ANNOTATED PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME Page 1 of 6 Day 1: Senior Officials Meeting MIGRATION WITH DIGNITY Agenda of the Fourth Ministerial Consultation on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh 19-21 April, 2011 Day 1:19 April, 2011 SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING (CLOSED SESSION) * Time Activities 08:30 09:00 Senior officials arrive and take their seats 09:00-09:30 Session I: Inaugural Session - Welcome Statement by Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh - Welcome Statement by Mr. M. Mijarul Quayes, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh Session II: Sharing of study Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward 09:30-10:30 Summary findings of the study presented by Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque, Director, International Cooperation and Partnerships, 10:30-11:00 Tea/Coffee Break 11:00 13:00 Discussion on Migration with Dignity : Challenges on migration with dignity and possible policy response Specific issues related to promotion and protection of rights of migrants Specific issues related to welfare of overseas workers Optimizing the benefits of regular migration and movement of labour Institutional capacity building and inter-state cooperation Women labour migration 13:00 14:30 Lunch 14:30 16:00 Session III: Discussion on CP IV Outcome Documents Drafting Committee: - Operating Modalities - Dhaka Declaration 16:00-16:15 Tea/Coffee Break 16:15-17:30 Continuation of Drafting Committee 17:30-17:45 Wrap and Closing 19:30 Dinner hosted by Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan * The Senior Officials Meeting is only open to Colombo Process member states
Page 2 of 6 Day 2: Ministerial Consultations Day 2: 20 April, 2011 MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS Time Activities 09:15 09:30 Ministers, Senior Officials and guests arrive and take their seats - National Anthem Session I: Inaugural Session - Welcome Statement by Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh - Statement by Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration - Statement by H.E. Dr. Dipu Moni MP, Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh 09:30-11:00 - Statement by H.E. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith MP, Minister, Ministry of Finance, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh - Address and Official Inauguration of the 4 th Colombo Process Ministerial Consultation by H.E. Sheikh Hasina MP, Honourable Prime Minister, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh - Statement by H.E. Engr. Khandker Mosharraf Hossain MP, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh - Photo Session 11:00-11:30 Tea/Coffee Break CLOSED SESSION Session II: General Debate 11:30-13:00 Statements by Ministers/Heads of Delegations of the Colombo Process Member States Closed Sessions are only open to the 11 Colombo Process Member States. Sessions are open unless specified otherwise.
Page 3 of 6 Day 2: Ministerial Consultations CLOSED SESSION Session III: Consideration of the Report of the Senior Officials Meeting 13:00-13:30 Presentation of Report of the Senior Officials Meeting 13:30-15:00 Lunch Session IV: Statements by Observers and CSOs Statements by Heads of Delegations of Observer States and Agencies 15:00-17:00 Statement by a civil society representative to present the outcome of an event organized in the sidelines of the Colombo Process Ministerial Consultation by the civil society organizations 17:00-17:15 Session V: Wrap up and Closing 19:30 Dinner hosted by H.E. Engr. Khandker Mosharraf Hossain MP, Minister, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment followed by a cultural programme
Page 4 of 6 Day 3: Ministerial Consultations Day 3: 21 April, 2011 MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS Time Activities Session VI: Round Table Dialogue 1 Round table on Migration with Dignity: Protection of Migrant Workers Rights and their Well Being 09:30-11:00 Labour migration is an inherent part of the Colombo Process (CP) member countries providing an often much needed alternate livelihood opportunities. Recent significant growth in labour migration for the CP member states have resulted in increasing levels of remittances flowing in to the countries, often equaling or surpassing other foreign exchange earnings such as foreign development investment. However, such gains are not without its challenges. An overwhelming majority of migrants leave on a temporary basis, often through irregular channels to take low paid jobs in low skilled and informal sectors of the economy all factors which contribute greatly to their vulnerability. As such, they are often exploited at all stages of the migration process in the country of origin, transit and destination. Despite the proactive measures undertaken by many of the CP member states for better migration management and to promote safe migration, many fall prey to various forms of exploitation on a regular basis. With that in mind, the theme of this year s Colombo Process Meeting is Migration with Dignity, with the aim of facilitating dialogue and drawing up strategies to protect the rights of migrants and ensuring their well being. This session, in addition to addressing some of the good practices which already exist to ensure migration with dignity, will offer the participants a chance to discuss issues of common interest regarding protection of migrants, their rights and well being and provide a way forward in addressing some of the challenges. The following questions are proposed to guide the discussion: What are the main challenges with regards to the protection of migrant workers rights and their well being? What are some of the existing innovative approaches which have been used to address these challenges? What types of capacity are needed to better protect migrants rights and well being? What different roles can countries of origin, transit and destination play with regards to minimizing the risks of migration and promoting safe migration? General Discussion 11:00-11:30 Tea/Coffee Break
Page 5 of 6 Day 3: Ministerial Consultations Session VI Cont d: Round Table Dialogue 2 Round table on the Scope of Collaboration and Possible Institutionalized Response During Emergencies Impacting Migrant Workers 11:30-13:00 Following the civilian demonstrations and uprising in Tunisia and Egypt in mid- February, Libya faced similar protests by the people against the Muammar Qadhafi-led government. Unrest spread rapidly throughout the country leading to increasing levels of violence, resulting in large scale population outflows from Libya to neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, and eventually Niger and Algeria as well. Such large outflows of populations mainly third country nationals (TCNs) were migrant workers from primarily South and Southeast Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. Since the 1 st Gulf War in the 1990s, this has been the largest evacuation till date of approximately 250,000 persons. The international community was not prepared to deal with this emergency situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and while adequate support has been provided relatively quickly, the need for a more structured approach has become quite apparent. In this regard, the round table discussion will allow participants to compare experiences of past emergencies including the most recent one in MENA and touch upon the longer term impacts of such emergencies in general, and in particular so soon after the global financial crisis. In addition, the objective of the round table will be to initiate discussion on possible avenues of collaboration and potential institutionalization of response to emergencies directly impacting overseas workers with the aim of minimizing the negative impact on both migrant workers and the national economies. The following questions are proposed to guide the discussion: What was the overall impression of the response with regards to the MENA unrest? How did it differ from the response during the 1 st Gulf War? How could the response have been better? What will be the impact on the labour migration scenario for the CP member states to the MENA unrest, especially so soon after the global financial crisis? What potential policy and institutional measures may be taken to ensure better management of such crises in the future? Is there a scope for collaboration and institutionalizing such responses? If so how? 13:00-14:30 Lunch General Discussion CLOSED SESSION Session VII: Finalization and Adoption of CP Outcome Documents 14:30-15:30 Finalization and Adoption of: - Colombo Process Operating Modalities - Dhaka Declaration of the 4 th Colombo Process Ministerial Consultations Closed Sessions are only open to the 11 Colombo Process Member States. Sessions are open unless specified otherwise
Session VIII: Concluding Session Page 6 of 6 Day 3: Ministerial Consultations Statements by Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration 15:30-16:30 Statement by H.E. Engr. Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Minister, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh 16:30-17:00 Refreshments Vote of Thanks by Dr. Zafar Ahmed Khan, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh 17:00-17:30 Press Conference by H.E. Engr. Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Minister, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People s Republic of Bangladesh and Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration