Labour Migration and Fair Recruitment for Decent Work: Addressing Irregular Migration

Speaker: Charles Allan Kwenin, Chief Executive Officer of IMPRAC, Ghana

Discussant: Maegan Hendow (ICMPD) TBC, Prof. Mary Setrana, University of Ghana

Description: This session will examine fair recruitment practices and strategies to address irregular migration, with a focus on ethical and sustainable approaches to labour mobility.

Format: Online

About the speaker:

Charles Allan Kwenin has over 30 years experience in migration policy and practice with the International Organization for Migration (The UN Migration Agency). Until his retirement in 2022, Mr. Kwenin served as the IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa providing strategic direction and policy support to 15 Countries in the Southern Africa Region as well as COMESA, IOC and SADC. He also served as the Senior Regional Advisor for Africa to the IOM Director General at its Headquarters in Geneva for 8 years. Prior to that Mr. Kwenin served as IOM Chief of Mission to Ethiopia and IOM Representative to the Africa Union Commission (AUC), UNECA and IGAD. He also served in various capacities in IOM in Kenya, Uganda and Brussels. Mr. Kwenin was the lead Consultant for drafting the African Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa and the African Common Position on Migration and Development adopted in Banjul, The Gambia in 2006. Mr. Kwenin also pioneered the establishment of the Pan African Forum on Migration (PAFOM) a continental platform for inter-state and intra-regional consultations on Migration in Africa. Mr. Kwenin coordinated the drafting of the Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) between the governments of Ghana and Mauritius. Mr. Kwenin was very instrumental in the establishment of various Regional Consultative Processes for the African Regional Economic Communities including; ECOWAS, IGAD, COMESA, ECCAS and IOC. From 2022 – 2024, Mr. Kwenin was Co-Editor for the IOM Migration Policy and Practice and the Editor-in Chief for the Southern Africa Migration Report. Prior to joining IOM, Mr. Kwenin worked for the Ghana Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as an Economic Planning Office from 1985 until 1990. Mr Kwenin holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in Development Policy from the State University of Antwerp Belgium. He also holds a B.Sc (Hons) Degree in Development Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST).