Original Language
English
ISBN
978-92-9268-540-9
ISBN (PDF)
978-92-9268-536-2
Number of Pages
124
Reference Number
PUB2022/104/EL
Date of upload

10 Mar 2023

Labour Mobility and Regional Integration in East and Horn of Africa

This report analyses the role of the East African Community (EAC) Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market (CMP) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in the IGAD Region (FMP) in facilitating labour mobility in the East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) region. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the legal and policy context of protecting the rights of migrant workers in the EHoA region, focusing on the EAC CMP and IGAD FMP and national labour provisions of the case study countries, namely Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. It also discusses the opportunities and challenges of overlapping memberships for the implementation of the IGAD FMP and acceleration of the EAC CMP in relation to labour mobility and migrant workers’ rights based on the experiences of Kenya and Uganda. It also explores the impact of overlapping memberships and COVID-19 on labour mobility while taking into account gender considerations.

  • Foreword 
  • Acknowledgements 
  • Abbreviations and acronyms 
  • Key findings and policy suggestions 
  • Introduction 
  • 1. Overview of labour migration in East and Horn of Africa 
    • 1.1. Significance of migrant worker protection
    • 1.2. Labour migration governance and migrant workersʼ protection within regional integration
  • 2. Labour migration patterns
    • 2.1. Overview of migrant workers 
    • 2.2. COVID-19 and labour migration in East and Horn of Africa 
  • 3. East and Horn of Africaʼs standpoint on legal and policy frameworks for the protection of migrant workers 
    • 3.1. Overview of policies: Protection of migrant workers in focus
    • 3.2. Status of migrant workersʼ protection and critical factors to advance migrant workersʼ rights
  • 4. National and regional governance of labour migration: Challenges and opportunities 
    • 4.1. Regional labour migration governance structures
    • 4.2. Implications of overlapping memberships
    • 4.3. Challenges: Inconsistencies between policy and practice 
  • 5. Conclusion
    • 5.1. Safeguarding migrant workers’ rights at the regional level 
    • 5.2. Safeguarding migrant workers’ rights at the national level
  • 6. Policy recommendations 
  • Annexes 
  • Bibliography