First Job Fair for Returnees from Soundi Arabia
ILO, Addis Ababa Administration and Ethiopian Employers Federation organized the first job fair in Addis Ababa to assist migrant returnees reintegrate in the labour market.
ADDIS ABABA – The first job fair for Ethiopian returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was held on November 26, 2015 at Eden Genet Hall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Addis Ababa Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ethiopian Employers Federation (EEF).
More than 300 migrant returnees with years of experience and different levels of education and skills, together with 15 national companies were present at the event attended by ILO’s Regional Director Aeneas Chapinga Chuma, ILO’s Country Director for Ethiopia and Somalia, George Okutho, as well as the Head of Addis Ababa’s BoLSA, Mr. Ephrem Gizaw and the President of Ethiopian Employers Federation, Mr. Tadele Yimer.
Key selected activities designed to equip returnees with practical skills for securing jobs were organized with the support of Ethiojobs employment specialists – ILO’s partner – to train participants on effective ways of job search and interviewing skills, together with CV writing stations to assist returnees with developing proper curriculum vitae.
This job fair served as a springboard to address challenges and opportunities of employers and job seekers, as well as the dynamic of the labour market demand and supply. The event also provided an opportunity to illustrate that returned migrants can successfully work in Ethiopia and that migration is not the only way out of poverty. Some 250 attendees were absorbed by cleaning, security, child care, and beauty salon and spa companies at the end of the one day job fair.
ILO Country Office for Ethiopia and Somalia | Yeabsira Zewdie | +2515444165 | zewdie@ilo.org
More than 300 migrant returnees with years of experience and different levels of education and skills, together with 15 national companies were present at the event attended by ILO’s Regional Director Aeneas Chapinga Chuma, ILO’s Country Director for Ethiopia and Somalia, George Okutho, as well as the Head of Addis Ababa’s BoLSA, Mr. Ephrem Gizaw and the President of Ethiopian Employers Federation, Mr. Tadele Yimer.
Key selected activities designed to equip returnees with practical skills for securing jobs were organized with the support of Ethiojobs employment specialists – ILO’s partner – to train participants on effective ways of job search and interviewing skills, together with CV writing stations to assist returnees with developing proper curriculum vitae.
This job fair served as a springboard to address challenges and opportunities of employers and job seekers, as well as the dynamic of the labour market demand and supply. The event also provided an opportunity to illustrate that returned migrants can successfully work in Ethiopia and that migration is not the only way out of poverty. Some 250 attendees were absorbed by cleaning, security, child care, and beauty salon and spa companies at the end of the one day job fair.
BACKGROUND:
- In 2013, a crackdown against undocumented immigrants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) resulted in the Government of Ethiopia repatriating more than 163,000 Ethiopian migrants from KSA.
- To respond to this unprecedented crisis, the ILO is supporting the Government of Ethiopia to implement a one-year technical cooperation project: entitled “Joint UN Resource Mobilization for Counter Trafficking and Migration Policy and Practice in Ethiopia”.
- The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the reduction of exploitation of migrants including victims of trafficking through support of a humane reintegration process emphasizing economic and social empowerment.
- The ILO is working closely with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) and other stakeholders to support the Government’s efforts to address the need of reintegrating the returnees.
ILO Country Office for Ethiopia and Somalia | Yeabsira Zewdie | +2515444165 | zewdie@ilo.org