The East African Community (EAC) Partner States have given their approval to the EAC Policy and Legal frameworks that oversee labour migration, endorsing the results of both national and regional consultations.
The approval took place during the regional meeting of Experts in Bujumbura, Burundi with the overall aim to advocate for the protection of migrant workers; strengthen labour migration governance and maximise the benefits accruing from labour migration.
The policy, with an implementation plan covering the period from 2025 to 2030, focuses on ten primary priority areas namely: Labour Migration Governance; Harmonisation of Labour Migration Policies; Protection and Empowerment of Migrant Workers; Access to Social Protection and Social Security Benefits; Mutual recognition of Academic and Professional Qualifications.
Other priorities area are ; Recognition of Skills Obtained through Informal Training; Promotion of Fair and Ethical Recruitment Practices; Remittances by Migrant Workers; Exchange of Young Workers; and Labour Market Information Systems.
The policy acknowledges that Partner States have implemented robust initiatives to acknowledge, certify, and validate skills acquired through experiential learning. However, a significant gap exists at the EAC level, where there is currently no specific mechanism for recognizing such skills.
