Labour Ministers from 11 East and Horn of Africa countries, and partners during discussion on the protection of the rights of migrant workers in Addis Ababa Ethiopia - COURTESY

Labour Ministers from 11 East and Horn of Africa countries and partners are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss the protection of the rights of migrant workers.

The regional officials are also meeting over the management of migration for sustainable development and economic growth in the region.

The meeting is also attended by members of the United Nations International Organization for Migration, governments ministers of labour from 11 countries in East & Horn of Africa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the East African Community, the African Union Commission, other UN agencies, Technical Working Groups, and donors.

South Sudan is represented by delegates from the Ministries of Labor, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Interior and Gender, Child, and Social Welfare.

In a statement shared with Eye Radio, the IOM said the meeting is about safe, regular and humane labor migration in the region.

Justin Jada Joseph is the Director of Labour and Industrial Relations and Head of delegates to the fourth Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration.

He says South Sudan needs to develop its diaspora policy to enable the country.

“This meeting is going to be beneficial for us as a country South Sudan. There are some policies that we don’t have we need to develop them so that we caught up with the rest of the region,” he said.

“In terms of ethical recruitment we are ok the most difficult thing that we need to work on is to develop policies on diaspora engagement so that especially diaspora policy we need to develop as a country there is a lot a country can benefit from our diaspora across the globe.”

The meeting, which concludes on Friday will consider protecting the fundamental human, labor, economic and social rights of migrant workers leaving the region and also migrating within.

The ministers will also look at establishing consensus on common regional approaches and priorities, as well as promoting social dialogue.

They are expected to formulate and implement shared governance policies and frameworks to foster labor mobility in the region.

“Labor mobility and labor migration are major drivers of the movement of people across borders in East and Horn of Africa, a region with high levels of mobility among youth, women, and men,” IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa Mohammed Abdiker said.

There are 13.7 million migrant workers in Africa and 3.6 million migrant workers in the region, according to IOM’s Regional Data Hub.

East and Horn of Africa host among 3 of the largest migration corridors in the region.

The participating countries include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

This is the fourth Ministerial meeting convened to discuss labor mobility and migration with leaders in the region.