African Union Launches $16m Programme to Strengthen Labour Migration Across Africa
Pecohub The African Union (AU) has launched the third phase of its flagship Joint Labour Migration Programme (JLMP), a four-year programme that will run from 2025 to 2029 and is backed by $16 million in funding to focus on improving policy coherence, strengthening labour migration data systems, advancing skills recognition, promoting portable social protection, and deepening regional integration.
The JLMP is a renewed push to strengthen the governance of labour mobility across the continent, as migration assumes an increasingly central role in Africa’s economic development.
The programme, coordinated by the African Union Commission and implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO) and German development agency GIZ, was formally unveiled at a high-level event in Addis Ababa on April 30.
The launch event convened senior representatives from AU member states, regional economic communities, social partners, development partners and members of the media, signalling broad-based support for the next phase of the continent’s labour migration agenda.
Speaking at the launch, Amma Twum-Amoah, ambassador and AU commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, underscored the growing importance of structured labour migration, pointing to a steady rise in international migrants across Africa, from 17.6 million in 2010 to 26 million in 2022. She added that remittance inflows reached $97.5 billion in 2022, reflecting the sector’s expanding economic significance.
Riccarda Chanda, ambassador of Switzerland to Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan, highlighted the programme’s core objective, stating, “The JLMP responds to a clear demand: the need to strengthen protection for migrant workers through rights-centered, evidence-based and gender-responsive labour migration frameworks.”
Also speaking, Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, ambassador and chair of the African Union Permanent Representatives Committee Sub-Committee on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, emphasised the broader institutional impact of the initiative.
He said: “The significance of JLMP PROPEL (Promoting Opportunities, Protection, Employment and Labour Integration) lies in its promise to help build stronger institutions, more coherent policies, better labour migration data systems, enhanced skills mobility frameworks, and more effective mechanisms for the protection of migrant workers and their families.”
The JLMP PROPEL initiative is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), with GIZ serving as fund manager.
Earlier phases of the programme focused on strengthening governance frameworks, advancing policy development, improving labour migration data systems, and enhancing skills recognition at both national and regional levels.
Follow-on initiatives, including the JLMP Action and Lead projects, delivered outcomes such as stronger institutions across selected countries and regional economic communities, improved social protection measures, and enhanced coordination for safer and more orderly migration.
Reaffirming Sweden’s support,Hedvig Lohm, ambassador and deputy head of Mission at the Sweden Embassy in Addis Ababa, noted that it aligns with Sweden’s conviction that sustainable reform requires broad ownership, inclusive dialogue and shared responsibility
