Cairo - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in cooperation with the Government of Egypt organized a one-day Sensitization Meeting on  “How to shift towards skills anticipation for labour mobility” on Wednesday, 12 July, 2023 in Cairo. The meeting was one in a series of events organized as part of the second specific objective of the “Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa” (THAMM) Programme, funded by the European Union.

The meeting was attended by senior technical officials from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR), the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE), the Ministry of Labour (MoL), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE).

The discussions aimed to identify existing national frameworks and data sources available for skills recognition and anticipation. Experts from ILO and IOM presented the different tools and conceptual frameworks available at the global level, which aid classifying qualifications and skills as well as forecasting labour market needs at home and abroad, in targeted countries with potential for placement of Egyptian work-seekers. Speakers and attendees discussed the role qualification frameworks can play in labour migration, including regional frameworks such as the European Skills, Competencies and Occupations (ESCO) and highlighted attempts for an African framework.

The meeting concluded with the need for further technical exchanges between counterparts, and a continuous national dialogue with support from international organizations, amongst other recommendations for a coordinated approach focused on skills anticipation systems in Egypt.  Such dialogue supports Egypt advance towards the realization of Objective 18 of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM): "Invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and competencies".

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For more information, please contact:

Salma Okasha, sokasha@iom.int