Niamey, N’Djamena – This week (10-15/12), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitated a study visit between the Nigerien and Chadian governments to support learning and collaboration on effective labour migration governance between the two countries.

The visit to Niamey brought together Chad's Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee in charge of drafting a bill on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families, and various representatives from the Nigerien Ministries of Interior and Decentralization, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Professional and Technical Training, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management, Justice, Promotion of Women and Protection of Children, Employment, as well as national entities responsible for human rights protection and countering human trafficking and representatives of the migrant workers’ community in Niger. The visit is part of the many efforts the Committee has been making since it was established in December 2021 to domesticate the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Over the six-day visit, the Chadian and Nigerien Government officials discussed the set-up of the Nigerien and Chadian institutional and legal framework regarding the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families, as well as best practices on labour migration governance in the fields of the development of sound policies and data collection and management. They also exchanged practical steps to enhance migrant workers’ access to protection and assistance services from national and international stakeholders.

“This study visit is beneficial to both Chad and Niger. The monitoring mechanism for migrant workers and members of their families that we aim to put in place will be a reference for all the States parties to the Convention, hence the need for us to learn from peers”, declared Mrs. Aché Haroun Saleh, Director of Studies and Legislation at the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Good Governance of Chad, member of the delegation.

Chad and Niger, both countries of origin, transit, and destination of migrants, are “Champion Countries” in the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM). The choice by the Chadian inter-ministerial technical committee to go to Niger for this study visit was based on the level of progress the country has made in recent years in labor migration governance.

“The development of a legal framework on the protection of the rights of migrant workers contributes to the improvement of the governance of migration in a country. Thanks to this study visit and this pedagogical approach, I remain convinced that the information collected during the bilateral meetings will constitute a source of invaluable information which will guide the establishment of legislation that fits with the current realities of Chad", says Mr. Saidou Marayé Moussa, Director General of Employment at the Ministry of Employment, Labor and Social Security in Niger.

At the end of the study visit, the Chadian government invited the Nigerien stakeholders to a synthesis meeting and presented the key best practices they encountered during their visit to Niger. Part of these best practices are Niger’s various bilateral agreements signed in the field of labor migration with other countries, including a transfer of competencies; the presentation, already for the second time, of the achieved goals in the domestication of the Convention to the International Committee of Migrant Workers; the adoption of a national policy on migration; the establishment of a formal system of remittances; and the availability of reliable and detailed statistical data in all areas of activity. The Chadian government has determined that the system existing on labor migration in Niger is adapted, integrated, and working in perfect synergy.

Based on the best practices identified, the Inter-ministerial Technical Committee will develop clear recommendations to finalize the draft bill on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families.

The study visit was organized within the framework of the "Strengthening Labor Migration Governance in Chad" project funded by the IOM Development Fund.

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For more information, please contact:

• In Chad – François-Xavier Ada AFFANA, Project Support Officer at IOM Chad, Email: fadaaffana@iom.int.

• In Niger - Aïssatou Sy, Public Information Officer at IOM Niger, Tel: +22780066531, Email: aisy@iom.int