Developing, Negotiating and Implementing Bilateral Labour Agreements

This course aims to reinforce the negotiation skills and techniques of officials involved in the adoption and follow-up of bilateral and/or multilateral agreements increasing the potential of BLAs in improving the governance of labour migration, promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers, and enhancing migration and development linkages. OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, participants are be able to: • Discuss potential challenges for effective implementation of BLAs/MoUs and the way forward; • Appreciate the role, objectives, challenges and opportunities associated with negotiating bilateral labour agreements (BLAs); • Become familiar with key policy priorities that justify the need to adopt bilateral labour agreements; • Identify good practices in bilateral labour agreements based on specific criteria drawn from international norms, and highlight agreements which could lead to better outcomes in terms of migration governance and protection of migrant workers; • Improve capacity for critical review of existing BLAs and MOUs and negotiate for their revisions; • Understand the negotiation process and techniques of effective negotiation, including through the simulation of a negotiation agreement. CONTENT Module 1 : The case for Bilateral Labour Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding: Key Concepts. Module 2: Getting it right on paper. Module 3: Making BLAs work better in practice. Module 4 Enhancing our negotiation skills.