Namibia launches labor migration policy, implementation plan

Namibia’s Minister of Labor, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Utoni Nujoma, when launching the documents, said this is a milestone in Namibia’s social and economic development and a response to the call of the SADC protocol on free movement as well as SADC Labor Migration Action Plan and Policy Framework.

“Namibia has benefited and can benefit further from labor migration, but this potential is not yet being exploited to a large extent,” he added.

According to Nujoma, Namibia is committed to facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible labor migration through the implementation of an integrated national labor migration policy for development.”The contribution that workers make towards development can now be explored with the comprehensive national migration policy,” he added.

Nujoma said the policy is set to address a range of matters relevant to labor migration in the Namibian context.”If we succeed in addressing all of these matters, we will make enormous progress toward protecting the rights of migrants and enhancing their positive impact on Namibia’s development,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nujoma commended the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for technical and financial support as well as the contributions of the technical working group throughout the development process.

Namibia’s migration profile launched in June 2016 highlighted the absence of critical data on labor migration and that of migration in general as well as the need to strengthen capacity and coordination among line ministries. (Xinhua)