Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Multilateral Co-operation

Colombo Process

Colombo Process is a Regional Consultative Process comprising of 12 Member States of Asia (countries of origin of migrant workers) and it provides an important platform for consultations on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour. The Process is non-binding and decision-making is by consensus. The Process is coordinated through Permanent Missions of Member States at UN in Geneva. India has been member of Colombo Process since its inception in 2003. The Process is governed by Ministerial Consultations wherein recommendations and action plans are discussed and adopted by the Ministers of the participating countries. So far six Ministerial Consultations have been held in Colombo (2003), Manila (2004), Bali (2005), Dhaka (2011), Colombo (2016) and Kathmandu (2018). There are five Thematic Area Working Groups (TAWGs) i.e. (a) Skills and Qualification Recognition (chaired by Sri Lanka); (b) Fostering Ethical Recruitment (chaired by Bangladesh); (c) Pre-Departure Orientation and Empowerment (chaired by Philippines); (d) Remittances (chaired by Pakistan) and (e)Labour Market Analysis (chaired by Thailand).

India has been actively participating in the Ministerial Consultations, Senior Officers Meeting and Meetings of TAWGs. India has also contributed to various studies undertaken under this process on remittance framework, rating mechanism of recruitment agencies, social protection for migrant workers etc.

Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD)

Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) is a regional, voluntary and non-binding consultative Process. It consists of the twelve Member States of the Colombo Process (CP) and six Gulf countries of destination: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Malaysia. It was established in 2008 as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between Asian countries of labour origin and destination to facilitate regional cooperation on contractual labour mobility, sharing of best experiences and learning from one another’s experience. India has been member of ADD since 2008. At present, Ministerial Consultations have been held in Abu Dhabi (2008), Manila (2012), Kuwait (2014), Colombo (2017) and Dubai(2019). The bilateral and multilateral cooperation in Abu Dhabi Dialogue is along the four work streams i.e. (a) Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programming (CIOP); (b) Strengthening Joint Country of Origin (COO) and Country of Destination (COD) Government Oversight and Monitoring of Recruitment Practices; (c) Certification and Mutual Recognition of Skills; and (d) The Future of Domestic Work in the Gulf.

The last Ministerial Consultation of ADD was held on 17 October 2019 at Dubai, wherein Dubai Declaration was adopted highlighting the agenda for the next two year cycle which includes the use of technology to promote transparent labour recruitment; skill certification and mutual recognition; challenges associated with the future of work; further development of a comprehensive information and orientation programs in ADD corridors; development of standards for domestic workers and promoting inter-regional cooperation. Indian delegation was lead by MOS.

Global Forum on Migration and Development

Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) was created upon the proposal of then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in September 2006 at the UN General Assembly High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD). It is based on an open discussion format and is voluntary, informal and non-binding in nature. It has membership of states, civil society and businesses and broadly serve as a platform towards generating awareness, sharing experiences and best practises among the participating stakeholders.