote a safe, orderly and regulated flow of people for socio-economic development. Labour migration is a key contributor to the 2030 agenda and the attainment of SDGs in Zimbabwe and this aligns the National Development Strategy 1 and the National Vision of attaining an upper-middle-income status by 2030,” said Masanga.
Management of labour migration, he said, is not the sole responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe, but of all key stakeholders.
“It requires the participation of all stakeholders, accountability and transparency in the regulation of labour migration as well as harmonised institutional, legal and regulatory framework to ensure equatability, full employment, economic growth and sustainable development.
“Key stakeholders include employers and workers organisations, migration associations, and civil society organisations and the private sector. It is for this reason that we are gathered here as there is increased recognition of the need to ensure that key stakeholders are aware of the policy and their roles to inform its implementation. In this respect, the private employment agencies gathered here today are key in the advancing of the implementation of the policy as you interface with migration in the recruitment facts of the process,” he added.
IOM Chief of Missions, Mario Lito Malanca said IOM was committed to supporting the Government of Zimbabwe in ensuring that vulnerable migrants do not continue to face challenges.
He said there was a need to put measures and policies into place that focus on how best migrant workers can contribute to the economies of both destination and origin countries.
“This can be achieved when these migrant workers have decent working conditions and when their fundamental human and labour rights are protected by the countries from which they come. Action must be taken, we cannot sit back and watch returning migrants falling deeper into crisis, resorting to negative coping mechanisms or possibly being forced to migrate through irregular norms,” he said.
Presenting on national migration policy components, policy goals and targets, Liberty Mudima, an official from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare highlighted that labour migration had grown to be a phenomenon of great interest to countries across the work.
He pointed out that underlying drivers such as globalisation, demographic pressures, labour market imbalances and income differentials are expected to continue to drive labour migration.
Tawanda Matanda, an IOM official, articulated the challenges which hinder the full implementation of the policy.
“The challenges include lack of effective data collection, analysis, reporting and exchange systems, lack of inter-institutional coordination mechanisms, and their inter-state cross border cooperation, non-profitability of social protection and social security for migrant workers,” said Matanda.
He said there was a need to increase capacity to develop and implement contextually relevant labour migration policies and programmes.
“When properly managed, labour migration had the far-reaching potential for countries of origin and rest migrants, their communities and employers,” Matanda said.
He added that as a way of trying to curb unethical recruitment for labour migrants, there were policies which include: Global Initiative promoting fair and ethical recruitment, UN Migration Network, International Recruitment Integrity System, Global Policy Network to promote ethical recruitment which Zimbabwe is signatory to and International Labour Organisation Fair Recruitment Initiative among others.
Participants from different private agencies stressed the need to establish and strengthen a functional public employment service that recruits for both public and private sector jobs.
They said it was of paramount importance to have strong monitoring and assessment process which is aimed at ensuring that employment agencies are abiding by the legislation relating to the labour migration policy framework.