Ghana is in talks with countries in the Gulf State to streamline agreement with regard to ensuring the rights of migrant domestic workers in that region are protected.
Chief Labour Officer at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relation, Eugene Narh Korletey, said government has reached various stages of negotiations with authorities in some countries in the Gulf region while other negotiations are being finalized.
He said part of the negotiations will be looking at the regulation of labour migration agreement and model employment contract to protect Ghanaian migrants.
He was speaking at the Migrating Out Of Poverty (MOOP) West Africa Regional workshop in Accra, organized by the MOOP research programme consortium.
The workshop formed part of the final activities of the 10-year project which saw researchers undertaking studies on migration dynamics such as the economic and socio-cultural dimensions.
It was to enable the sharing of findings and Policy statements between two participating countries; Ghana and Senegal.
Programme Director of MOOP, Prof. Priya Deshingkar, addressing participants of the workshop commended the research programme consortium, saying their research have created strong scientific evidence on the dynamics of migration adding that the findings and recommendations should be strongly considered by policy makers.
She further advocated for a more liberal migration process especially to developed countries as that would help in addressing the issue of illegal migration.
Coordinator of MOOP Consortium Ghana, Prof. Mariama Awumbila, said scientific studies over the years show that although migration could be negative to originating communities, there are lots of potentials in the sector, which if managed properly, could enhance the development agenda of the sending countries.
She said the work of the consortium has supported the development of national policies and strategies to facilitate development through migration.
MOOP
The MOOP, a Research Consortium, is a 10-year research project looking at the relationship between migration and poverty with a focus on reducing the negative aspects of migration and enhancing the positive sides.
The project is being funded by DfiD while the University of Sussex, in the United Kingdom is a coordinating institution.
The Centre for Migration Studies (CMS), University of Ghana, Legon is the implementing institution in Ghana.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri