Fair Recruitment at the Heart of Sustainable Reintegration Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting 2025 to Convene in Honiara

Labour mobility stakeholders from across the Pacific and beyond will gather in Honiara from 3-6 November 2025 for the Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting (PLMAM) 2025, hosted under the theme “Sustainable Reintegration Begins with Fair and Effective Recruitment”.

The meeting, organised by the PACER Plus Implementation Unit (PPIU), which also serves as the Labour Mobility Secretariat, brings together participants from PACER Plus Parties including Australia, Cook Islands, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, as well as invited representatives from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Timor Leste as observers . Other labour mobility stakeholders will also be represented including workers, employers, trade unions, private sector, academia, international and regional organisations.

The four-day meeting will provide a platform for open and practical discussions among labour mobility stakeholders including workers, employers, labour sending and labour receiving government officials, international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation, International Organisation for Migration, and the World Bank, and a guest speaker from the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers. The key topics discussed will focus on worker recruitment and sustainable reintegration.

Solomon Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Peter Shanel Agovaka said his government is honoured to host the regional meeting.

“The Pacific’s labour mobility schemes have brought life-changing opportunities to thousands of our people. But as the numbers grow, so does our shared responsibility to ensure recruitment is fair, ethical, and transparent,” Hon. Agovaka said.

“Hosting the PLMAM 2025 is a privilege for Solomon Islands and a chance for us all to ensure that the benefits of these programmes are felt not only by workers abroad but also by families, communities and countries.”

Head of the PACER Plus Implementation Unit and Labour Mobility Secretariat, Mr. Roy Lagolago, said this year’s theme reflects a growing regional focus on ensuring that the worker journey is fair from start to finish.

“Sustainable reintegration starts long before workers board a plane. It begins with how they are recruited, trained, and supported,” Mr. Lagolago said.

“The PLMAM provides an important space for sending and receiving countries to work together, share lessons, and make practical commitments to fair recruitment and better outcomes for our workers and their families.”

Established under the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility, the PLMAM is the region’s main platform for cooperation on labour mobility issues, strengthening dialogue and partnership between governments, private sector employers, and worker representatives across the Pacific.

-ENDS-

-PACER Plus Implementation Unit Press Release