The Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM) has called for an affirmative action by the African leaders towards negotiating decent jobs for the African migrants overseas especially in the Middle East.

This is as the organizers of the African Migration Summit (AMS) move to launch the West African Leadership Forum on Decent Work to be unveiled by President Maada Bio of Sierra Leone in Freetown on May 28.

The position of JIFORM was contained in a statement issued by Ajibola Abayomi, the President of the media body with over 300 journalists across the globe covering migration matters on Sunday.

JIFORM in partnership with the Nekotech Center of Excellence organized the maiden edition of the AMS in Accra, Ghana between February 25-26, this year where a road-map was drafted to further promote safe, orderly, regular and decent migration from the continent. Ajibola posited that time was ripe for its implementation.

Ajibola lauded President Bio for lifting the ban on labour migration and engaging Ocansey, a multiple international award winner and labour migration consultant with over 30 years experience to coordinate the recruitment of Sierra Leoneans for decent jobs abroad being supported with the expertise of several professionals under the umbrella of the Slide of Success (SOS) Global Investments.

He said Africa must initiate and back platforms to negotiate decent jobs for her people to put paid to the slavery and exploitation of women in the Arabian nations.

“Because we don’t have a common voice, the slave masters in those countries are taking advantage of that to abuse our women through a series of inhumane employment systems.

“Millions of African women were repatriated, made sexual slaves, abused or denied their wages as a result of failure of leaders to show more interest in the well-being of their citizens being recruited for jobs. All we need to do is to insist on decent job due process .”

Ajibola affirmed the AMS’s readiness to draw attention of the stakeholders on the need to secure jobs for women through the decent means devoid of abuses.

Meanwhile, in recognition of their advocacy on decent work, Nigeria’s Minister for State Labour and Employment, Chief Festus Keyamo, SAN, alongside President Maada Bio of Sierra Leone; former Malawian President, Joyce Banda and other top dignitaries have been nominated for migration awards at AMS’s event.

Bio is to officially unveil the forum that would also feature formal presentation of a book titled Deadly or Decent Work authoured by a member of the African Union Labour-Migration Advisory Committee from Ghana, Rev. Dr. Asie Kabukie Ocansey, while Keyamo has been slated to deliver a keynote address on Migration: Decent Work As A Tool For Development under the chairmanship of Sierra Leone’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Alpha Timbo.

JIFORM President, Ajibola Abayomi

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