BACKGROUND PAPER

THEMATIC AREA WORKING GROUP ON

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS RECOGNITION PROCESSES

To contribute to enhanced employability and provision of decent work terms and conditions
for migrant workers from the Colombo Process Member States through increased recognition
of skills and qualification in alignment with internationally recognized schemes in countries
of destination.

MEMBERSHIP: Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (Chair)

MEETING SUMMARY:

Thematic Area Working Group meetings on Skills and Qualifications Recognition were participated by:
− Colombo Process Member States;
− Countries of destination - Abu Dhabi Dialogue Secretariat, Bahrain and Republic of Korea;
− Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN);
− Bangladesh Technical Education Board;
− United Nations (UN) - International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour
Organization (ILO), and UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN
Women);
− Development partner - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC);
− Private sector - Bayt and Snathe Group;
− Trade unions - South Asian Regional Trade Union Council (SARTUC);
− Civil society - Migrant Forum in Asia.

Five Thematic Area Working Groups meetings were convened between 2016 – 2018. Key discussion
areas include:
 Goals and key tasks of the Thematic Area Working Group.
 Terms of Reference of the Thematic Area Working Group.
 United Arab Emirates pilot project on skills development, certification, upgrading and
recognition.
 Pilot initiative, “Enhanced Recognition of Skills and Reduced Vulnerability of Sri Lankan
Construction Workers in selected Gulf Corporation Council countries”.
 Inter-Regional Expert Forum on Skills and Migration in South Asia – Middle East Corridor
organized by the ILO.
 Joint Colombo Process recommendations to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular
Migration (GCM).
 Regional qualifications frameworks.
 Recognition of Prior Learning.
 National initiatives of the Colombo Process Member States on skills development and
qualifications recognition.
SPECIFIC GOALS AND KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Sending more skilled workers from Colombo Process Member States to

Countries of Destination

− Discussed the importance of exploring new labour markets where skilled workers are
in demand.
− Exchanged lessons learned from job fairs organized in individual Colombo Process
Member States to: identify skill areas in demand in Countries of Destination; and
promote skilled workers from Colombo Process Member States during the Regional
Workshop for Labour Attachés of Colombo Process Member States in December 2018.
− Exchanged lessons learned from trainings for upscaling skills of workers to match and
harmonize with the demands in Countries of Destination.

Promoting mutual recognition of skills and qualification frameworks

within Colombo Process Member States, and between Colombo
Process Member States and Countries of Destination

− Discussed about developing a commonly agreed regional qualifications framework for

Colombo Process Member after conducting a feasibility study.
− Conducted a national consultation on National Qualification Framework in Sri Lanka
to feed into the feasibility study.

Promoting higher wages for workers with higher skills from Colombo
Process Member States