2010年-世界发展银行全球_Labor_Mobility_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa___Challenges_and_Opportunities_4页_737kb

MENA Knowledge and Learning: Labor Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa

Core Content

The document discusses the role of labor mobility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, emphasizing its potential to drive human development and poverty reduction. It outlines the Bank's strategic engagement in migration management and highlights the importance of evidence-based policy-making and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Main Points

Introduction

• Labor mobility has significant potential to enhance human development and reduce poverty.
• It can improve global labor market competitiveness and align skills supply with demand.
• The World Bank is well-positioned to support migration management systems in response to the region's growing interest in proactive migration policies.

Migration and Development

• Labor mobility is a key driver of living standards convergence.
• Migration is the main form of global and regional integration for MENA countries.
• Future increases in labor mobility could promote regional economic integration, a priority under the Arab World Initiative (AWI).

Challenges and Opportunities

• A major challenge is the absorption of young, well-educated workers into productive employment.
• Migration to the Gulf, Europe, and North America is driven by job scarcity and economic imbalances.
• Full migration liberalization is not feasible, and prior global agreements have failed.
• A realistic approach involves establishing effective migration management systems that enhance benefits and reduce risks for stakeholders.

Regional Diversity

• The MENA region includes both high immigration and emigration countries.
• In 2005, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria were among the top 10 emigration countries.
• Egypt is the largest source of workers for Arab countries, with 85% of temporary workers in the region being Egyptian.
• The Gulf has seen a dramatic rise in its immigrant population (from <3% in 1960 to >70% in 2005), while the share of Arab workers among non-citizens has declined.

Demographic and Skill Mismatches

• Migrant destination countries face aging populations and labor shortages, creating opportunities for labor importation from MENA.
• However, skill mismatches persist, as most migrants are low-skilled.
• The demand for medium and high-skilled labor is growing, but the current labor force has limited skill levels.

Brain Drain and Skill Development

• High rates of skilled migration in MENA suggest the need for skill development initiatives.
• Unemployment disproportionately affects highly educated youth, limiting the impact of brain drain.
• Improving labor force participation and education can enhance the benefits of migration for origin countries.

Evidence-Based Policy Making

• Data limitations hinder the development of well-founded migration policies.
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is essential for assessing policy effectiveness and guiding future interventions.

Benefits of Labor Mobility

• Labor mobility contributes to global economic growth and employment through various channels:
  • Capital transfers and productive investments
  • Technology transfer and innovation diffusion
  • Demographic arbitrage between young and aging societies
  • More competitive labor markets with lower prices and higher efficiency
  • Better skill matching and human capital formation

Role of the World Bank

• The Bank is uniquely positioned to broker cooperation between origin and destination countries.
• It supports skill development, remittance utilization, and social protection for migrants.
• The Bank also assists in designing, implementing, and evaluating migration programs and promoting human rights in migration interventions.

Key Recommendations

• Improve labor intermediation and skill matching through National Qualification Frameworks.
• Regulate recruitment agencies to ensure safe and efficient labor intermediation.
• Shift incentives in destination countries from low-skilled expatriates to higher-skilled local citizens.
• Introduce pension schemes for expatriate workers.
• Map regional economic interdependencies to improve policy coherence and cooperation.
• Build capacity for evaluating migration policies and sharing best practices.
• Enhance diaspora engagement to ensure skills and capital are utilized effectively in origin countries.

Opportunities for Further Engagement

• The Bank can help define migration policy objectives aligned with development strategies.
• It can mainstream human rights protection in migration interventions.
• The Bank should lead in establishing an empirical evidence base on migration policy effectiveness.
• Collaboration with local and regional actors (governments, business, NGOs, etc.) is essential for managing migration for development.

Contact Information

• Director: Emmanuel Mbi, MNA Operational Core Services Unit
• Manager: David Steel, MNA Development Effectiveness Unit
• Regional Quick Notes Team: Omer Karasapan, Roby Fields, Hafed Al-Ghwell, Aliya Jalloh
• Tel #: (202) 473 8177
• Website: http://www.worldbank.org/mena-quicknotes