Labour Mobility and Human Development

IOM’s Labour Mobility and Human Development approach is to foster synergies between labour migration and development and promote legal pathways for labour migration as an alternative to irregular migration.

Labour Migration 

IOM Somalia strengthens capacity in labour migration governance by:

• Supporting the development of policies, legislation and administrative structures that promote safe, orderly and regular labour migration in line with international and regional labour migration frameworks including good practices
• Offering policy and technical advice to government counterparts
• Supporting the facilitation of pathways for legal international migration that would reduce the pressures of Somali youth to migrate through dangerous and irregular means;
• Improving remittance data and leverage the potential impact of remittances on social and economic development
• Improving labour migration data collection, analysis and dissemination to inform labour migration policies, interventions and decision-making

Migration and Development 

IOM is committed to promote greater mobility and optimize the benefits of migration for both countries of origin and destination, whilst minimizing negative impacts. Through reinforcing the relationship between migration and development, IOM’s Labour Migration and Human Development programming maximizes the benefits of migration to achieve sustainable development through its flagship Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) programme.

Moreover, IOM is currently supporting the FGoS  and Federal Member States to develop a National Diaspora Policy to operate as a comprehensive and government-owned framework to harness the contribution of the diaspora for the sustainable development of the country.
 

Diaspora as Development Actors 

Since 2008, IOM has actively supported the pivotal role of diaspora as key development actors in Somalia through the Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) programme. 

MIDA is a programme that contributes to strengthening the capacity of state institutions of the   Federal Government of Somalia (FGoS) and Federal Member States, through the deployment of Somali diaspora experts for knowledge and skills transfer.

Based on the technical capacity gaps identified by the Federal Government and Federal Member States, the MIDA programme matches the capacity gaps of the institutions with the skills of the diaspora experts. The Somali diaspora have supported sectors such as Health, Education, Planning and Economic Development, Immigration, Water Resources, Public Finance Management and Justice.

Long-term impact and sustainability of the knowledge and skills transfer is further strengthened through the employment of local experts and interns to work alongside the diaspora.

Infographic: MIDA experts and local professionals from 2009 to 2020:

 

Access the MIDA programme website and learn more about the programme and how to apply for positions.

The MIDA programme has contributed towards significant achievements including the development and implementation of key fiscal policies such as the Anti-Money Laundering Policy and Anti-Corruption Law, the development and introduction of a national primary education curriculum as well as significant outcomes in maternal and child health care.