In abid to address escalating youth unemployment, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, will soon start exporting Ugandans to Canada and other countries for gainful employment.
According to Gender Minister Betty Amongi her ministry is planning to sign favourable bilateral labour agreements with more countries so that more Ugandans can be employed there.
“My ministry is in final preparations to sign bilateral trade agreements with countries such as Oman, Somalia, Lebanon, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Canada to officially start exporting labour,” Amongi said.
Amongi, last week Uganda signed a bilateral labour agreement with Qatar to facilitate safe migrant labour.
“The agreement has some very good provisions. They are looking for skilled workers more than these domestic workers who are semi-skilled or unskilled. We are looking at drivers, security, teachers, plumbers, architects, etc.,”she said.
According to Amongi the new agreement will go beyond exporting house maids.
According to data from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, a total of 269,452 migrant workers left the country between 2016 and 2023 for jobs in 11 countries that inlude Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Somalia, Kuwait, Jordan, Poland, and Romania.
Of the 269,452, the female migrant workers account for 225,693, while the males are 43,759.
Saudi Arabia employs the largest number of Ugandan migrant workers, with most of them going there to work as housemaids.
Despite its security challenges, a total of 3,254 migrant workers have gone to Somalia in the past eight years. The majority of them are security guards.
