An assessment of labour migration and mobility governance in the IGAD region

This assessment provides a comprehensive analysis of labour migration and mobility governance across the eight IGAD Member States—Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. It benchmarks national legislation, policies, institutional coordination, bilateral labour agreements, social protection, recruitment regulation and data systems against regional and international labour-migration standards (pages 12–34). Scorecards on pages 15–18 show significant variation in compliance, with Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda demonstrating comparatively stronger governance systems, while conflict-affected states face acute capacity constraints. The report identifies challenges such as weak inter-ministerial coordination, gaps in skills recognition, limited protection for migrant workers, informal recruitment pathways and inadequate labour-market information. Recommendations include strengthening IGAD’s Mutual Recognition of Qualifications initiative, harmonising BLMA frameworks, investing in skills partnerships, expanding social protection portability and enhancing regional data collection.