5 - Regular pathways

To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:

(a) Develop human rights-based and gender-responsive bilateral, regional and multilateral labour mobility agreements with sector-specific standard terms of employment in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, drawing on relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, guidelines and principles, in compliance with international human rights and labour law;

(b) Facilitate regional and cross-regional labour mobility through international and bilateral cooperation arrangements, such as free movement regimes, visa liberalization or multiple-country visas, and labour mobility cooperation frameworks, in accordance with national priorities, local market needs and skills supply;

(c) Review and revise existing options and pathways for regular migration, with a view to optimizing skills-matching in labour markets and addressing demographic realities and development challenges and opportunities, in accordance with local and national labour market demands and skills supply, in consultation with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders;

(d) Develop flexible, rights-based and gender-responsive labour mobility schemes for migrants, in accordance with local and national labour market needs and skills supply at all skills levels, including temporary, seasonal, circular and fasttrack programmes in areas of labour shortages, by providing flexible, convertible and non-discriminatory visa and permit options, such as for permanent and temporary work, multiple-entry study, business, visit, investment and entrepreneurship;

(e) Promote effective skills-matching in the national economy by involving local authorities and other relevant stakeholders, particularly the private sector and trade unions, in the analysis of the local labour market, identification of skills gaps, definition of required skills profiles, and evaluation of the efficacy of labour migration policies, in order to ensure market-responsive contractual labour mobility through regular pathways;

(f) Foster efficient and effective skills-matching programmes by reducing visa and permit processing time frames for standard employment authorizations, and by offering accelerated and facilitated visa and permit processing for employers with a track record of compliance;

(g) Develop or build on existing national and regional practices for admission and stay of appropriate duration based on compassionate, humanitarian or other considerations for migrants compelled to leave their countries of origin owing to sudden-onset natural disasters and other precarious situations, such as by providing humanitarian visas, private sponsorships, access to education for children, and temporary work permits, while adaptation in or return to their country of origin is not possible;

(h) Cooperate to identify, develop and strengthen solutions for migrants compelled to leave their countries of origin owing to slow-onset natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change, and environmental degradation, such as desertification, land degradation, drought and sea level rise, including by devising planned relocation and visa options, in cases where adaptation in or return to their country of origin is not possible;

(i) Facilitate access to procedures for family reunification for migrants at all skills levels through appropriate measures that promote the realization of the right to family life and the best interests of the child, including by reviewing and revising applicable requirements, such as on income, language proficiency, length of stay, work authorization, and access to social security and services;

(j) Expand available options for academic mobility, including through bilateral and multilateral agreements that facilitate academic exchanges, such as scholarships for students and academic professionals, visiting professorships, joint training programmes and international research opportunities, in cooperation with academic institutions and other relevant stakeholders." (GCM, 2018: para. 21)

Objective 5 focuses on the development of regular migration pathways in different contexts. This objective discusses the facilitation of labour mobility, academic mobility, family reunification and mobility options to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Objective 5 is closely aligned with the GCM guiding principle of international cooperation as the objective highlights the need to establish bilateral, regional and multilateral labour mobility and cooperation agreements to develop solutions for migrants moving in the context of climate and environmental impacts. Such agreements and schemes need to be flexible, rights-based and gender-responsive. Paragraphs (h) and (i) are particularly innovative as they acknowledge the need to develop regular pathways in contexts where climate and environmental impacts are forcing people to move. The principles outlined under these two paragraphs could support the development of groundbreaking policies to address the linkages between human mobility, environmental and climate change and fill existing gaps.

Labour mobility

The theme labour mobility of objective 5 is also mentioned in the following sections of the GCM:

• Objective 6 (para. 22 b, k, l)
• Objective 18 (para. 34, c)

Decent work

The theme decent work of objective 5 is also mentioned in the following sections of the GCM:

• Objective 2 (para. 18 b)
• Objective 6 (para. 2 a, e-g)
• Objective 16 (para. 32, d)
• Objective 18 (para. 34)
• Objective 21 (para. 37 h)

Skills-matching

The theme skills-matching of objective 5 is also mentioned in the following sections of the GCM:

• Objective 18 (para. 34)

Migration in the context of environmental and climate change

The theme migration in the context of environmental and climate change of objective 5 is also mentioned in the following sections of the GCM:

• Objective 2 (para. 18 b, h – l)
• Objective 23 (para. 39 b)

The Global Compact for Migration (GCM) report is available in AR, ZH, EN, FR, RU, ES.