To further deepen the knowledge and understanding of African trade unions on the Free Trade and Migration Program of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and in accordance with the conclusions of the workshop held in Cotonu from July 31 to August 2, 2017, the African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) and the Organisation Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) in collaboration with ECOWAS jointly organized a workshop on the roles of trade unions and civil society organizations in promoting the ECOWAS program on Free Movement and Migration and the United Nations Global Compact on Migration.

This awareness meeting, held from 07 to 09 December 2017 at Bolton White Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, also aimed to inspire their commitment to free movement and migration with a view to contributing to the acceleration of its effective implementation.

It brought together around thirty participants, including ten women from trade union organizations and those from civil society. In addition to these participants, there were representatives of ECOWAS in charge of migration, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

At the end of the workshop, recommendations were formulated by all the participants. They mainly involve the setting up of a collection of texts on labor migration and the work that has to be done in synergy with administrative and technical organizations such as the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other organizations to assist unions in implementing the next steps.

As such, the participants committed themselves to work to ensure the effective implementation of the next steps of the process.