KUN Training Workshop

March 15, 2006
New York, USA

On 15 March 2006, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) hosted a workshop on labour migration as part of the “UNITAR/United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA)/International Organization for Migration (IOM) Key Migration Issues Workshop Series”. This workshop was organized jointly with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The event was held at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters. The attendees included 83 delegates representing 57 countries; 26 staff from UN Secretariat and agencies, other organizations; and 12 members of civil society.

This workshop’s objectives focused on: identifying best practices with regard to the facilitation and regulation of temporary labour migration; distinguishing between the needs and issues affecting high skilled vs. low skilled; discussing ways to reduce the negative impacts of the mobility of highly skilled labour on countries of origin; exploring the scope and latest developments concerning the WTO negotiations on the liberalisation of movements of natural persons (Mode 4) that are part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); reviewing the international legal framework for the protection of migrants’ rights; identifying successful models for capacity building; and hearing the voices of trade unions, employment organizations and migrant associations.

More generally, the Series is intended to provide participants with greater knowledge on key migration issues, and offer a forum for discussion and awareness-raising prior to the Commission on Population and Development and General Assembly’s High Level Dialogue—both of which will focus on international migration and development in 2006.

MFA was invited to make a presentation on the existing international legal framework for the protection of migrant workers from a migrants' perspective focusing on what has been achieved and where does it fail to provide for the effective protection of migrant workers. In his presentation, he also emphasized that migration is a cross-cutting issue and should therefore no longer be addressed as solely a sectoral one but also on the level of individuals, organizations and society as a whole. It was also highlighted in his presentation how the seven human rights treaties are crucial to the rights-based regime for migrants’ protections and other documents such as the outcome document of the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) are also vital.

Full copy of the final report is available at www.unitarny.org.

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