Fair Recruitment and Safe Labour Migration: Ghana Puts Gender Equality at Centre

Based on the ILO Guidelines for Gender Equality in Fair Recruitment, the workshop followed training organized for 10 African diplomatic missions in the Gulf States.

Government institutions, employers, workers' organizations and recruitment agencies have joined civil society and development partners in training to strengthen recruitment practices that respond to the different needs and risks of Ghanaian migrant workers. Held on 29 and 30 October 2026, the two-day sensitization workshop brought together approximately 45 participants to examine how gender equality can improve protection throughout the migration process. Discussions focused on practical ways to prevent exploitation, strengthen workers' rights and make employment opportunities abroad safer and more accessible.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly organized the workshop through the EU-funded Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Project Phase II (FMM West Africa II) and the Fair Recruitment Forward Project. Its organizing partner was Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the Programme Shaping Development-Oriented Migration (MEG). The GIZ programme is commissioned by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supporting cooperation on migration that contributes to development.

Based on the ILO Guidelines for Gender Equality in Fair Recruitment, the workshop followed training organized for 10 African diplomatic missions in the Gulf States. Participants examined findings from a gender analysis of labour migration along the Ghana–Nigeria corridor to Gulf Cooperation Council countries and considered how the guidelines could be applied in Ghana. The discussions came as Ghana reviews relevant policies, including its National Labour Migration Policy, creating an opportunity to connect the recommendations with policy development.

Women migrant workers face greater exposure to exploitation

Labour migration can create jobs, build skills and improve livelihoods, with women and men facing different experiences and levels of protection throughout the process. Women migrant workers, particularly those in domestic and informal employment, remain more exposed to exploitative recruitment, abuse, discrimination and gaps in protection. Participants called for stronger protection and grievance mechanisms, including for refugees and asylum seekers, and better gender-disaggregated data to guide decisions.

Ghana's policy review opens space for stronger safeguards

Participants identified opportunities to strengthen gender equality across the labour migration cycle, connecting recruitment practices with the protections workers need before and during employment abroad. Speaking on behalf of the GIZ-MEG Programme Director, David Nii Addy said the workshop's timing made its discussions and recommendations particularly relevant to stronger gender-responsive migration governance and fair recruitment. Austin Erameh, Employment and Migration Officer at ILO Abuja, representing the Country Office Director, said placing gender at the centre of governance could improve worker protection and position Ghana as a leader in safe, orderly and inclusive labour migration.

Fair recruitment depends on shared responsibility

Progress requires cooperation among government, employers, workers' organizations, recruitment agencies, civil society, diaspora actors, development partners and the media, participants agreed. Harriet Botchway, Head of the Gender and Child Protection Department at the Trades Union Congress Ghana, emphasized that fair recruitment and safe migration pathways are essential to preventing exploitation and supporting dignity, opportunity and economic empowerment. Stakeholders stressed that migration's benefits can be fully realized only through transparent, well-regulated pathways grounded in respect for workers' rights and dignity.