On the Move: Migrant Skills (Seeing isn’t Believing)
Oct 17, 2013 / Highlight
In a world where “migration is development,” stepping across international borders would offer migrants immediate improvements in income, productivity, and career opportunities. Currently, however, migrants with mid-level skills must take one step back to take two steps forward. As they cross from developing to developed countries, migrants’...
Three Funerals and a Wedding: Resetting the way we work on migration
Oct 17, 2013 / Highlight
International labor markets are perhaps the last bastion of protectionism. We know that easing restrictions on the movement of people, especially the less skilled, can unleash huge welfare gains which by some estimates dwarf the gains from complete trade liberalization. And yet, progress on this front has been too slow.
In attending the numerous...
On the Move: The Highly Skilled (Turning “Brain Drain” into “Brain Gain”)
Oct 17, 2013 / Highlight
This blog has been co-authored by Michael Clemens and Nabil Hashmi
The recent tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy highlights the risks that many migrants face. For a large number of people around the world moving is still one of the surest ways of expanding their opportunities and improving their lives. The World Bank's International Labor...
On the Move: Time to Re-think Migration
Oct 17, 2013 / Library
Manjula Luthria of the World Bank’s International Labor Mobility Program introduces our new series on migration, ‘On the Move.’ For large numbers of people around the world moving is one of the surest ways of expanding their opportunities and improving their lives. ‘On the Move’ aims to reframe the debate around migration by offering a set of...
On the Move: Labor Agreements (It takes two to Tango)
Oct 03, 2013 / Highlight
For large numbers of people around the world moving is one of the surest ways of expanding their opportunities and improving their lives. The World Bank's International Labor Mobility program has been dedicated to rethinking the current approach to this movement. Our new series, ‘On the Move’ presents new ideas which showcase a sample of this...
Rencontre Valmer: “Transforming the Arab Economies: The Knowledge and Innovation Road”
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
The event included a brief presentation of the findings of the report as well as interventions from high-level “practitioners” from the South of the Mediterranean. The event also discussed concrete ways and means to take forward the Knowledge Economy agenda. The 60 participants included decision makers from countries bordering the South and North...
University Governance Screening Card Workshop (Beirut)
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
A national workshop was held in the capital to discuss the results of the national report of the University Governance Screening Card.
Participation in the International Conference on Mediterranean Countries and EU Opportunities, ETC Final Conference (Tunis)
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
The EU-funded FP7 bilateral project EU-Tunisia ETC (European Tunisian Cooperation) a network for the coordination of science and technology cooperation, organized an EU-Med conference event in Tunis which brought together experts, policy makers, and practitioners in research and innovation to reflect on and analyze innovation support mechanisms...
Presentation: University Governance Screening Card Results (Paris)
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
A presentation on the results and lessons learned from using the UGSC tool in 7 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq and West Bank and Gaza) was given at the OECD Global Conference on Higher Education in Paris.
Consultation: “Tunisia: Moving towards the Knowledge Economy” (Tunis)
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
The CMI, UTICA, ISESCO, and other partners organized the high-level knowledge economy consultation, “L'Economie de la connaissance et de l'innovation: Un nouveau modèle de développement pour la Tunisie.” This was another example of timely policy advice that was delivered at the request of Tunisian counterparts, especially from the private sector,...
Justice Sector Services
Aug 14, 2013 / MDF
Towards more justice for disadvantaged people: count on civil society
Two years on, post-Arab spring democracies debate courses of action that must deliver results to their people, against a backdrop of heightened expectations. Perhaps no issue is more pressing than the improvement of government accountability and ensuring full respect of citizens...
Workshop: “Moving towards the Knowledge Economy” (Cairo)
Aug 14, 2013 / Highlight
The event was jointly organized with the Egyptian Ministry of Scientific Research and partners such as the EIB and ISESCO. As a follow-up to a request from the Egyptian Ministry of Scientific Research, the objective was to organize a consultation and workshop on ways to move ahead on a knowledge and innovation–based strategy for Egypt with...
Key Messages "Transforming Arab Economies: Towards Knowledge and Innovation" report
Jun 19, 2013 / Highlight
Anuja Utz, CMI Task Team Leader and main contributor to the report said its approach reflects the rich differences in challenges and opportunities across the MENA region. “Given the diversity of the Arab world, the study does not provide a cookie-cutter approach.” she said. “It offers examples of good practice from countries around the world and...
Rabat Declaration - Moving Towards New Development Strategies for Countries in the Arab World
Jun 15, 2013 / Highlight
Knowledge has always been central to development. To cope with the daunting challenges they face, particularly the need to create jobs and to develop more productive economies, Arab countries would do well to embrace a strategy for a knowledge-and innovation-driven economy. This is the main issue that is examined in the new report: “Transforming...
Opening Doors: Gender Equality in the Middle East and North Africa
Jun 15, 2013 / Highlight
On April 5, Inger Andersen, World Bank Vice President for the MENA region and Tara Vishwanath, World Bank Lead Economist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management group, were at the CMI to present the report “Opening Doors: Gender Equality and Development in the Middle East and North Africa”.
The report identifies a whole set of...
Towards more justice for disadvantaged people: count on civil society
Jun 15, 2013 / Highlight
Two years on, post-Arab spring democracies debate courses of action that must deliver results to their people, against a backdrop of heightened expectations. Perhaps no issue is more pressing than the improvement of government accountability and ensuring full respect of citizens' rights - with the gaining of individual liberties and social...
Cairo University Social protection and employment workshop Reflections from international experiences
Morocco: National KE Consultation in Rabat
Apr 25, 2013 / Highlight
As a follow up to demand from the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance, the CMI organized a national consultation: "Un nouveau modèle de développement pour le Maroc: Quelle feuille de route pour l’économie fondée sur la connaissance?" on April 9 at ISESCO HQ in Rabat.
This high level consultation brought together policymakers (Director...
Open Government Initiative
Feb 20, 2013 / Program
Lead Organization
The World Bank.
Partners
Droit et Justice (Moroccan Non-Governmental Organization); Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training; Justice Center for Legal Aid (Jordan); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ); Open Society Institute; UK Consultation Institute;...
Rencontres Valmer event, "Employment and Social Protection in the MENA region: Paving the way for a new social contract"
Jan 10, 2013 / Highlight
Unlocking the potential for job creation and renewing the social contract are challenges the MENA region is currently facing. Virtually every country suffers from high unemployment, which mostly affects the young, the educated and women. The revolutions across the region were a reminder that employment is more than simply a job, it represents...
Employment and Social Protection
Jan 08, 2013 / Program
Lead Organizations
French Development Agency (AFD), The World Bank.
Partners
International Labor Organization (ILO) and European Training Foundation (ETF), an agency of the European Union.
Challenges
Low job creation in MENA and high unemployment rates for young, women and graduates.
Mismatch between labor market needs and skills as developed...
Is Being Employable Enough to Get a Job in the Arab World? The Double Transition From Education to Work in MENA
Oct 04, 2012 / Blog entry
This blog is co-authored by Juan Manuel Moreno and Stefanie Brodmann
This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.
The low quality and relevance of education and training systems in MENA have led them to be perceived –...
Governance and Public Sector employment in the Middle East and North Africa
Oct 04, 2012 / Blog entry
This blog has been co-authored by Lida Bteddini and Guenter Heidenhof
This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.
Recent events across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have underscored the urgent need to...
Why Jobless? Privilege Not Competition in the Private Sector
Oct 04, 2012 / Blog entry
This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.
Several years ago, when I first came into the region, my department produced a Private Sector Flagship report titled, “From Privilege to Competition: Unlocking Private-Led...
Why Jobless? The Growth Pattern
Oct 04, 2012 / Blog entry
This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.
High unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) largely reflects the growth deficit. While China has been growing at 10 percent for a decade and has unemployment...
Regional Workshop on the KE, CMI
Oct 02, 2012 / Highlight
The main challenge in the MENA region today is to create more, better paid, decent, and higher quality jobs. A key way for MENA countries to meet this challenge is to invest more in knowledge and innovation related areas and to develop competitive, high productivity, and sustainable economic activities—that is, to make a move to a knowledge...
Workshop on Managing International Labor Migration for Better Development Outcomes (June 13-15, 2011)
Nov 02, 2011 / Highlight
Background: The recent events across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are a strong reminder that one of the main challenges facing countries in the Arab World is to absorb the large cohort of young and increasingly well-educated labor market entrants into productive employment. The current inability to provide sufficient numbers of quality...
