Migration and Development Nexus in Africa Reference to Skilled Migrants

Transcription

1 Migration and Development Nexus in Africa Reference to Skilled Migrants 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 By Bruk Asmellash: Interna;onal Organiza;on for Migra;on (IOM) Special Liaison Mission (SLM) Addis Ababa

2 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)

3 Impacts of Skilled Migration 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.

4 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;

5 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.

6 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.

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

8 MIDA Process 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

9 Cont., 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

10 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.

11 WAY FORWARD

12 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;

13 THANK YOU