Addressing the root causes and drivers of migration

Guided by the African Union’s “Ouagadougou + 10 Declaration on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development in Africa” which places labour migration and regional economic integration as one, and social protection as another one of its six key priority policy areas, the ILO supports African Member States in placing employment creation as a central objective of African economic and social policies. The ILO provides technical assistance in reducing underemployment and tackling the root causes and drivers of migration through the formalization of informal economy workers, youth employment programs, Small and Medium Enterprises Programmes (SMEs), cooperatives creation and support, skills development, productivity improvement and studying how wages affect migration levels.
  • Under the ILO Project “Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern and Central Ethiopia”, a youth employability services (YES) centre, the first in the country, was officially inaugurated in Bahir Dar town on 19th of June 2018. The project also conducted a comprehensive socio-economic assessment in five high migration-prone regions of Ethiopia—Addis Ababa, Tigray, Amhara, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNPR), and Oromia. The findings of the assessment provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of migration in Ethiopia, particularly on mobility trends in the target areas and the correlation between migration and socio-economic characteristics of individuals. It also provides a nuanced and in-depth understanding of the role of various stakeholders and potential partners (national, international, local) and their ongoing efforts to tackle migration-related challenges.