Good Practice: Pre-departure Orientation Program

1. Third Ministerial Consultation on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia 20-21 September 2005, Bali Indonesia Good Practice: Pre-departure Orientation Program Experience of Bangladesh, Philippines and Sri Lanka Presented by: A.K.M. Masud Ali INCIDIN Bangladesh 20 September 2005

2. Outline of the Presentation • An overview of the added value of PDOS • The institutional and legal infrastructure within which the good practices are identified • The elements of good practices in PDOS program in Bangladesh, Philippines and Sri Lanka. • Examples of good practices in PDOS • Way Forward

3. Stages in Processing Migration At every stage of migration process access to authentic information is a precondition to safe migration and it starts at pre-migration stage… Pre Departure: Origin Reintegration: Origin Post Arrival: Destination

4. Pre-Departure Orientation Adds value for all Migrants Aware on their Responsibilities With Enhanced Capacity for Integration Reduced Vulnerability • Benefit to: • Government • Economy • Migrants Maximum Gain from Migration Maximize benefit from employment of migrant labour Managing migration Empowerment Of individual Migrants Informed decision regarding safe migration Destination Country Individual Migrants Origin Country

5. The two aspects of PDOS program PDOS Program The enabling and supportive institutional and legal infrastructure for safe Labour migration

6. Institutional and Legal Setups Mandatory and Enabling Pre-departure Registration and Orientation: • in Bangladesh (BMET) • Philippines (OWWA) • Sri Lanka (SLBFE) In the Philippines, POEA Memorandum Circular No. 3, Series of 1983 provided guidelines for the conduct of a compulsory PDOS for “all first-time or re-contracted workers, and every agency is responsible in providing each worker a thorough PDOS”

7. Institutional and Legal Setups Involvement of private sector and NGOs 520 agencies Philippines OWWA NGOs 703 private agencies

8. Institutional and Legal Setups Involvement of private sector and NGOs Trade Union bodies SLBFE NGOs Sri Lanka Private agencies

9. Institutional and Legal Setups Involvement of private sector and NGOs NGO-self initiative BMET BOESL Bangladesh Private Recruiting Agencies

10. Institutional and Legal Setups Involvement of international organizations (Philippines) Canadian Orientation Abroad (COA) Gov. of Canada IOM GRP Power to choose

11. Institutional and Legal Setups Involvement of international organizations (Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) Govt. Pioneer and piloting (90s) PDOS Training Module on Safe Migration Language Lab Health awareness NGO facilitation IOM

12. Indicators of Good Practice • Existence of innovative curricula for pre-departure programs • Rich content of pre-departure orientation seminars • Standardization and certification of PDOS • Special need focused orientation for specific group of migrants

13. Indicators of Good Practice • Information campaigns for awareness and accountability • Peer and community involvement in PDOS • Enabling migrants to access networks for support and redress

14. Indicators of Good Practice • Gender sensitive and empowering process • Country specific cultural, economic and social orientation/sustainability • Recent introduction of pre-employment orientation seminars before PDOS

15. PDOS: Indicators of Good Practice Innovative Curricula for PDOS programes: participation in the process of syllabus development, through consultation with different stakeholders Introduction of new skills training to ensure access to new labour markets; Empowerment through the acquisition of knowledge and skills development of curricula for specific occupations, experience and destinations Optimal allocation of time

16. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Contents of PDOS: Finance Health: HIV/AIDS Travel Document Workplace Safety Coping Strategy Remittance Worksite Info. Source of Support at Destination Family Welfare Culture Language Migrants’ Rights & Responsibilities

17. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Contents of PDOS: Migrants’ Rights Workplace Safety Coping Strategy Language No single country covers all the topic but the list reflects great potentiality of learning from each other. Culture Travel Document Worksite Info. Finance Remittance Family Welfare

18. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Pre-employment orientation seminars (Philippines) • illegal recruitment, list of licensed recruitment agencies, illegal agencies; • procedures for application departure, on-site employment and return; • job-site information, including culture of the country of destination;

19. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Pre-employment orientation seminars • remittances, financial management and livelihood projects, as protection against the insecurity • of overseas employment insurance coverage for workers and their families. Presently the policy makers are stressing on pre-employment orientation as an essential element of pre-migration preparation.

20. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Enabling Network for Support and Redress Information on: Embassies in destination countries, on their role in supporting nationals; Human rights organizations in destination countries; Migrants’ associations and trade unions in destination countries; Philippines: Orientation on Resource Centers Sri Lanka & Bangladesh: Stay-facilities at destination

21. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Sustainability Coordinated Effort: GO, NGO, IO, PS Migrants’ Welfare fund Favourable Institutional Structure

22. PDOS: Example of Good Practice Gender sensitive policy Entertainers: Female Household Workers Special legal Protection and Training Sri Lanka Philippines Bangladesh Entertainers: COPE in the Philippines

23. Way Forward The origin and destination countries must come together to ensure that PDOS is seen as a Comprehensive process to make Migration safer and beneficial for all. Decentralization Focus on rights Destination specificity Breaking away gender stereotype Focus on Reintegration

24. Thank you and Welcome to Discussion…..