Within the framework of the OIC Public Employment Services Network (OIC-PESNET) and in line with the OIC-PESNET Work Plan 2021-2022, the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), in its capacity as the Chair of the OIC-PESNET, organised a Training Course on “Management of Migrant Labour Force” on 24-26 May 2022 through an online video conferencing platform. SESRIC, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC-PESNET, provided facilitation and necessary technical support for the organization of the training.

The training course was provided by competent experts from the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and the Directorate General of International Labour Force under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Türkiye for the benefit of 69 participants from the national public employment services (PES) agencies/ authorities of 22 OIC Member Countries.

The main objective of the training course was to provide insights into the management of migrant labour force and strengthen the technical capacities of participants on different aspects of international labour force management. The course also gave an overview of successful programmes, projects, and training activities conducted by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) for the benefit of migrants to develop their skills and promote their participation in the labour market.

The training course commenced with the opening statement by Mr. Fadi Abdullah FARASIN, Assistant Director General of SESRIC, who stressed the significant role that international migrants play in the development of both sending and receiving countries. Mr. FARASIN highlighted in his speech that without the human, economic and cultural capital that migrants bring to their countries of destination, it would not be possible to attain efficiency in many production and services activities. He further underlined the importance of cooperation and dialogue among the OIC countries to promote and protect the wellbeing of migrant workers and maximise the developmental impact of migration.

In her welcoming remarks, Dr. Pürnur ALTAY, Deputy Director General of the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), pointed out that the world has faced huge waves of migration over the past two decades. She underlined that the host countries should take into account the reality of immigration when they are formulating their labor market policies. In addition, she informed the participants about the initiatives and efforts of IŞKUR in formulating these policies and implementing related activities. Dr. ALTAY also expressed her hope that the participants will highly benefit from the experience of Türkiye in this domain.

In his opening statement, Mr. Cenk İLERİ, Deputy Director General of Directorate General of International Labour Force at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Türkiye, started by thanking SESRIC for facilitating the organization of this important training course. He briefed the participants on the experiences of Türkiye on migrant management as well as the activities of the Directorate General of International Labour Force.

The OIC-PESNET is an OIC platform established to create closer cooperation among the national public employment services agencies/ authorities of the OIC Member Countries through sharing knowledge, experience and best practices. SESRIC assumes the role of the Secretariat of the OIC-PESNET and carries out a specific capacity-building programme, namely; Public Employment Services Capacity Building Programme (PES-CaB), to support the efforts of the OIC Member Countries in developing the capacities of the institutional and human resources in the field of public employment services. The Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) carries out the role of Chair of the OIC-PESNET for the period of 2021-2022. For more details about the Network and its activities, please visit: https://www.sesric.org/network-pesnet.php

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