Madagascar - IOM, together with the Ministry of Employment of Madagascar, organized a two-day capacity building workshop on the development and formalization of Bilateral Labour Agreements (BLAs) in the capital city Antananarivo on 21-22 September.

During the workshop, 25 participants from the Ministry of Employment, key ministries and public institutions with sectoral responsibilities for migration, and private sector and civil society representatives involved in labour migration management in Madagascar, learnt about labour migration trends and associated benefits and challenges. They were also presented with a synthesis of international scientific research and best practices identified by international organizations, including IOM and ILO on BLAs.

Participants concluded the workshop with a round table discussion during which they exchanged ideas for a blueprint document and on the prioritization of tasks to ensure that BLAs developed and signed by the country promote and meet the protection needs of the Malagasy migrant workers, and balance the needs of the receiving and sending countries.

Today, Madagascar continues to face a difficult socio-economic situation. The UN estimates that nearly 336,000 jobs, or 30 percent of employment in the formal sector, were lost in the last five years, primarily as the result of the political crisis that gridlocked and sidelined the country between 2009-2014.

This led a growing number of Malagasy nationals to look for opportunities abroad. International labour migration is increasingly recognized as an effective short and medium-term solution that can bring beneficial effects for both migrants and their communities of origin.

BLAs are one of the options being considered by the Government of Madagascar to enable safe, orderly and responsible labour migration management in the country.

Well-formulated and formalized BLAs are expected to assist the national partners in developing a strategic vision to pursue diversified partnerships with potential and current countries of destination of Malagasy migrant workers.

This workshop is part of the wider IOM Development Fund-supported project: Strengthening Labour Migration Management in Madagascar, which seeks to promote labour migration policies and labour mobility programmes that incorporate protection of migrant workers and a strengthening of Madagascar’s capacity to engage in bilateral commitments on labour migration.

For further information, please contact Daniel Silva y Poveda at IOM Madagascar, Tel: +261.32 56 54 954, Email: dsilva@iom.int