Negotiating bilateral labour agreements

While bilateral agreements can play an important role in ensuring that the labour rights of migrant workers are protected, in practice they exhibit a number of shortcomings regarding their design, content, monitoring, implementation and impact. Countries of origin and destination have different bargaining positions, motivations and objectives for negotiating them. Moreover, the diversity of bilateral agreements in terms of their legally binding status, scope and content presents an added challenge. Finally, modern-day bilateral agreements operate in a context where recruitment of migrant workers in certain major corridors is largely undertaken by private enterprises, as opposed to governments.

In response to these challenges and opportunities, the International Training Centre of the ILO (Turin Campus, Italy) announces its upcoming course on Negotiating Bilateral Labour Agreements, with a view to increasing the potential of BLAs to improve governance of labour migration, promote and protect the rights of migrant workers, and enhancing migration and development linkages. This course aims also to reinforce the negotiation skills and techniques of officials who may work in the adoption and follow up of bilateral and/or multilateral agreements.

By the end of this course, participants will 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.

Technical content on BLAs and MoU

• Historical overview and current developments of bilateral labour agreements (BLAs) and memorandum of understanding (MoU)
• Types and general features of BLAs and MoU on labour migration
• Recent global and regional trends of BLAs and MoU
• Normative foundations of bilateral labour agreements
• Agreement Structure, Assessment and Good Practices
• Minimum standards/provisions for a bilateral agreement/MOU
1. How to make agreements work?
2. Monitoring and evaluation
• Joint committees: role, TORs and agenda
• Good practice review: Bilateral Agreements/MOUs on Labour Migration

Technical content on Negotiation skills

• Process and stages of negotiating bilateral labour agreements;
• Characteristics of position-based and needs-based negotiation;
• Behaviours of effective negotiators

The course will be provided in English and French with simultaneous translation 

Applicants should complete the online nomination form no later than 17 May 2019, supported by a nomination letter from the sponsoring institution indicating how the participant will be financed.

To start your online registration please click here 

Please note that if a Schengen visa for Italy is needed, the time required is on average at least three weeks.

For information regarding payment, cancellation and refunds, please consult our policy here 

Located in Turin (Italy), in an attractive park on the banks of the River Po, the Centre’s campus provides a congenial environment in which to live and study.

Click here to know more about the International Training Centre of the ILO and its mission.

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