(Cairo, 19 March 2023). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) today successfully concluded a major discussion of health professional mobility in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. 

Held at WHO’s Regional Office in Cairo, the event brought together around 30 partners in person and online from across the Region including government officials, UN agencies and donors to discuss the theme: “Governance of labour migration: implications for health professionals’ mobility”. 

It was the second in a series of three regional dialogues initiated by WHO and IOM in 2022 to examine issues relevant to labour migration of health professionals.

Large numbers of health professionals from the Region move to work in other countries, whether within the Region or beyond, with significant impact on the health labour market and the availability of health services in the Region. A third of the Region’s countries face critical shortages of health workforce.

Participants in the meeting discussed global and regional instruments governing labour migration and how they might be used to enhance the governance and management of health professionals’ mobility, drawing on policies and experiences from across the Region.

“Governance of labour migration is changing globally. New labour migration policies introduced are affecting the international mobility of health professionals,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). “The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement which presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance of labour migration, address associated challenges and strengthen the contribution of labour migrants and migration to sustainable development.”

Numerous drivers influence skilled workers’ decisions to migrate to higher-income destination countries. Their countries of origin often bear the cost of educating and training them, and risk losing out on much needed benefits if they are then unable to retain trained professionals. Effective governance of mobility is needed to make sure that all parties gain from it.

“Labour migration governance has national, regional and global dimensions which require collective action and shared responsibility to ensure it is mutually beneficial for countries of origin and countries of destination,” explained Dr Rana Hajjeh, Director of Programme Management at the WHO Regional Office.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated shortages and capacity gaps in the health labour market, but also highlighted the potential role that diasporas and migrant communities can play in providing essential services and supporting national health systems.

For more information, please contact: 
IOM: Mohammedali Abunajela, mmabunajela@iom.int