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*All practices are to uphold the ten guiding principles of the GCM. This practice particularly exemplifies these listed principles.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Dates

2021 - 2023

Type of practice

Partnership/Multistakeholder initiative

Geographic scope

Summary

ILO offers technical assistance to the Quito Process, a regional migration consultation mechanism for countries that host Venezuelan refugees and migrants. Participating countries include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. ILO contributes to the Quito Process by providing technical assistance in several thematic areas, first and foremost socioeconomic integration. One of the areas which ILO supports the Quito Process is the strengthening of capacities and creation of a network of Public Employment Services (PES). Recommendation No. 8 of the Joint Statement of the VII International Technical Meeting on Human Mobility of Venezuelan Nationals (the ‘Lima Declaration’ of the Quito Process) seeks to promote the integration of the PES in the region to create a common route for fair, orderly, safe, and transparent regional labour mobility. ILO provided technical assistance to a pilot experience between the Colombian and Ecuadorian PES, which aims at sharing vacancies, job seekers’ profiles, and provide workers with useful information on labour rights in each participating country.

The key beneficiaries are both native and migrant workers, as anyone can benefit from the project regardless of nationality. The activities were made possible thanks to resources provided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as well as ILO’s regular budget. IOM also contributed by funding two technical consultancies.

Organizations

Main Implementing Organization(s)

Government of Colombia

Government of Ecuador

Detailed Information

Colombia’s Public Employment Service; Ecuador’s Labour Ministry.

Partner/Donor Organizations

International Labour Organization - ILO

Benefit and Impact

The legal assistance aimed at identifying the normative constraints for Colombia to advance in the process of network creation. The IT-related assistance estimated the material, human, and financial resources for the creation of the online platform that will host the network of PES.

As a final output of this process, Colombia and Ecuador signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to join efforts to promote the integration of their PESs and with the purpose of facilitating regular and safe labour mobility across both countries. With ILO’s support, the countries will build an online platform where refugee, migrant and national workers will be able to view and apply for positions; and registered employers will access the labour force in both countries. Since this is a process conducted by the PES, labour mobility will be based on ILO’s Fair Recruitment principles and standards. Therefore, this initiative has great potential to diminish forced labour and human trafficking, as well as increase the levels of formal employment among refugee and migrant workers.

The next steps of this project include the building of the online platform, capacity building of recruiters and employers that are part of the PESs’ network on fair recruitment practices and labour migration, the creation of campaigns to disseminate the work carried by PESs in the region, and negotiations with other countries in the region to join in the initiative (some countries, such as Peru, have already signalled their interest).

Key Lessons

Achieving an integrated network of Public Employment Services is a long-term process, especially due to the different levels of development of the Public Employment Services across the region and the diversity of norms and institutional frameworks that rule them. That is why ILO has made sure that the pilot project between Colombia and Ecuador is flexible enough for other countries to join it in the future.

One important challenge when implementing this type of project is related to funding. Creating an online platform is expensive and it requires a great deal of financial and human resources. Additionally, the issue of what entity will manage the platform is central, considering that Latin America does not have a supranational governance framework, such as the European Union, ECOWAS or others.

Recommendations(if the practice is to be replicated)

When implementing a network of PES, it is important to carry out preliminary studies on the normative framework of the countries as there might be legal constraints around labour mobility and data sharing.

It is also important to keep all stakeholders involved and hold frequent meetings with all relevant actors as any slight disagreement on how the interconnected network should function can prevent the project from advancing.

It is advisable to opt for flexible agreements when it comes to the network. Considering that each country has a different PES framework, it is crucial that a project of this type generates flexible policy documents, MoUs, and platforms.

Innovation

This project supports the first effort in LAC to create an interconnected network of Public Employment Services. Additionally, this initiative catalysed the creation of referral mechanisms (RM) between PES and Vocational Training Institutes (an RM has already been negotiated in Colombia) to better integrate the public services offered to refugee, migrant and national workers. Finally, this practice is scalable because its final goal is to include all PESs of the region in the interconnected network, which will facilitate fair, orderly, and safe labour mobility across the region.

Date submitted:

04 April 2022

Disclaimer: The content of this practice reflects the views of the implementers and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, the United Nations Network on Migration, and its members.