Handover in Dodoma

Tanzania has taken over the chairmanship of the Regional Technical Advisory Committee on Labour Mobility for East and Horn of Africa countries from Uganda. The handover ceremony took place in Dodoma on Monday, with Permanent Secretaries and technical experts from the committee attending, including officials from labour and employment institutions, immigration departments, ministries of foreign affairs, the private sector and development partners.

Tanzania's Commitment

Speaking at the ceremony, Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, Mary Maganga, said the government would build on the foundation established during Uganda's chairmanship by continuing to strengthen regional cooperation, policy dialogue and coordinated measures for managing safe labour migration. She noted that labour mobility issues had been incorporated into Tanzania's development agenda, including the National Development Vision 2050, which seeks to build a competitive, inclusive and high-income economy while improving the lives of all citizens.

"Tanzania has taken steps to strengthen employment creation and labour mobility. These include the National Skills Development Programme, strengthening employment services and labour market information systems, as well as promoting decent employment practices," Maganga said.

Regional Context

Representing the Permanent Secretary of Uganda's Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Commissioner for Employment Services Dr. Lawrence Egulu said the region was seeing a growing number of workers from East and the Horn of Africa travelling to Gulf countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world in search of employment. Against this backdrop, he urged member states to work closely with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to ensure migration continues to serve as a positive driver of development, protection and regional cooperation.

IOM Uganda Chief Sanusi Savage said efforts to manage labour migration in the region had increased, including initiatives to harness the benefits of migration such as remittances from citizens working abroad, skills development and investment.

Ministerial Forum

In March this year, the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration held its seventh meeting in Uganda, bringing together ministers responsible for labour, senior government officials and technical experts from the region. The forum included 11 member states: brought together 11 member states: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, alongside observer countries. Partners such as the African Union Commission, IGAD, the East African Community, development partners, UN agencies and diplomatic missions participated, and representatives from Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Lebanon and Jordan were also invited.

Tanzania's Bilateral and Secure Approach

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Employment and Relations) Deus Sangu disclosed that Tanzania had facilitated the employment of 8,402 young people abroad during the early period of the second phase of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's administration. Before leaving, workers undergo pre-departure orientation to understand their rights and responsibilities, and their employment contracts are reviewed to check that they adequately protect those rights.

Sangu said Tanzania had established a system it wanted all member states to replicate, with the objective of ensuring the region adopted a common approach and spoke with one voice in protecting the rights and interests of its citizens working abroad. He added that Tanzania and other countries were in discussions to review existing bilateral labour agreements and identify challenges within them.

The government had developed strategies to protect citizens working overseas, including encouraging them to use official channels when seeking employment abroad. Sangu said he had personally visited countries with large numbers of Tanzanian workers to educate them on following official procedures. He also noted that guidelines governing private employment agencies had been reviewed, with new requirements now enforced under the Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations).

Outlook

Sangu said Tanzania was committed to ensuring its two-year tenure as chair produced tangible results. At the end of its chairmanship, he said, Tanzania wanted to demonstrate that it could effectively protect the interests of young people by ensuring they secured better employment contracts and salaries commensurate with the work performed abroad.