Your Excellency, Doctor Ali Mohammed Mujur,  

Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen;

Your Excellency, Mr. Ahmed Luqman,  

Minister of Social Affairs and Labour and Director General of the
Arab Labour Organization;

Excellencies and distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

INTRODUCTION

It is a great honour to be invited to attend this important
gathering of distinguished representatives of Governments of Yemen
and of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

I would like to thank His Excellency, the Prime Minister of
Yemen, for hosting this event; the people of Yemen for their
gracious welcome and hospitality; and the Arab Labour Organization
— and its distinguished Director General, Dr. Ahmed Luqman
— for bringing together Ministries of Labour from the region
to discuss the importance of facilitating the recruitment of
Yemenis for work in the GCC.  It is an honour for me to be
associated with the ALO in this Regional Workshop. 

My remarks today, as a guest, will be appropriately brief and
will centre on two broad issues — issues that, from the
perspective of the International Organization for Migration (IOM),
are crucial for the future of labour mobility within the Arabian
Gulf.  But first, let me outline briefly, from IOM’s
perspective, some of the major migration challenges and
opportunities the region faces and the role that we believe labour
mobility can play in human development.

Regional Migration and Development
Diagnostic  

Since time immemorial, Yemen and the Arabian Gulf have been at the
crossroads of migration routes.  These trade routes have
cemented social and economic bonds between countries in the region;
and they have fostered much progress through trade and commerce and
religious and cultural exchanges among peoples. 

Today, some 15 million foreign-born inhabitants live in the six
member states of the GCC.  This represents a total increase of
almost 20 per cent since 2005, according to UN data.  This
growth in migrants in the GCC region is due to several elements:
structural demographic trends; continuous growth in various sectors
of the GCC economies; and cyclical demand for goods, services and
real estate. 

There is every indication that the GCC will continue to need a
growing national and international labour force with a variety of
skill levels and expertise.

Yemen’s Development
Challenges  

Yemen, as everyone knows, is a traditional country of origin for
workers in the GCC.  And, like other Arab States, Yemen faces
several acute development challenges.

First, is the challenge of a growing population characterized by
youth.  The United Nations forecasts that Yemen’s
population will double between now and 2050, when the population is
expected to reach nearly 60 million people.  Nearly half of
this population of 60 million will be younger than 24 years of age;
this will pose an enormous challenge in terms of job creation and
meaningful employment for young Yemeni men and women. If, as I was
told, you have 6 million university students, and several thousand
university graduates every year, and only one in perhaps 20 has a
chance in employment ? you are faced with an enormous
challenge.

Second, urbanization will accelerate and double by 2050. 
More than 60 per cent of Yemenis will live in cities —
representing the fastest rate of urbanization in the entire Arab
States region.  Rapid urbanization poses a challenge in terms
of management of water and other natural resources. 
Urbanization at such a pace also puts extra pressure on governments
for the delivery of public services. 

All of this represents a global trend toward urbanization; this
year, for the first time in recorded history, there are more people
worldwide living in urban areas than in rural areas. With this as a
backdrop, let me mention briefly two broad issues.

I. BENEFITS FROM WELL-PLANNED LABOUR
MOBILITY 

My first point is that Yemen’s young work force is a resource
— one that can significantly benefit the GCC countries, as
well as Yemen, through enhanced coordination of labour mobility
policies. 

I say this for several reasons. 

1. First, GCC countries can access this vast human capital in
   Yemen to help meet the requirements of their own domestic labour
   markets; at the same time, Yemen can benefit from these additional
   employment opportunities for its young population.  Benefits
   are not only to be harvested in the labour sector, but also in the
   field of skills development and vocational training, thereby
   strengthening trade linkages between Yemen and the GCC. 
   Moreover, Yemenis employed in the GCC countries will further
   provide a financial lifeline to many Yemeni families ? through
   remittances, skills development, and investment on the part of
   temporary workers upon their return to Yemen.  In sum,
   well-managed labour mobility can create cohorts of qualified low,
   medium and high-skilled Yemeni workers who are mobile,
   highly-motivated, and dynamic, thus serving the needs of their own
   country and the host country.
2. In turn, second, growing prospects for GCC and Yemeni economies
   will facilitate, and perhaps expedite, regional economic and
   financial integration of the Arabian Gulf region.  In this
   regard, improved economic prospects may also bolster Yemen’s
   bid to join the Council.  A functional, flexible, and
   responsive labour mobility system in the region would appear to
   advance Yemen’s goal of full integration into the GCC
   region.
3. Third, finally, wider access to employment opportunities and
   training for Yemenis in the GCC is vital to ensure sustainable
   livelihoods for thousands of Yemeni families.  A stable,
   prosperous Yemen will have a tremendously positive impact on the
   stability and growth of the entire Arabian Gulf and beyond.

II. GLOBAL AND REGIONAL DIALOGUE 

My second point addresses IOM’s potential role in assisting
the GCC countries, the ALO and Yemen, as appropriate, in this
endeavour.  A closer partnership between GCC countries and
Yemen would seem desirable from all sides. IOM has been an active
player in the field of regional policy dialogue on labour mobility
and development.

At the global level, we have been supporting and facilitating
the work of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD);
and, at the regional level, we continue to support fourteen
Regional Consultative Processes, two of which assist Asian and GCC
countries in the field of labour migration — the Abu Dhabi
dialogue and its follow-up pilot project, as well as the Colombo
Process. 

At a practical level, we are engaged in facilitating an entire
range of labour migration projects in the Arab region, as well as
in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. 

We know how challenging it is to activate labour recruitment
channels between countries. Our experience in a large number of
projects has taught us that the most successful processes require
several key ingredients:

1. High-level support; 
2. Strong policy and legislative frameworks; 
3. Flexible regulation of the private sector; and  
4. Protection of contractual workers and their integration into
   the development planning of countries of origin and
   destination.

You have every reason to be optimistic about the labour mobility
in your region.  We believe that Yemen’s ambitious
12-Point Plan of Action; efforts to reform the contractual labour
systems in the GCC; your increasing emphasis and action in the
field of human trafficking and workers’ rights; the GCC
countries growing role in the global policy dialogue on migration
— as witnessed by the number of countries that have recently
become IOM Members or Observers — that all of this bodes well
for the future of labour mobility in the region.  I am
confident that this forum will provide GCC countries and Yemen an
opportunity to identify areas of further cooperation on the way
forward.

If you do identify additional areas for labour cooperation, and
you desire our support, IOM stands ready to assist you with policy
and operational support; for example, research, training, capacity
building, engaging with private recruiters and employers, dialogue,
and in the area of policy, best practices and lessons learned.

In this context, one suggestion I could make, for your possible
consideration, would be to appoint a Joint GCC/Yemen Working Group
to carry the proceedings of this meeting forward ? with a view to
the possibility of holding a future meeting on labour mobility at
the Ministerial level in a year or so. 

CONCLUSION

As the world begins to emerge from the global financial crisis,
we have a unique opportunity to focus on strategic priorities for
labour mobility in the Arab Gulf region.  

In addition to vast natural resources, the region possesses a
talented generation of youth; these include many gifted girls and
women, all of whom are eager to contribute to economic growth in
the region as a whole. 

Through partnership, you can ensure that this generation
prospers.  Through our joint actions, we can ensure that the
benefits of human mobility far outweigh any possible negative
aspects — for countries of origin and destination, civil
society, contractual workers and their families. 

In closing, I pledge my support and that of the International
Organization for Migration, as appropriate, in your noble efforts
to establish fruitful mobility partnerships between Yemen and the
countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.