Unblocking the Barriers: Making the EAC - PowerPoint Presentation

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Unblocking the Barriers: Making the EAC Labour Migration Regime Beneficial to Female Migrants

Dr. Juliana Masabo

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Women in international migration general trends

Growing presence48 % of the global

of the 232 million

migration totalEurope (51.9%), Latin America and the Caribbean (51.6%) Northern America (51.2%) Oceania (50.2%),

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AfricaMore than 30 million Africans (3 per cent of Africa’s population) are living in countries other than the one in which they were born (ILO )

by 2025, one in ten Africans will live and work outside their countries. (

World Bank estimates

)

growing feminisation of international labour migration Women form 45.9 % of Africas migration stockmajority originate from within the region, mostly neighbouring countries

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Factors Gender segregation of labour – limited opportunities

Increased levels of feminized poverty and gender disparities in access to social & economic opportunities

Growing demand of women in some sectors

eg

. the service sector preference for women migrant workers by employersWHY- perceived docility -lower labour costs associated with employing women4Slide5

Issuesmarginalized - human rights violations

Less opportunities for regular migration- stratified entry

male dominated admission policies

Dual labour market

female migrants in ‘welfare and social professions (education, health and social work); service industry (domestic, sex work) informal & unregulated5Slide6

The situation in the EACIncreased presence -In some countries more than 50%Rwanda in 2013 had 52 per cent (236,796 out of 453,406

)limited opportunities for legal mobility

Little scholarly attention

Statistics are unreliable

(fragmented, poor profiling, gender-specific information not captured)Stratified entry policies (selective?)6Slide7

The EAC legal framework on free movement of workers

EAC Treaty art. 104EAC passport 1999

EAC Common Market Protocol, 2009 – entry into force 1

st

July 2010 free movement of persons free movement of workers right of residenceright of

establishment

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Free movement of workers (art. 10 & Annex 2)right to seek and to accept employment in any Stateequal

treatment with nationals in terms of employment conditionsRight to join and participate in trade union

activities

access to social security benefits the right to be accompanied by family member8Slide9

Further commitmentsHarmonisation and Mutual Recognition of Academic and Professional Qualifications. Art. 11Harmonisation of Labour Policies, Laws and Programmes. Art 12

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ImplementationWork in progress1st

July 2010- progressive implementationSchedule of implementation- Annex 2Selective list of occupations

Slow pace of implementation Expt. Rwanda

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 Women in the EAC framework

The Protocol and its annexes are gender neutral

the development of EAC labour migration policies, as that of individual Member States has proceeded from two faulty assumptions:

that

labour migration is exclusively a man’s business and thatto the extent that women do migrate, female & male migrants have similar migration experiences. Colonial era ???11Slide12

Stratified admission - Schedule of ImplementationSelected occupations

Skilled vs semi-skilled and unskilled workersRegular vs. Irregular - illegal migration – smuggling

More women than men are affected because they are overrepresented in the fraction of persons with lower levels of education and limited skills.

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Occupations in the schedule are overly biased towards male- dominated occupations (engineers, mathematicians, chemists, ICT specialists etc)

women's limited participation in home country’s formal labour market occupational segregation- women in informal & precarious work- no protection

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Other general barriersRecognition of academic qualificationsDenial of admission on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.

Art 10.11

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Do women have an alternative ?Self employment article 13 and Annex 3 right of establishment

Work permit – proof of valid standard travel documents, necessary licences, registration and sufficient capital .

Irregular migration

?

informal cross border trade ?15Slide16

What should be done? Getting the statistics right - h

ow many, where are they, what they do, what are the unique challenges

(fragmented, poor profiling, gender-specific information not captured)

advocacy programmes widening the knowledge base on the sub-region’s labour migration framework and the situation of female migrants

revise the existing framework so as to integrate gender perspectives in EAC and in domestic frameworks the AU Migration Policy and Common Position on Migration , 200616Slide17

Building on exiting gender mainstreaming programmes and women empowerment programmes to advocate for gender sensitive migration policiesUsing universal human rights instruments and general international labour law

standardsCEDAW , 1979

substantive equality between women and men

obligation on State Parties to eliminate discrimination

General Recommendation No 26 on Women Migrant WorkersILO Convention 100 (Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951, and 111 (Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958) listed by Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, 1998 .(National Labour Laws) ILO Convention and Recommendation concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers as adopted by the International Labour Organisation in 2011 (Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 )

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ConclusionIt is very important that the EAC labour migration policies, laws and practices integrate a gender perspective because ‘

a gender perspective is essential to the analysis of the position of female migrants and the development of policies to counter discrimination exploitation and abuse.’ CEDAW, General Recommendation on Migrant Women, para 5

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