MigrationResearch Ideas

Dhaka May 27, 2015

Bangladesh PrioritiesWORKING WITH 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+ sector experts engaging major development organizations, NGOs, government, businesses, youths, rural and urban Bangladeshis to identify, analyze and prioritize interventions that will deliver greater benefit per taka spent, helping move Bangladesh towards Vision 2021 and a more prosperous long term future.

In cooperation with the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC,

Copenhagen Consensus Center organized roundtable discussions with

an aim to figure out smarter solutions to the most problematic issues facing

Bangladesh.

These roundtables are one of several sources

for research ideas.

Sourcing ideas and solutions

Smarter solutions for Bangladesh

Complete set of papers on 30-50 solutions

PRIORITIZATION

Government NGOs

Academia Pvt sector

Think tanks Developmentorganizations

Eminent Panel Assessment

Government and donor seminars

Rural polls Newspaper pollsamong readers

Youth forums across the

countryPrivate sector

meetings

Social, economic and environmental benefit-cost

research by top Bangladeshi, and

international economistsExtensive peer review by

sector experts and academics

100+ ideas on policies & investments

2016

2015

Continuous engagement

with the public via electronic,

print and social media

Working with civil society, government and sector

experts

Widely advocating results of

prioritization exercises

OUTREACH

Research Ideas

Migration;(1 of 8)

• Arrange free of cost pre-departure training programs on skills and language.

• Improve standard of government training centers in terms of both facilities and training module.

• Nationwide awareness for safe migration and informed decision-making by migrant workers.

• Build capacity to establish ethical recruitment practices by recruitment agencies.

• Regulate recruitment agencies for promoting safe migration.

• Create a multi‐stakeholder platform for a holistic migration management system.

Migration;(2 of 8)

• Improve multi-modal transport for more rural-urban migration opportunities.

• Encourage relocation of urban jobs to secondary cities. • Establishment of 22 District Employment and Manpower

Offices (DEMO). • Creation of a ‘catering institute’ for market oriented skill

training. • Standardization of training courses consistent with

international needs.• Certification of migrants’ skills through the National

Technical and Vocational Qualifications Framework (NTVQF).

Migration; (3 of 8)

• Improve qualification of training staff for professional migration opportunities.

• Consider women as a special group in case of river erosion or such disaster induced migration.

• Facilitate migration of workers from lagging districts to more prosperous regions.

• Supporting policies to offer real positive interest rates to remittance savers.

• Prioritize internal migration opportunities for coastal, environmental refugees.

• Analyze impact of female migration on their children’s educational outcomes.

Migration; (4 of 8)

• Establish a skills matching mechanism for professional migration opportunities.

• Maintain a database of returnee migrant workers to create jobs honing on their newly acquired skills.

• Diversification of destination to non-GCC countries. • Implementation of migration policies and laws with

adequate budgetary support. • More G2G migration platforms for safe migration. • Leverage Bangladesh’s political clout in international

relations for reducing migration costs. • Ensure a minimum level of female employees in recruiting

agencies.

Migration; (5 of 8)

• Incentives for recruitment agencies to participate in ILO/IOM/etc. sponsored events.

• Reducing medical test fees for migrant workers. • G2G MoUs should be publicly accessible. • Make use of the 1.4 million workers database. • Quarterly publication of blacklisted recruitment

agencies. • Establish a star-rating system to highlight best

performing recruitment agencies. • Use Union Digital Centers (UDCs) for online registration

of migrant workers.

Migration; (6 of 8)

• Mobile based notification to shortlisted candidates. • Multimedia contents and mobile apps for raising

awareness of migrant workers. • Establish an e-Learning platform for recruitment

agencies, training facilities and prospective temporary migrant workers.

• Strengthen labor wings of Bangladeshi missions abroad.• Establishment of a call center at the Wage Earners

Board for redressing grievances. • Verification of visa and passports at the UDCs. • More migration programs to be aired by media for

increasing awareness.

Migration; (7 of 8)

• Register middleman of recruitment agencies. • Immigration process to be dealt by GAMCA, a GCC approved

medical association.• Carry out medical tests for any host country through GAMCA. • Offer area based training programs by considering outflow of

migrant workers. • Design and organize a 21 days training program for

overseas domestic workers.• Share contract papers with temporary migrant workers at

least 7 days before their departure. • Support ILO’s work in establishing a code of conduct for

recruitment agencies.

Migration; (8 of 8)

• Sustain remittance inflow for financing increased consumption and services.

• More mobile payment platforms for remittance disbursements.

• Strengthen Probashi Kallyan Bank (PBK) as the ‘migrant’s bank’ - provide financial support to workers at the pre-migration stage and also for returnee workers.

• Set up a Temporary Migrants Mutual Fund (TMMF) for channeling remittances into productive sectors.

• Encourage - via cash grants - seasonal regional to urban migration during monga.

Full List of Attendees and IntervieweesSabina Saeed, UN Women, Program Associate.Modasser Hossain, DAM, Program Manager.Ahdur Raquib, SHISUK, Program Officer.Sabiha Laizu Nishi, SHISUK, Program Coordinator.Farhad AL Karim, BRAC Migration, Field Coordinator.Pulak Ranjan Dhor, BCWWF, CS.Hassan Imam, BRAC, Program Head.Syed Mahbub Elahi, OKKAF, Chairman.Sadia Karim, BRAC, Program focal & field Coordinator.MD Tazul Islam, BMET, Director (EM).Karol Larpinsici, World Bank, OPS Analyst.Max Pottler, IOM, Project Officer.Md. Abir Hasan, World Bank, Research Analyst.Mahbuba Haque, INAFI, Associate Director.

Ranjit Ch.Das, BASTOB, Head of Program.Sohela Jasmeen, S.F.M.M.T.T.C, Senior Instructor.Suparna Roy, Coordinator, Access to Information (a2i).