Sri LankaChairmanship

Sri Lanka Chairmanship

Since the start of its Chairmanship incumbency in October 2013, Sri Lanka has spearheaded a number of initiatives that have strengthened the Colombo Process in terms of its structure, thematic foci as well as cooperation among the Member States and with countries of destination.

Sri Lanka proposed the Strategic Vision for the Colombo Process at the First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) under its Chairmanship in May 2014, which was subsequently endorsed by the Member States at the Meeting.  The following Five Thrusts and Five Thematic Priorities have supported the pursuit of the Strategic Vision. 

Five Thrusts:

• The Development Thrust: Recognize the vital contribution made by migrant workers to the development of Countries of Origins (COOs) as well as Countries of Destination (CODs)
•  The Humanitarian Thrust: Shift from a preoccupation of considering short term migrant workers as commodities to rather regard them as human beings and as human assets
•  The Legal Thrust: Engage with CODs with the view of promoting a framework of legal institutions in CODs, ranging from MOUs to legal systems, taking into account their jurisprudence which should be equipped to resolve and adjudicate on migrant employment related issues
•  The Institutional Thrust: Expand the network of Migrant Resource Centers or other institutions within the COOs to address recruitment of workers, pre-departure trainings, and re-integration of returning migrants
•  The Information Thrust: Build information systems, statistics and databases

Five Thematic Priorities: 

• Improving Skills and Qualification Recognition Processes for enhanced employability of workers and their reduced vulnerability 
• Fostering Ethical Recruitment in pursuit of minimizing forced labour and abuse
• Effective Pre-departure Orientation and Empowerment to heighten awareness of migrant workers of their rights and obligations and reduce their vulnerability in CODs
• Reducing Costs of Remittances Transfer to maximize the benefits of remittances for migrants, their families and national economies and build resilience
• Enhancing capacities to track labour market trends and support the Colombo Process goals to strengthen labour migration policy planning and implementation and inform the development of capacities and skills of migrant workers

Under the Sri Lanka Chairmanship, the Member States pursued tangible outcomes for these thematic priorities both through national-level initiatives as well as collaborative projects at the regional level. SOMs, which were convened four times under the Sri Lanka Chairmanship, served as the avenue for thematic discussions as well as preparation for reporting the progress at the Fifth Ministerial Consultation in August 2016. 

Revisions were made to the Operating Modalities of the Colombo Process under the leadership of Sri Lanka through the Geneva-based Permanent Representatives and Experts meetings as mandated by the decision at the Second SOM. The revised Operating Modalities were adopted at the Fifth Ministerial Consultation.