Friday, March 29, 2024

Government set up a Labour Market Information System aimed at capturing labour migration data

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Labour Minister Joyce Simukoko says her Ministry is in the process of setting up a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) aimed at capturing labour migration data and other migration information.

Ms Simukoko says this is to ensure effective coordination of statistical data by institutions mandated to deal with migration in the country.

Ms Simukoko said this when International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Regional Director for Southern Africa, Charles Kenin paid a courtesy call on her in Lusaka today.

She called on IOM to assist the ministry in capacity building in terms of monitoring migration issues, to ensure effective coordination of statistical data by institutions mandated to deal with migration in the country.

on migration and sharing practices that will strengthen institutions compliance monitoring and inspections.

“There is a need to develop workable tools for assessing the effectiveness of national migration related policies to identify gaps and priorities,” Ms Simukoko said.

She said the ministry looks forward to cooperating with the IOM in addressing the management of Labour migration and contributing to the country’s development agenda.

Ms Simukoko further said the government has entered into a memorandum of understanding with South Africa and Mauritius and looks forward to doing the same with other strategic countries in ensuring effective management of labour migration in Zambia.

She observed that human trafficking is a complex and dynamic global problem involving the trade in human beings for the purposes of exploitation and Zambia is a source, transit and destinations.

“The seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) has prioritised the effective migration governance to harness the benefits of migration and countering its negative effects,” The Minister added.

She said the intervention to combat Labour migration is stipulated in the national Action Plan on Human trafficking for the period 2019 to 2021 as well as the employment code act number three of 2019.

Meanwhile, IOM regional Director for Southern Africa, Charles Kenin said the organization is willing to work with the government to curb labour migration.

Mr. Kenin noted that due to Zambia’s geographical location, it has become a destination and transit country for migrants from the Horn of Africa mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia enroute to South Africa.

He observed that there is a need for Zambia to have a National migration Policy which would have an integral part of Labor migration.

“ But what we would like to propose is to have a more rigorous, comprehensive labor Migration Policy which will deal specifically with the challenges of labour,’’ Mr. Kenin said.

He also noted that Covid-19 is changing the face of migration which is leading to migrants losing their Jobs as a result of the restrictive measures which have been put by governments which have made people vulnerable to unscrupulous recruiters and smugglers with false promises of jobs.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Pf government we are working too much. You guys I am tired of too much development. This will give upnd heart attacks. They will die of anger. Just watch how tarino and his fellow clans of monkeys react to this haha

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