WINDHOEK: Namibia is in the process of establishing a Labour Migration Unit (LMU) to ensure policy coherence and coordination between labour migration, employment and other national policies in recognition of the wide social and economic implications of labour migration.
This is according to the Executive Director in the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MLIREC), Lydia Indombo, who said the unit will further promote decent work for all.
Indombo while speaking at a workshop which focused on labour migration units and critical skills in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region here Thursday, said for Namibia to ensure efficient and effective labour migration governance as well as realise tangible results, there is a need to expedite the development and implementation of national labour migration policies.
‘There is also a need for Namibia to implement strategies to effectively domesticate the Labour Migration Action Plan, as well as to be in the position to est
ablish the requisite institutional capacity for labour migration management,’ she said.
Furthermore, she added that capacity requires dedicated human resources in the LMU or departments within relevant ministries and departments responsible for labour and employment as well as strengthening inter-institutional coordination structures on labour migration.
The workshop served as a platform to share insights and best practices in crafting effective labour migration policies. Emphasising policy coherence and the importance of demand-driven approaches, participants explored avenues to optimise skills matching and anticipation within the ever-evolving socio-economic landscape.
So far only six SADC member states namely, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe have adopted and implemented labour migration policies and strategies while Malawi and South Africa are near adopting them.
The workshop was held in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Source: The Namibia Pr
ess Agency