LWOB partnered with Verité Fair Labor Worldwide in a project entitled, 'Promoting Safe and Fair Migration from Kenya to the Gulf States.' The project’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of various Government of Kenya (GoK) ministries to enforce ethical labor recruitment policies and standards. LWOB aimed to promote the investigation and prosecution of illegal labor recruitment practices through policy development and detail-focused, capacity-building trainings and materials for criminal justice actors.
LWOB prepared an in-depth legislative framework analysis related to the licensure and regulation of recruitment agencies in Kenya. This document assessed existing Kenyan laws against international legislation and standards. The analysis identified gaps in existing Kenyan legislation and made suggestions based on policies of other similarly-situated countries. This analysis was provided to the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Secretariat, who together with IOM, are working towards building a new policy that more successfully targets illegal labor recruitment and trafficking in persons.
LWOB conducted approximately 20 consultation meetings with relevant government stakeholders and civil society actors to inform the preparation of a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the investigation and prosecution of illegal labor recruitment practices. In November 2019, LWOB conducted an initial SOP development workshop in Nairobi with 18 technical legislative officers from the Nairobi and Mombasa areas. In February 2020, LWOB conducted a second SOP development workshop in Nairobi with 24 senior policy advisors. LWOB will host a validation workshop where leaders from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and other cabinet secretaries will sign the SOPs to formalize approval of the document. GoK stakeholders will then continue the process of socialization and trainings amongst law enforcement officers and prosecutors with the assistance of LWOB's sustainable training modules.