Migration for Prosperity: Adding Value by Working Together

In response to calls from several Asian labour sending countries, the Ministerial Consultation for Asian Labour Sending Countries was held in 2003 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ten initial participating states - Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam - made recommendations for the effective management of overseas employment programmes and agreed to regular follow-up meetings.

Since the meeting, the member states of the "Colombo Process" have met in Manila, Bali and Dhaka in 2004, 2005 and 2011 respectively to review and monitor the implementation of previous recommendations and identify areas of future action. The Ministerial Consultations in Bali and in Dhaka were enriched by the participation of several countries of destination - Australia, Bahrain, European Union, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and USA.

As the Colombo Process evolved with each Ministerial Consultation, new members and partners have joined and the Consultations have expanded in scope.

The process aims to continue to provide a forum for dialogue among member states. With the continued participation of the destination countries, this dialogue is set to evolve and contribute to strengthening migration management both in the Asian region and in countries of destination.

For more details visit: http://www.colomboprocess.org

Useful Resources

• Provisional Agenda
• Empowering Women Migrant Workers in South Asia | UN Women
• Domestic work and Migration in Asia | UN Women
• Domestic workers count too | UN Women
• Women’s Mobility and Domestic Work | ILO