The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ms Kachollom S. Daju, has said that the federal government is determined to facilitate fair and orderly labour migration so as to better protect all migrant workers and enable them contribute fully to sustainable development both in their countries of origin and destination.
Daju said this in Abuja at a One-Day Workshop for the Validation of the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar Training Manual and Gender Mainstreaming Strategy Development by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
She said as part of the implementation of the National Policy on Labour Migration (NPLM), 2014, the ministry has established three Migrant Resource Centers in Abuja, Lagos and Edo states to promote regular labour migration flow, provide accurate and up-to-date information, assist labour migrants make informed decisions about their employment offers and countries of destination while providing referral services and reintegration services for return migrants.
She commended the efforts of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaborating with the ministry to develop a Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) training manual and Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (GMS) for the International Labour Division of the Ministry to strengthen capacity and complement gender related initiatives and programs within the framework of the FAIRWAY Global project.
The FAIRWAY Project is an Inter-Regional development cooperation project aimed at improving conditions of labour migration across migration pathways from Africa to Arab states.
In a goodwill message, the Director of International Labour Organization Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Vanessa Phala emphasised the importance of effectively safeguarding the rights of migrant workers as reflected in both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
She said the strategy is further envisaged to serve as a framework for enhancing the Government’s role and providing an accompanying mechanism aimed at improving engagement in initiatives related to gender.