Government has revealed its intention to facilitate the recruitment of Ghanaian labour seeking to work in the Gulf region in a programmed dubbed ‘Work Abroad’. This, it believes, would help cut down on mistreatment of Ghanaians who go there in search for greener pastures.
Giving a keynote address at the 2021 bi-annual meeting of the Migration Coordination Platform (MCP) organised by the International Organization on Migration (IOM), Bright Wereko Brobbey, Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, indicated that the programme, which is an initiative of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), would seek to regularise migration opportunities and prevent abuse of labour force in the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait among others.
“The Youth Employment Agency has established a Work Abroad Programme aimed at facilitating the recruitment of Ghanaian labour to work in other countries in a safe, secure and orderly manner. I believe the more we are able to promote regular migration opportunities, potential migrants are less likely ‘travel through unapproved routes,” he said.
In order to promote regular migration and prevent abuse and vulnerability among migrant workers, the minister indicated that the ministry has also prioritize the development of bilateral labour agreements between Ghana and destination countries.
“Currently, work is completed on Bilateral Labour Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Work is also far advanced on those with Seychelles and Kuwait. The bilateral agreements are important instruments that enable Ghana to agree with destination countries on the terms and conditions for the recruitment and engagement of Ghanaian labour in respective countries.”
He expressed optimism that this is one of the surest ways to guarantee and protect the rights of Ghanaian labour in other countries. “We believe the labour migration governance system would be enhanced if these measures are implemented in the short to medium term,” he stated
Meanwhile a representative from YEA, Vera Ntiamoah stated that the Work Abroad programme is currently in the implementation stage and that YEA is in talks with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and other stakeholders to enable proper policies and standards are put in place before the start of the programme to ensure efficiency.
Migration Coordination Platform (MCP) bi-annual meeting
The Migration Coordination Platform (MCP) bi-annual meeting brings together agencies and partners to reflect on progress made in migration mapping tool, migration stakeholder directory, amongst others in Accra. In recent years, International Development Partners (DPs) and multilateral agencies in Ghana initiated a Migration Coordination Platform (MCP) to improve the coordination of migration-related interventions among members.
The bi-annual meeting provided an overview of the MCP to the Government of Ghana (GoG), including its history, purpose, composition, governance and frequency of meetings and also received an overview of GoG priorities in the area of migration.
Stakeholders at the bi-annual meeting discussed collaboration moving forward, including the financing of migration actions, human resources and operational matters, to improve the effectiveness of migration programming implementation in Ghana.
Approximately 30 international DPs, multilateral agencies and GoG Ministries, Departments and Agencies comprising of Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration, National Development Planning Commission, amongst others attended the meeting. Representatives from International DPs, Embassies and United Nations Embassies were also present.
