Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, has received an 11-member delegation from Botswana’s Technical Working Group on Diaspora, currently on study tour to Ghana.
The study visit, supported by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Development Fund, is to foster a meaningful exchange of ideas and best practices in diaspora engagement and remittances between Ghana and Botswana.
Post the tour, the delegation would be expected to utilise the strategic information to support the development of a gender-sensitive, inclusive, and comprehensive National Diaspora Engagement Policy.
The 11 members were drawn from IOM Botswana and the ministries such as Foreign Affairs, State President, Trade and Industry, Labour and Home Affairs, Communications, Knowledge, and Technology, Finance, Health and Wellness, Education, and Justice.
Mr Baffour Awuah expressed delight about the delegation using Ghana as a reference point of best practices in strengthening Botswana’s governance framework and diaspora engagement.
He reiterated Ghana’s willingness to collaborate with the Government of Botswana in areas of common interest.
He said the Ministry’s mandate was to facilitate decent work, promote safe and legal pathways to labour migration, and provide leadership in employment and labour-related issues.
Touching on remittances and skills transfer, Mr Baffour Awuah advocated the management of labour migration to harness the full opportunities in the diaspora.
The major and prevalent rationale for migration in Africa was basically economic, hence his Ministry’s formulation of the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) and its Implementation plan in 2020 to manage labour migration, enhance remittances, reduce vulnerability and extend protection to Ghanaian labour migrants.
The policy is in its third year of implementation and executing SMART activities to promote good governance of labour migration and strengthen systems for the protection and empowerment of migrant workers and their families.
Mr Dennis Diawuo, the Planning Officer of the Ministry, said the policy would promote decent jobs for Ghanaian migrants through the standardised Bilateral Labour Agreement Template.
Source : GBN