Event

National Consultation Seminar on assessing the economic contribution of labour migration in Ghana (ECLM project)

A National Consultation Seminar was held in Accra on May 26, 2015, and brought together more than 50 policymakers, government officials and experts to discuss on various aspects of the role of migrant labour in Ghana, in the context of the "Assessing the economic contribution of labour migration in developing countries as countries of destination" (ECLM) project. The agenda for this meeting can be downloaded below.

Held in Accra on 26 May 2015, the Consultation Seminar was the second in-country event in Africa for the EU-funded project “Assessing the Economic Contribution of Labour Migration in Developing Countries”, following the 7 May 2015 seminar held in Cote d’Ivoire.

The seminar brought together more than 50 policymakers, government officials and experts. During the opening session, statements were made by the ILO Representative, Mr Dennis Zulu; EU Ambassador, Mr William Hanna; CEO of the Ghana Employers’ Association, Mr Alex Frimpong; and Ms Alberta Laryea-Djan on behalf of the Ghana Trades Union Congress. The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, officially launched the project in Ghana.

Discussions at the seminar were guided by the project team (Mr Theo Sparreboom and Ms Sarah Kups) and by Ms Emma Ofori Agyemang (Director, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations). The session on research was moderated by Ms Silvia Lopez-Ekra (Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration).

Presentations covered both government policies and research, and the seminar generated rich discussions on various aspects of the role of migrant labour in Ghana. Participants agreed upon the growing importance of South-South labour migration, both globally and regionally (in ECOWAS) and acknowledged the importance of the broader development impact of migration, both in economic and social terms, including transfer of knowledge and technology, for example.

Participants agreed that there are many types of migration and perceptions of migrants are not always based on data and evidence. Therefore the seminar confirmed the need for this project, building upon available research including several studies on migration undertaken in Ghana. Participants also discussed the quality of existing data on labour migration in Ghana and the definitions that the project should consider.