The fourth Forum, Chaired by the Government of Etiopia, will run until March 17th, under the theme “Harmonizing Labor Migration Policies in the East and in the Horn of Africa: A United Approach to Safe, Regular and Humane Labor Migration”.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), labor ministers, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the East African Community, the African Union Commission and other United Nations agencies will take part in the forum.

The participants will discuss how to protect people leaving the region or migrating within it, keeping in mind that while significant numbers of migrants expect to travel to Europe and the Gulf region, most movements are intra-regional.

Other points of analysis will be how to establish consensus on common regional approaches and priorities, promote social dialogue in the formulation and implementation of labor migration governance , based on human rights to foster greater labor mobility.

Technical working groups and policy experts will assess labor shortages, bilateral labor agreements and ethical recruitment, diaspora and private sector engagement to address development and humanitarian challenges, among other topics.

The forum will also bring together labor ministers from countries such as Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

According to the IOM Regional Data Center, there are 13.7 million migrant workers in Africa and 3.6 million in the region. The east of the continent and the Horn of Africa are home to one of the three largest migration corridors in the area.

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