The eight-member countries of the InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have observed that whereas several countries have experienced strong economic growth rates in recent years, this is yet to translate into significant decent job creation.

Members representing different IGAD countries who converged in Entebbe on Wednesday noted that labour migration can provide a safety valve to reduce pressure on the national labour markets that do not provide sufficient opportunities for decent work. 

The IGAD secretariat and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have been facilitating a project whose overall objective is to facilitate free movement of persons, improving opportunities for regular labour migration and mobility thereby enhancing regional integration and development.

Alexio Musindo, the director for economic research forum under ILO, said the three-day meeting in Entebbe aimed at bringing together experts from IGAD countries to review and refine the draft proposal for implementation of the 2021 Djibouti declaration which was passed by the ministers from respective IGAD countries.

The declaration agreed to establish the IGAD ministerial committee on labour, employment and migration.

Musindo however, noted that there is still a challenge for free movement of people within the IGAD region. "And those who are able to move, are not accorded the same respect as citizens in respective countries," he noted.

Lucy Daxbacher, the IGAD head of mission in Uganda said the Djibouti Declaration on labour, employment and migration is a key policy instrument to comprehensively address challenges of labour, employment and labour migration in the region.

The meeting which is expected to end tomorrow (Friday), is expected to produce an elaborate document which will strengthen institutions of labour governance in IGAD member states.

"This is a commitment by IGAD member states to the International labour standards that are governed by ILO. Therefore, some of the commitments are to do with migrant domestic workers to ensure that our workers within the region and those who travel to the gulf, are protected," stated Daxbacher.