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The headlines are filled with news of labour shortages, as employers report needs in nearly all industries and at various skill levels. The global ‘race for talent’ is set to heat up, with employers and countries increasingly vying for international workers as one way to meet labour needs. Why not include refugees in the search for needed talent?

 This is the premise of an EU-funded MPF project that launched earlier this year, Making refugee talent visible and accessible to EU labour markets – tapping into the potential of skills-based complementary pathways. Complementary pathways provide an opportunity for displaced persons to utilise their skills through migration channels for work, matching the skills of displaced persons with the needs of employers in other countries. This project is examining how complementary labour pathways can be expanded, for the benefit of displaced persons, EU labour markets, and host countries alike – a ‘triple win’.

Over the last year, a truly innovative project redefining migration capacity development has been taking place in Malta - the Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean (MCP Med TI).

What is it?

Simply put, it is an answer to that deceptively straightforward question, “How can we make training better?”

Thanks to the visionary support of the EU through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), along with Malta, Austria and Denmark, the Training Institute was established with an initial external dimension focus on Southern Partner Countries, specifically Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. However, after only one year of operation, its impact is already going far beyond that, redefining and professionalising the capacity training sector.

The project’s overall objective of becoming “… a permanent and accredited regional training institute offering quality-assured, bespoke learning and coaching experiences that result in certification for migration actors” was always ambitious, requiring completely new ways of thinking and working. Fortunately, with its emphasis on continuous innovation, ICMPD has proved to be the ideal organisation to do that.

The MPF project entitled "Strengthening of the Migration Management System in the Republic of Moldova" - implemented by the European Project Implementation Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Poland (EPIC MoIA) in cooperation with the General Inspectorate of Border Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova (GIBP) - seeks to strengthen Moldovan border management and migration services in line with EU standards and best practices.

The project is closely aligned with one of the key principles of the European Agenda on Migration: working in partnership with third countries to tackle and prevent irregular migration. This objective is to be achieved by strengthening Moldova's migration management system, making it more proximate to EU standards.

In this article, we speak to Tatiana Ciumas from the Bureau of Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova. With her 18 years of migration management experience and after participating in a series of workshops under the MPF project, Tatiana will become a trainer. The MPF team had the opportunity to meet with her while participating in a workshop on "International protection of foreigners", which took place in Warsaw (Poland) at the beginning of October of this year.

Franceline's bond with Cabo Verde began when she married her late husband, a Caboverdian who had emigrated for 40 years but was eager to return to his homeland with his family. Franceline moved to Cabo Verde in 2017 with her husband and three children. As an immigrant of Burkinabe origin, Franceline had to start her life from scratch: moving to a new country with her family, without any support or acquaintances, was a difficult ordeal, but she soon grasped the value of Cabo Verde's warm welcome and the beauty of a country that remains a little-known to Burkinabe citizens.

Franceline worked for many years as a cook in Burkina Faso and Mali and specialised in a mix of French and African cuisine. When she arrived to Cabo Verde, she continued in this profession, infusing Cape Verdean culinary influences into her dishes, which became popular with customers. But personal and economic difficulties related to the Covid-19 crisis led her to change jobs and seek the support of Cabo Verde's Ministry of Family and Social Inclusion, which referred her to the services of the High Authority for Migration (Alta Autoridade para a Imigração - AAI). Franceline was able to access comprehensive support from the High Authority for Migration which offered administrative, training, logistics and social integration services.

 Inspired by the support provided in her time of need, Franceline founded an association bringing together the Burkinabe community residing in Cabo Verde to promote socio-economic integration, the development of social links with the host community, and the promotion of intercultural interactions between the Burkinabe community and the Cabo Verde population, thereby raising awareness of Burkinabe culture, national customs, and values. She now sees a bright future for her family in Cabo Verde and hopes that her children will both navigate and be proud of their Burkinabe and Cabo Verdean heritage.

On the 18th of October 2022, the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) organized an event convening former and current grantees, EU Member States, and EU services to provide an opportunity to discuss lessons learned, successes, and challenges in implementing borders and security projects under the framework of the MPF. The event, entitled ‘MPF Borders and Security Information Session – Sharing Experience and Forging Partnerships’ was held in Brussels, Belgium, and was the first of its kind focusing on the external dimension of borders and security in the context of the MPF.

The Training Institute on Migration Capacity Partnership for the Mediterranean held its 2nd Governing Board meeting during a 2-day hybrid event on the 18th and 19th of October with the presence of representatives from ICMPD, donor and partner countries, observers, and EU agencies.

18 October, Valletta. The first day was marked by the launch of the Training Institute’s own state-of-the-art Learning Management System (LMS). The fully scalable system boasts a public-facing website, trainer and student community spaces, and complete data management capabilities. The Training Institute’s partners, learners, and instructors alike are now digitally enabled and have access to a plethora of resources only one click away. The event additionally offered the perfect networking opportunity to representatives from ICMPD, partner, and donor countries who also got the chance to learn about the Training Institute’s latest achievements and developments. Prominent participants included Nina Gregory, Executive Director of the European Asylum Agency (EUAA), MCP Med TI’s technical partners, Neville Aquilina, Director-General Global Issues, International Development and Economic Affairs, from the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, representing Malta as Chair, and numerous dignitaries from Austria, Lebanon, Libya, Ireland, and The Netherlands.

This year’s Vienna Migration Conference (VMC2022) will take place on 11-12 October. A select group of decision-makers, thought leaders and frontrunners in the migration sphere will gather in Vienna’s historic city centre for two days of lively debates on the top issues of the day. 

On May 9th, members of the Labour Mobility Practitioners’ Network (LMPN) convened to discuss ways to facilitate safe and legal migration to the EU. Johann Daniel Harnoss volunteered to share his experience working with the Imagine Foundation as its Co-founder and CEO.

 

About the Imagine Foundation

Imagine Foundation is a volunteer-run NGO based in Germany that supports young talents from non-European countries to find jobs in the EU. They do this through services such as online and in-person mentoring and coaching for CV writing and interview skills. By leveraging a network of volunteer fellows, Imagine can support individuals one-on-one, provide personalised feedback, and most importantly, inspiration. More than 300 candidates have found a job after completing their core programme, and the interest in their initiative is rising.

The MPF’s first cohort of pilot projects on legal migration have completed implementation. The final reports and project deliverables reached the MPF team in May 2022, and the last administrative steps for grant closures are being taken at the time of this article. It is an opportune moment to take stock of what remains of the pioneering work conducted by the MPF’s very first labour mobility initiatives.

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