Migration and Development Nexus in Africa Reference  to  Skilled  Migrants  

By  Bruk  Asmellash:  Interna;onal  Organiza;on  for  Migra;on  (IOM)    

   Special  Liaison  Mission  (SLM)  –  Addis  Ababa  

 Presented  at  the  Sixth  Commonwealth  Research  Symposium  on  Teacher  Mobility,  Recruitment  and  Migra;on  

Red  Cross  Training  Centre,  Addis  Ababa,    Ethiopia  

 8  –  9  June  2011  

What is Skilled Migration

•  When      “Emigra;on  of  trained  and  talented  persons  from  the  country  of  origin  to  another  country  resul;ng  in  a  deple;on  of  skills  resources  in  the  former”  (IOM  WMR  2008)  

•  There  are  also  instances  where  countries  are  engaged  in  bilateral  agreements  to  facilitate  labour  migra;on  with  in  a  broader  developmental  frameworks  such  as  to  generate  income,  enhance  skills  and  reduce  unemployment;  (Kenya  and  Mauri;us)    

q For  countries  of  des;na;on  ü Addi;onal  manpower  ü Partly  offsets  domes;c  shortages  of  professionals    

q For  countries  of  origin  ü Loss  of  skills  significant  for  development  ü Dependency  on  foreign  exper;se  ü Reduc;on  of  job  &  wealth  crea;on  capacity  ü Slowdown  of  research  &  technological  innova;ons  ü On  the  posi;ve  side  remi\ance  and  knowledge  transfer  as  well  as  investment  takes  place.  

Impacts of Skilled Migration

On Economic Development

•  Limited  skilled  manpower  le^  restricts  an  effec;ve  public  sector  to  create,  maintain  &  enforce  policies  necessary  for  economic  growth  

 •  Limited  manpower  le^  to  promote  &  strengthen  the  private  sector’s  ins;tu;onal  capacity    

 •  Public  funds  invested  in  higher  educa;on  does  not  necessarily  result  in  expected  benefits  /  results;    

Extent of Skilled Migration

ü Lack  of  a  uniformed  system  of  interna;onal  record  tracking  

ü Over-­‐  or  underes;ma;ons  ü Undocumented  migrants  workers  not  represented  

–  Africa  has  already  lost  about  a  1/3  of  her  human  capital,  worst  hit  are  Ethiopia,  Nigeria  and  Ghana.    

IOM Programmes

•  IOM  as  an  intergovernmental  body  acts  with  its  partners  in  the  interna;onal  community  to:  

•   Assist  in  addressing  growing  challenges  of  migra;on  management.  

•   Advance  understanding  of  migra;on  issues.  •   Encourage  social  and  economic  development  through  migra;on.  

•   Uphold  human  dignity  and  well-­‐being  of  migrants.  

q RQAN  Assisted  2000  professionals  &  2,565  fellowship  students  returned  to  12  target  &  29  non-­‐target  African  countries  

q MIDA  Launched  in  2001  in  Liberville,  Gabon    q Strengthens  the  ins;tu;onal  capaci;es  of  African  Governments  

 q Forges  partnerships  between  government,  private  sector  

ins;tu;ons,  diaspora  &  donors  involved  in  capacity  building  programmes  in  Africa    

q Provides  flexible  eligibility  &  transfer  op3ons  of    skills  &  resources  

 

Return of Qualified African Nationals (RQAN) and Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA)

q Within  par;cipa;ng  African  countries:  ü Iden;fy  priority  skill  needs  &  investment  possibili;es  

ü Compile  assignments,  job  vacancies  &  investment  opportuni;es  

ü Build  synergies  between  all  stakeholders    

q Within  host  countries:  ü Iden;fy    available  skills,  financial  &  other  resources  of  Africans  in  the  diaspora  

MIDA Process

q Within  IOM:  ü Match  iden;fied  priority  skill  needs  with  iden;fied  skills,  financial  &  other  resources  of  Africans  in  the  diaspora  

ü Establish  &  maintain  an  updated  data  bank  of  iden;fied  skill  needs  in  African  countries  &  skills  availability  in  the  diaspora  

ü Manage  the  transfer  of  skills  &  other  resources  of  Africans  in  the  diaspora  for  development  programmes  in  Africa  

Cont.,

Results

•  MIDA  programmes  have  been  implemented  in  a  number  of  countries  such  as  MIDA  Great  Lakes,  MIDA  Ethiopia,  MIDA  Ghana,  MIDA  –  QUEST  for  Somalia  and  have  shown  good  results    –  Number  of  skill  and  resource  transfers  through  different  modali;es  

have  been  successful  in  various  ins;tu;ons  academic  and  non-­‐academic  as  well  as  public  and  private  in  many  sectors.  

–  Diasporas  have  established  links  between  Universi;es  and  Hospitals  in  the  countries  of  des;na;on  with  that  of  their  countries  of  origin  for  knowledge  and  skills  transfer.    

 

WAY  FORWARD  

Future intervention needs

•  Different  op;ons  (including  MIDA)  should  be  in  place  for  mobilizing  African  diaspora  in  general;  

•  African  diaspora  who  are  in  the  educa;on  sector  should  be  facilitated  to  ini;ate  rela;onships  with  universi;es  in  their  countries  of  origin  for  joint  research  and  publica;on;    

•  Harmoniza;on  of  policies  and  strategies  with  in  the  regional  economic  communi;es  (RECs)  to  promote  legal  mobility  for  skilled  migrants;    

•  African  academic  ins;tu;ons  should  establish  networks  and  engage  the  diaspora  through  staff  exchange  and  joint  research  etc  to  reduce  skill  migra;on  as  well  as  to  u;lize  the  resource  of  the  diaspora;    

THANK YOU