The RSMMS network has set up a working group to protect the rights of migrant women workers. With the support of the PROMIG programme of the Friedrich Ebert Foundations, the trade union organisations of the RSMMS are organising an international conference to promote the “Convergence of stakeholders for a safer mobility of women”. The conference will take place in Cotonou on 25 and 26 July. The aim of the conference is to create a space for dialogue by bringing together stakeholders from Africa, Europe and Asia to discuss issues related to women’s mobility. It will focus on the specific challenges faced by migrant women and create an environment conducive to understanding and addressing issues related to women’s migration. It will also focus on strengthening the international campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and ILO Convention 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment at work.
The conference will focus on four axes:
- Mobility at the heart of development and social progress in Africa
- Assistance systems for migrant women, between complementarity and compartmentalisation of associative and trade union actors
- Legal corridors, orderly migration but not so secure
- Mobility in Africa, between a stifled reality and the imperative to innovate, what are the contributions of the women’s movement?
The conference will be attended by forty (40) participants, including some fifteen international guests, ensuring a balanced representation of a wide range of stakeholders, such as associations and trade unions from Africa, Europe and Asia, international organisations (ILO, IOM, ECOWAS, ITUC-Africa, African Union, UN Women), as well as government representatives and institutions from Benin.
The initiative will include discussion panels, plenary sessions, round tables and 2 side events in the form of a screening debate and a dinner debate.
The organisation of the conference is based on:
– A local organising committee (Plateforme Multi acteurs de la Migration au Bénin, Réseau National des travailleurs domestiques du Bénin and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung / Tunisia and Benin offices).
– An international steering committee (Gender and Migration Working Group of the RSMMS trade union federations).
The concept note and programme of the International Conference:
