Thank you for sharing your very valuable insights on the topic of VSD and migration. I couldn’t agree more with your sober conclusions. Unfortunately, as we all know, the topic is highly politicized, across Europe and beyond. We hope that the tool for practitioners on VSD and migration, which is planned to be published in February 2020, will indeed help to separate facts and myths. The tool shall provide useful insights in view of designing VSD projects in a way that takes into consideration the population of migrants, including refugees, who might be part of the project target group. It shall also allow to make better use of VSD as an instrument for the social and economic integration of migrants, including refugees.
Thank you again for your contribution, kind regards, Guido
Dr Guido Beltrani Head of sectorial policy Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Division Latin America and the Caribbean
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Dec. 6, 2019,
5:17 a.m.
Zenebe Uraguchi
Dear Guido,
Many thanks for sharing your insights into this timely and relevant topic: migration and development. In particular, it’s great to read one of the key takeaways from the workshop in Solothurn — that is, “it’s important to distinguish [between] facts and myths!”
Why do I want to single out and emphases this point?
The reason is obvious: if we don’t question the conventional wisdom (read: myths) about migration and development, it’s quite difficult to focus on significant and evidence-informed conversation.
I wrote a blog post on this topic in which I touched some of the leading myths and the evidence on migration-development “nexus”.
First, my experience as a migrant worker and the stories of others suggest that migration is a reality and not a problem to be solved. The evidence on migration–development “nexus” has grown but it’s still thin.
Second, we should go beyond naively celebrating or demonising migration. The question is: how can development practitioners integrate the perspectives of migrants or those left behind in their work and contribute to durable and large-scale development impacts?
Best wishes, Zenebe Uraguchi HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration.
Migration is becoming increasingly important The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions.
Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: ?url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shareweb.ch%2Fsite%2FEI%2FPages%2FContent%2FSessionProfile.aspx%3FSessionId%3D250&data=02%7C01%7Czenebe.uraguchi%40helvetas.org%7C9a10c73df03d484f29e108d7795d652c%7C060d649d2c9344d28200a3eb9f3c4160%7C0%7C0%7C637111314345086365&sdata=k%2FR3SYf8i%2BJfvNjj5CQFdSyTFJ7vMzNdo1zV3D2mGww%3D&reserved=0" eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others:
ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon.
ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it.
ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups.
ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system.
[cid:image002.png@01D5AB4E.8659D290]
Sharing is caring! Please share your experiences and thoughts:
è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons?
è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them?
If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:annick.vollmar@helvetas.org>).Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users.Please click here to register <https: ?url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shareweb.ch%2Fsite%2Fei%2FPages%2Fcontent%2FPages.aspx%3FSmartID%3D2226%26item1%3Dnetwork-registration&data=02%7C01%7Czenebe.uraguchi%40helvetas.org%7C9a10c73df03d484f29e108d7795d652c%7C060d649d2c9344d28200a3eb9f3c4160%7C0%7C0%7C637111314345096368&sdata=VszPBQGeu8P9gf8fbb%2FoZRbBmYlAErZdnQ1NOiyDduQ%3D&reserved=0" eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com="">.
Best regards, Guido Beltrani
Dr Guido Beltrani Head of sectorial policy Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Division Latin America and the Caribbean
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Dec. 5, 2019,
10:33 a.m.
Markus Reichmuth
Dear colleagues, In this year’s SDC Country Cooperation Strategy Evaluation of Burkina Faso, we observed that migration figures in the present strategy 2017 - 2020 under „thèmes complémentaires“ and stipulates „Le Programme global migration et développement (PMD) de la DDC a identifié le Burkina Faso comme l’un de ses pays prioritaires.“ An initial cooperation with the relevant Ministry was, however, discontinued in 2017 because of lack of interest (BF has other major problems..); the PMD is active on a regional level. Migration has always been a major development issue, mainly rural - urban, and in the Sahel zone the nomadic Peul herders. SDC has long been involved in supporting Sahel states to deal with nomadic migration, including education. At the same time, BF's massiv migration (millions) goes South, to the coastal countries (to Europe practically none). I remember how cooperation agencies were criticized in past decades - often incorrectly - for „imposing from outside“ topics on the development agenda with developing countries. This, however, seems now effectively to be the case with migration, for reasons of Swiss internal politics... I fully support the four „takeaway“ messages below. Best regards, Markus Reichmuth
> Am 05.12.2019 um 09:30 schrieb Guido Beltrani <[Hidden email]>: > > ***sorry for cross-posting*** <> > > Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration. <> > <> > Migration is becoming increasingly important > The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions. > > Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 > The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: content="" ei="" pages="" sessionprofile.aspx?sessionid="250" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others: > ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon. > ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it. > ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups. > ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system. > > <image002.png> > > Sharing is caring! > Please share your experiences and thoughts: > è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons? > > è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them? > > > If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:[Hidden email]>). Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users. Please click here to register <https: content="" ei="" pages="" pages.aspx?smartid="2226&item1=network-registration" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">. > > Best regards, > Guido Beltrani > > Dr Guido Beltrani > Head of sectorial policy > Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector > > Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA > Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC > Division Latin America and the Caribbean > > Freiburgstrasse 130, 3003 Bern, Switzerland > Tel.: +41 58 480 19 81 > Fax: +41 58 464 16 93 > [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]> > www.eda.admin.ch <http: www.eda.admin.ch=""> > > This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information. > If you have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal. > Thank you for your cooperation. > > You are receiving this message because you are a member of the community SDC e+i network Private Sector Development <https: dgroups.org="" privatesectordevelopment="" sdc="">. > > View this contribution on the web site <https: _="" dgroups.org="" p4ygtjm5=""> > A reply to this message will be sent to all members of SDC e+i network Private Sector Development. > > Reply to sender <mailto:[Hidden email]> | Unsubscribe <mailto:leave.sdcprivatesectordevelopment@dgroups.org></mailto:leave.sdcprivatesectordevelopment@dgroups.org></mailto:guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch></https:></https:></http:></mailto:guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch></https:></mailto:annick.vollmar@helvetas.org></image002.png></https:></guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch>
Dec. 5, 2019,
10:16 a.m.
Nazia Haider
Dear all,
Apologies I could not join the event for this discussion, but migration and skills/VSD are topics that I am passionate about. I worked in Skills Development/VSD in Bangladesh for 6 years and am part of the Migration team for the last 2.
Development partners and organizations in Bangladesh has been trying to bring together these topics of skills and migration under the same umbrella, but this has not been very fruitful. In this email, I will pen down a few of the challenges that were faced in Bangladesh (for low-skilled migration) and how we have tried to overcome them:
First, skills is a topic that different agencies have been working on for years. In my perception, it was always assumed (by development practitioners) that the availability of a skills framework (like NVQF/NTVQF) would eventually bring migrants under this standardization and certification. However, this was not the case in Bangladesh. Applying a national framework is a challenge in itself – when the issue of migration comes in which spans international border, it becomes even more complex, as rightly pointed out. In order to make migration and skills development converge, the first step was to ensure that skills are classified in a standard manner (such as through the international skills classification of occupations or ISCO by the ILO), before the skills of migrants are categorized to link them to the qualification frameworks of other countries.
Second, the classification and standardization of skills of migrant workers also has a political aspect. Because of the standardization of skills will show a massive drop in the percentage of skilled/semi-skilled workers departing and more low-skilled workers, the government is not very keen to make this move, as it tarnishes their image. There is need for advocacy and building of ownership by the relevant ministry/ministries, before this can happen. In Bangladesh, while ISCO is completed and the government has started applying it, the data is not yet available in the public domain.
Thirdly and most importantly, migration is a profitable (please read super-normal profits) endeavour for recruitment agencies and intermediaries in Bangladesh, where a quarter million people migrated last year. Research shows that increase in skills reduces the risk of exploitation of migrant workers, because they are not only better skilled but also better informed about their rights, etc. Thus, it is against the interest of certain stakeholders that migrant workers are skilled, because they will not only refuse to pay exorbitant recruitment fees but that they will stand up against exploitation (Bangladesh has one of the highest recruitment/migration cost in South Asia and receive very low salaries compared to migrants from other countries, by the way). Currently, the government is at logger-heads with the recruitment agencies in Bangladesh, over the exploitation and work conditions of migrant workers in KSA and we have not yet been able to overcome this challenge of getting recruitment agencies to work together in the interest of migrant workers.
Lastly, there is information asymmetry and migrant workers are not very keen to obtain skills training prior to departure nor after return. SDC has introduced the pre-employment module in Bangladesh on a pilot basis (taking from the regional PEO module supported by GPMD) to inform potential migrants about the costs and benefits of low-skilled migration and (semi) skilled migration, so that they are able to make an informed choice. For returnee migrants, we have introduced short modules that may be divided over a few weeks.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and how you have overcome challenges in working on projects intersecting between VSD and migration.
Kind regards,
Nazia
Nazia Haider Programme Manager – Safer Migration
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration.
Migration is becoming increasingly important The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions.
Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: content="" ei="" pages="" sessionprofile.aspx?sessionid="250" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others:
ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon.
ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it.
ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups.
ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system.
[cid:image002.png@01D5AB4E.8659D290]
Sharing is caring! Please share your experiences and thoughts:
è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons?
è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them?
If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:[Hidden email]>). Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users. Please click here to register <https: content="" ei="" pages="" pages.aspx?smartid="2226&item1=network-registration" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">.
Best regards, Guido Beltrani
Dr Guido Beltrani Head of sectorial policy Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Division Latin America and the Caribbean
This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information. If you have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal. Thank you for your cooperation.</https:></mailto:[Hidden email]></https:>
Dec. 12, 2019, 4:11 p.m.
Guido Beltrani
Thank you for sharing your very valuable insights on the topic of VSD and migration.
I couldn’t agree more with your sober conclusions. Unfortunately, as we all know, the topic is highly politicized, across Europe and beyond.
We hope that the tool for practitioners on VSD and migration, which is planned to be published in February 2020, will indeed help to separate facts and myths. The tool shall provide useful insights in view of designing VSD projects in a way that takes into consideration the population of migrants, including refugees, who might be part of the project target group. It shall also allow to make better use of VSD as an instrument for the social and economic integration of migrants, including refugees.
Thank you again for your contribution,
kind regards,
Guido
Dr Guido Beltrani
Head of sectorial policy
Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Division Latin America and the Caribbean
Freiburgstrasse 130, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 58 480 19 81
Fax: +41 58 464 16 93
guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch
www.eda.admin.ch
This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information.
If you have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Dec. 6, 2019, 5:17 a.m.
Zenebe Uraguchi
Many thanks for sharing your insights into this timely and relevant topic: migration and development. In particular, it’s great to read one of the key takeaways from the workshop in Solothurn — that is, “it’s important to distinguish [between] facts and myths!”
Why do I want to single out and emphases this point?
The reason is obvious: if we don’t question the conventional wisdom (read: myths) about migration and development, it’s quite difficult to focus on significant and evidence-informed conversation.
I wrote a blog post on this topic in which I touched some of the leading myths and the evidence on migration-development “nexus”.
https://www.helvetas.org/en/switzerland/how-you-can-help/follow-us/blog/inclusive-systems/I-am-a-migrant-worker
What’s my conclusion?
First, my experience as a migrant worker and the stories of others suggest that migration is a reality and not a problem to be solved. The evidence on migration–development “nexus” has grown but it’s still thin.
Second, we should go beyond naively celebrating or demonising migration. The question is: how can development practitioners integrate the perspectives of migrants or those left behind in their work and contribute to durable and large-scale development impacts?
Best wishes,
Zenebe Uraguchi
HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
________________________________
差出人: [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]> (Guido Beltrani <[Hidden email]> の代理)
送信日時: 木曜日, 12月 5, 2019 10:30 午前
宛先: SDC e+i network Private Sector Development
Cc: Schneider Nadia EDA SQN
件名: [privatesectordevelopment] Flash of Inspiration no. 12: VSD & Migration
***sorry for cross-posting***
Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration.
Migration is becoming increasingly important
The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions.
Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019
The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: ?url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shareweb.ch%2Fsite%2FEI%2FPages%2FContent%2FSessionProfile.aspx%3FSessionId%3D250&data=02%7C01%7Czenebe.uraguchi%40helvetas.org%7C9a10c73df03d484f29e108d7795d652c%7C060d649d2c9344d28200a3eb9f3c4160%7C0%7C0%7C637111314345086365&sdata=k%2FR3SYf8i%2BJfvNjj5CQFdSyTFJ7vMzNdo1zV3D2mGww%3D&reserved=0" eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others:
ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon.
ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it.
ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups.
ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system.
[cid:image002.png@01D5AB4E.8659D290]
Sharing is caring!
Please share your experiences and thoughts:
è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons?
è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them?
If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:annick.vollmar@helvetas.org>).Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users.Please click here to register <https: ?url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shareweb.ch%2Fsite%2Fei%2FPages%2Fcontent%2FPages.aspx%3FSmartID%3D2226%26item1%3Dnetwork-registration&data=02%7C01%7Czenebe.uraguchi%40helvetas.org%7C9a10c73df03d484f29e108d7795d652c%7C060d649d2c9344d28200a3eb9f3c4160%7C0%7C0%7C637111314345096368&sdata=VszPBQGeu8P9gf8fbb%2FoZRbBmYlAErZdnQ1NOiyDduQ%3D&reserved=0" eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com="">.
Best regards,
Guido Beltrani
Dr Guido Beltrani
Head of sectorial policy
Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Division Latin America and the Caribbean
Freiburgstrasse 130, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 58 480 19 81
Fax: +41 58 464 16 93
guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch
www.eda.admin.ch
This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information.
If you have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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View this contribution on the web site <https: ?url="https%3A%2F%2Fdgroups.org%2F_%2Fp4ygtjm5&data=02%7C01%7Czenebe.uraguchi%40helvetas.org%7C9a10c73df03d484f29e108d7795d652c%7C060d649d2c9344d28200a3eb9f3c4160%7C0%7C0%7C637111314345106359&sdata=CWYY3ES%2B1OrKxqriqWl52KNTX2oNkkvG7rQ3QM1tUnU%3D&reserved=0" eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com="">
A reply to this message will be sent to all members of SDC e+i network Private Sector Development.
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Dec. 5, 2019, 10:33 a.m.
Markus Reichmuth
In this year’s SDC Country Cooperation Strategy Evaluation of Burkina Faso, we observed that migration figures in the present strategy 2017 - 2020 under „thèmes complémentaires“ and stipulates „Le Programme global migration et développement (PMD) de la DDC a identifié le Burkina Faso comme l’un de ses pays prioritaires.“ An initial cooperation with the relevant Ministry was, however, discontinued in 2017 because of lack of interest (BF has other major problems..); the PMD is active on a regional level.
Migration has always been a major development issue, mainly rural - urban, and in the Sahel zone the nomadic Peul herders. SDC has long been involved in supporting Sahel states to deal with nomadic migration, including education. At the same time, BF's massiv migration (millions) goes South, to the coastal countries (to Europe practically none). I remember how cooperation agencies were criticized in past decades - often incorrectly - for „imposing from outside“ topics on the development agenda with developing countries. This, however, seems now effectively to be the case with migration, for reasons of Swiss internal politics...
I fully support the four „takeaway“ messages below.
Best regards,
Markus Reichmuth
> Am 05.12.2019 um 09:30 schrieb Guido Beltrani <[Hidden email]>:
>
> ***sorry for cross-posting*** <>
>
> Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration. <>
> <>
> Migration is becoming increasingly important
> The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions.
>
> Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019
> The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: content="" ei="" pages="" sessionprofile.aspx?sessionid="250" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others:
> ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon.
> ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it.
> ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups.
> ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system.
>
> <image002.png>
>
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> Please share your experiences and thoughts:
> è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons?
>
> è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them?
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> If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:[Hidden email]>). Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users. Please click here to register <https: content="" ei="" pages="" pages.aspx?smartid="2226&item1=network-registration" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">.
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> Best regards,
> Guido Beltrani
>
> Dr Guido Beltrani
> Head of sectorial policy
> Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
>
> Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
> Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
> Division Latin America and the Caribbean
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> Fax: +41 58 464 16 93
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Dec. 5, 2019, 10:16 a.m.
Nazia Haider
Apologies I could not join the event for this discussion, but migration and skills/VSD are topics that I am passionate about. I worked in Skills Development/VSD in Bangladesh for 6 years and am part of the Migration team for the last 2.
Development partners and organizations in Bangladesh has been trying to bring together these topics of skills and migration under the same umbrella, but this has not been very fruitful. In this email, I will pen down a few of the challenges that were faced in Bangladesh (for low-skilled migration) and how we have tried to overcome them:
First, skills is a topic that different agencies have been working on for years. In my perception, it was always assumed (by development practitioners) that the availability of a skills framework (like NVQF/NTVQF) would eventually bring migrants under this standardization and certification. However, this was not the case in Bangladesh. Applying a national framework is a challenge in itself – when the issue of migration comes in which spans international border, it becomes even more complex, as rightly pointed out. In order to make migration and skills development converge, the first step was to ensure that skills are classified in a standard manner (such as through the international skills classification of occupations or ISCO by the ILO), before the skills of migrants are categorized to link them to the qualification frameworks of other countries.
Second, the classification and standardization of skills of migrant workers also has a political aspect. Because of the standardization of skills will show a massive drop in the percentage of skilled/semi-skilled workers departing and more low-skilled workers, the government is not very keen to make this move, as it tarnishes their image. There is need for advocacy and building of ownership by the relevant ministry/ministries, before this can happen. In Bangladesh, while ISCO is completed and the government has started applying it, the data is not yet available in the public domain.
Thirdly and most importantly, migration is a profitable (please read super-normal profits) endeavour for recruitment agencies and intermediaries in Bangladesh, where a quarter million people migrated last year. Research shows that increase in skills reduces the risk of exploitation of migrant workers, because they are not only better skilled but also better informed about their rights, etc. Thus, it is against the interest of certain stakeholders that migrant workers are skilled, because they will not only refuse to pay exorbitant recruitment fees but that they will stand up against exploitation (Bangladesh has one of the highest recruitment/migration cost in South Asia and receive very low salaries compared to migrants from other countries, by the way). Currently, the government is at logger-heads with the recruitment agencies in Bangladesh, over the exploitation and work conditions of migrant workers in KSA and we have not yet been able to overcome this challenge of getting recruitment agencies to work together in the interest of migrant workers.
Lastly, there is information asymmetry and migrant workers are not very keen to obtain skills training prior to departure nor after return. SDC has introduced the pre-employment module in Bangladesh on a pilot basis (taking from the regional PEO module supported by GPMD) to inform potential migrants about the costs and benefits of low-skilled migration and (semi) skilled migration, so that they are able to make an informed choice. For returnee migrants, we have introduced short modules that may be divided over a few weeks.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and how you have overcome challenges in working on projects intersecting between VSD and migration.
Kind regards,
Nazia
Nazia Haider
Programme Manager – Safer Migration
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Bay’s Edge Water, Level 8, Plot 12
North Avenue, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
Phone: +880 2 5505 1601 (hunting)
Fax: +880 2 5505 1614
[Hidden email] <mailto:nazia.haider@eda.admin.ch>
www.eda.admin.ch/dhaka
Dec. 5, 2019, 8:29 a.m.
Guido Beltrani
Welcome to the twelfth ‘Flash of Inspiration’ from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019 about Vocational Skills Development and Migration.
Migration is becoming increasingly important
The topic of migration has gained importance in domestic and international politics, and in development cooperation as well. In many countries where the SDC is engaged, people leave for various reasons their place of residence. Therefore, in many of its projects, the SDC targets migrants, including refugees and internally displaced persons – often also with vocational skills development interventions.
Takeaway messages from the e+i & CEP F2F 2019
The interface of VSD & Migration was discussed from different perspectives during a workshop session in Solothurn (see all session documents <https: content="" ei="" pages="" sessionprofile.aspx?sessionid="250" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">). There have been inputs from Hanspeter Wyss, from the Global Programme Migration and Development on migration and development, Usha Bandhari from SDC Nepal on making circular labour migration safer for migrants, Lillian Kilwake from SDC Kenya on VSD aimed at improving livelihoods in a refugee camp setting, and Franz Kehl from the VSD backstopping team on a new tool on how to design a VSD project in a migration context. Takeaway messages from the session included among others:
ð Distinguish facts and myths! Migration is a complex and diverse phenomenon.
ð A mix of interventions is key – VSD can be part of it.
ð VSD offers need to be labour-market-oriented and aligned with the options and resources of the target groups.
ð VSD offers should always link up with or be embedded into the local education and training system.
[cid:image002.png@01D5AB4E.8659D290]
Sharing is caring!
Please share your experiences and thoughts:
è What has been crucial for success in your VSD intervention in a migration context or for migrants, incl. refugees and/or internally displaced persons?
è What are the major challenges you met – and how did you overcome them?
If you have any technical issues, please contact Annick Vollmar (annick.vollmar@helvetas.org <mailto:[Hidden email]>). Please note that access to the event documents is limited to registered e+i Shareweb Users. Please click here to register <https: content="" ei="" pages="" pages.aspx?smartid="2226&item1=network-registration" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">.
Best regards,
Guido Beltrani
Dr Guido Beltrani
Head of sectorial policy
Employment & Income │Engagement with the Private Sector
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Division Latin America and the Caribbean
Freiburgstrasse 130, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 58 480 19 81
Fax: +41 58 464 16 93
guido.beltrani@eda.admin.ch
www.eda.admin.ch
This e-mail may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information.
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