FAIR RECRUITMENT FORWARD: building capacities and bilateral cooperation to advance labour migration governance

The proposed project, Fair Recruitment Forward, seeks to strengthen labour migration governance by enhancing capacities and fostering bilateral cooperation to advance fair recruitment globally. Migration is a structural feature of labour markets, yet weak governance and unfair recruitment practices, such as contract deception, illegal recruitment fees, and discrimination, continue to undermine decent work, expose workers to exploitation, and distort labour markets. These risks are particularly acute for migrant workers, who face heightened vulnerability to forced labour, debt bondage, and barriers to justice. Women migrant workers are disproportionately affected, often confined to low-paid, informal jobs with limited protections. Building on the ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative and aligned with the Fair Recruitment Strategy 2026–30, the project promotes rights-based recruitment and prevention of trafficking and forced labour. It adopts a comprehensive, tripartite approach, engaging governments, employers, workers’ organizations, and private recruitment agencies to scale up fair recruitment through law and policy reform, capacity building, and multistakeholder cooperation. The project focuses on three thematic areas: fair recruitment for decent work, compliance and fair business practices among private recruitment agencies, and negotiation and implementation of Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs). Activities will combine global knowledge development with targeted capacity building across selected migration corridors in Africa, Asia, and the Arab States. Outputs include gender-responsive training tools, technical briefs on integrating fair recruitment into BLMAs, documentation of innovative practices, and diagnostic tools to address behavioural determinants of recruitment abuses. Global and regional training courses, webinars, and peer-to-peer exchanges will be delivered through ITCILO and FairRecruitmentHub.org, complemented by South–South cooperation and trade union collaboration across borders. By embedding peer learning, promoting synergies with ongoing ILO and GIZ initiatives, and leveraging existing networks, the project ensures sustainability and ownership. Ultimately, Fair Recruitment Forward aims to enhance constituents’ capacity to implement fair and effective labour migration governance frameworks, protect migrant workers’ rights, and contribute to decent work and sustainable development.

Project symbol

GLO/25/21/DEU

Admin unit

MIGRANT

Start date

01/01/2026

End date

30/11/2026

Total allocation

580960

Total expenditure

Status

Active

54065

Development Partners

Germany, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Country/Countries

Global

Outcomes

Outcome 6: Protection at work for all