SANTIAGO (ILO News) - The ILO, with support from WB KNOMAD, organized a session on SDG 10.7.1 and migrant recruitment costs at the International Forum on Migration Statistics (IFMS) 2023.

Context

Persistent high recruitment fees and related costs borne by migrant workers to access jobs abroad are widely recognized as a significant impediment to realize the benefits of international migration for sustainable and inclusive development. Following the ILO general Principles and Operational Guideline for Fair recruitment, key international migration instruments and guidelines, including the ILO Fair Migration Agenda and the UN Global Compact on Migration, prioritize eliminating migrant recruitment fees as a means to achieve safe and responsible migration. To this end, the SDG 2030 Agenda further calls on States to monitor migrant recruitment costs (SDG 10.7.1) as one of the key indicators to assess progress towards reducing inequality within and among countries (Goal 10). Producing reliable statistics on recruitment costs paid by migrant workers, however, is not without important challenges. 

Session content and objective

The session was organized by the ILO, with support from the World Bank KNOMAD, as co-custodian agencies for SDG 10.7.1. It showcased recent achievements to promote measurement of SDG 10.7.1 on migrant workers’ paid recruitment costs and reflected on the lessons learned and way forward. The ILO shared the latest developments to generate evidence on recent SDG 10.7.1 trends for high-level advocacy at global level, as well as to establish a sound methodology for national level monitoring. Three countries with different migration profiles shared their experiences spearheading measurement of SDG 10.7.1, through pilot testing and national survey implementation.

Presentations can be found here (global), here (Philippines), here (Republic of Korea), and here (Nepal)