Geneva, 9 June 2016 - H.E. Ambassador Laura Thompson, Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), met with Minister Mohamed Saafan, the Egyptian Minister of Manpower on Tuesday, 7 June in Geneva. Attendees included H.E. Ambassador Amr Ramadan, Permanent Representative of Egypt in Geneva.

The meeting addressed how to foster the ongoing cooperation between IOM and the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) on migration governance, addressing irregular migration and supporting the training and employment of Egyptian youth nationally and internationally.

Saafan and Thompson agreed on the need to establish a labor market observatory with the objective of studying the needs of international labour markets that Egypt can fulfill.

Minister Saafan shed light on the challenges Egypt faces with irregular migration, and the need to raise the level of awareness of youth on the risks and dangers of migrating irregularly. He also recalled an earlier joint intervention with IOM and the Italian government to renovate and upgrade Al Fayoum Advanced Technical School for Hotel Management and Tourism Services to provide vocational training and jobs for young people and promote their legal employment in Italy.

“Such interventions are much needed to enhance the employment and employability of youth through technical and skills trainings to increase their competitiveness in national and international labour markets,” stressed Saafan.

Ambassador Thompson reiterated IOM’s commitment to support the Ministry in fulfilling its mandate. She also referred to how significant the contributions of the estimated eight (8) million Egyptian expatriates are in terms of financial, human, and social capital stressing.

“Egypt ranks amongst the top ten recipients of remittances in the world with +20BN in remittances only last year. Such remittances positively contribute to economic and social development in Egypt,” reassured Thompson who explained how IOM could support the Government of Egypt in maximizing the impact of these contributions.

The meeting concluded with an agreement between both parties to foster cooperation. Minister Saafan also extended an invitation to Ambassador Thompson to visit Egypt.

IOM Egypt has cooperated with the former Ministry of Manpower and Emigration on a number of projects in the past including renovating the Fayoum School; as well as refurbishing and reequipping three (3) Public Employment Services (PES) offices, in three (3) governorates: Fayoum, Qalyoubeya and Minya to enhance youth employability and tackle unemployment and underemployment in economically-pressured communities.

For further information, please contact Amr Taha at IOM Egypt. Tel: +202-27365140, Email: iomegypt@iom.int