German activities Offering pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration

In line with the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), the BMZ is working to make international migration and mobility safe, regular and orderly and to ensure that it contributes to sustainable development.

Many young people in the BMZ’s partner countries are unable to find jobs or training opportunities in their home country and want to work abroad. Employers in Germany, meanwhile, are looking for motivated trainees and workers – increasingly from developing countries and emerging economies.

Many of the governments of our partner countries are also very interested in regular migration options – to take pressure off their labour markets, but also to enable their well-trained people to gain access to knowledge and international training and education. Regional mobility plays an important role: people from developing countries are much more likely to migrate within their home region than they are to migrate to Europe or other parts of the world.

The BMZ’s goal is to assist interested partner countries with their migration policy and to shape our cooperation in such a way that countries of destination, partner countries and people who wish to migrate all benefit from that cooperation (triple win). The BMZ is also working to ensure that the migration of skilled workers from partner countries does not hinder development (“brain drain”), particularly in critical areas such as healthcare.

In line with its feminist development policy, the BMZ offers particular support to gender-sensitive (and child-friendly) initiatives.

[The] Global Compact recognizes that safe, orderly and regular migration works for all when it takes place in a well-informed, planned and consensual manner.

From Paragraph 13 of the UN Global Compact for Migration

Making educational and labour migration work for development

In cooperation with interested partner countries, the BMZ is implementing several pilot projects that support development-oriented migration for the purposes of employment or training.

Promoting regular labour migration and mobility between North Africa and Europe

THAMM (Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa) assists the relevant authorities in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt in managing and structuring labour migration more effectively.

Staff at local employment agencies are given guides and information on ways of successfully placing employees abroad. By connecting with partner organisations in Germany and Europe, they are enabled to shape migration in a way that is partner-based.

The project offers young people in particular from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia the opportunity to work or undertake training in Germany. They are offered both linguistic and intercultural preparation for their migration to Germany and are placed on training programmes or in jobs in collaboration with the Federal Employment Agency.

The programme, which is funded by the EU and the BMZ, is being carried out by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) and the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII).

Partnership-based initiatives for development-oriented migration for employment or training purposes

The BMZ is trialling Partnership Approaches for Development-oriented Vocational Training and Labour Migration (External link) (PAM) in Ecuador, Nigeria and Viet Nam.

The goal is to build strong partnerships in order to jointly offer better training for skilled workers – skilled workers for whom such training will open up opportunities in the partner country’s local labour market, as well as those who are interested in migrating.

As part of this, players in partner countries such as labour ministries and educational and research institutions cooperate with players in Germany such as chambers, industry associations and companies. Together they are developing mobility models that enable fair migration and take the labour market challenges of all the countries involved into account.

Carefully targeted knowledge-sharing and the adaptation and development of training programmes serve to strengthen the vocational training opportunities available in partner countries long-term. Increasing mobility results in better quality training and, at the same time, increases the appeal of specific vocations for which workers are lacking in the relevant labour markets.

Fostering regional mobility

In addition to supporting migration to Germany and the EU, the BMZ also promotes regional migration.

In collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the BMZ is supporting the African Union (AU) in the areas of labour migration and freedom of movement (External link) in order to improve migration policy frameworks on the African continent.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its member states in the Horn of Africa are receiving support in achieving regional policy goals via the Improving Migration and Displacement Policies in the IGAD Region (External link) (SIMPI II) project.
The Better Migration Management (External link) (BMM) programme – commissioned by the BMZ and co-financed by the EU – aims to equip national authorities and institutions in the Horn of Africa to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration. Since 2016, the programme has assisted around 50,000 migrants and victims of human trafficking in the Horn of Africa.

Supporting voluntary return and sustainable reintegration

Every year, millions of migrants return to their countries of origin. Ideally, successful reintegration serves to foster development in these countries. If reintegration is not successful, however, this can lead to social conflicts, a lack of prospects and fresh migration – often via irregular routes, with all the dangers this involves.

Against this backdrop, the BMZ is committed to supporting development-oriented return and reintegration policies that contribute to social cohesion in countries of origin. Germany’s policies in this area are guided by the interests of local partner organisations. Germany measures the success of its involvement by whether returnees and the local population are able to enjoy a good quality of life in their home country and whether migration is a necessity or a voluntary choice.

Enabling informed decisions about migration

German centres for migration and development, which are located in nine partner countries, offer support with all of these elements of migration.

Prospective migrants can get information about the requirements for migrating to Germany and the EU for the purposes of employment or education. The centres also provide information about the dangers of irregular migration. This enables people to make informed decisions about migrating.

to the overview page on Migration

As at: 11/07/2023