A forum on migration has underscored the importance of harnessing labor migration policies to create a safe human labor migration pathway for young people in the east and Horn of Africa.
The 5th Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration (RMFM) on harmonizing labor migration policies is being held in Addis Ababa.
Themed "Harnessing the power of regular migration pathways for youth employment, skills development, and green economy,” the four-day ministerial forum is thoroughly discussing sound strategies for safe, regular labor migration pathways for young people in the region.
Latest report from United Nations World Youth indicates that the Sub-Saharan African region has the largest percentage of young people of any region, with an estimated 70 percent of the population under age 30.
East and Horn of Africa region inhabits a population of about 170 million people, and young people between15-24 years old constitute close to nearly 60 million.
At the same time, the region has been witnessing tremendous labor migration in many instances.
To this effect, the forum will discuss how to maximize the benefits of greater regional integration on human mobility in the East and Horn of Africa region, which is home to 8.5 million international migrants, including 4.7 million labour migrant workers, according to a report.
Furthermore, the ministerial forum is expected to deliberate on Diaspora collaboration for the protection of migrant workers' social, economic, labor, and human rights in countries of destination, Technical Working Group (TWG) on skills, jobs creation, and youth employment, and human mobility and green economy development in a changing climate.
The regional ministerial forum, which was organized by the Ministry of Labor and Skills in collaboration with UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), brought together some 11 members of the eastern and horn of Africa region, it was indicated.
Source: ENA