Pacific Islands forge path to ethical recruitment for migrant workers

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (ILO News) - Government officials from across the Pacific have completed a training course, aimed at developing fair and effective recruitment policies for migrant workers.

Funded by the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund, the International Labour Organization (ILO) recently conducted the Multi-Country Training on Promoting Fair and Ethical Recruitment with its training arm, the International Training Centre (ITC-ILO), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“This training is very interesting as it promotes fair and ethnical recruitment and I would like to apply the learning in the context of Tuvalu,” said Alitaake Geraldine Semese Alefaio, Labour Mobility Support Officer from Tuvalu's Department of Labour.

Focussing on building the capacities of key government organizations and local authorities, the training ranged from applying international labour standards and recognising exploitative practices to fostering transparent, regulated and rights-respecting recruitment mechanisms.

Eleven government officials from Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu were took part in the training, which spanned five weeks and consisted of three phases. The first and third phases took place online through the ITC-ILO eCampus, while the second phase was held in-person in Port Vila.

Supported by the ILO-IOM Joint Labour Mobility for Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience in the Pacific programme, the training proposed three main strategies to ensure ethical recruitment and mitigate forced labour or human trafficking risks namely: improving labour migration governance, promoting migrant worker rights protection and enhancing migration and development linkages in the Pacific.

Beereka Iotebwa, Senior Labour Officer from Kiribati's Ministry of Employment and Human Resource, said: “The training helps me understand the roles and responsibilities of every actor and why a wide range of actors should be involved in developing a fair and effective recruitment policy for migrant workers. It provides me with a sense that fair recruitment is everyone’s responsibility."

© ILO

For further information please contact:

Ms Nissara Spence
Labour Migration and Social Inclusion Programme Manager
IOM Office in Vanuatu
Email: nspence@iom.int  

Ms Angelica Neville
Labour Mobility Technical Officer
ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries
Email: neville@ilo.org