Strengthening Labour Migration Management in Botswana

The overall objective of this project is to support the Government of Botswana (GoB), specifically Selibe Phikwe Economic Revitalization Programme, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in collecting and utilising skills data to inform and guide efforts to revitalize the economy of the Selibe Phikwe region. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has requested UN Agencies and other development partners to assist in the efforts to revitalize the economy of Selebi-Phikwe region, a mining district in the Central part of Botswana, which recently collapsed due to the closure of the Bamangwato Concessions Limited (BCL) copper and nickel mine. For over 40 years, the BCL mine, which directly employed approximately five thousand workers, and another five thousand through its sub-contracts, served as the economic mainstay of Selebi-Phikwe town and the entire district. The loss of thousands of jobs as a result of this economic collapse in the region has contributed towards brain drain for the region as a result of large scale migration from the region.

IOM therefore, seeks to strengthen the government’s institutional capacity to utilise quality data to guide and inform economic development planning and decision making geared at revitalizing the economy of the town and surroundings. IOM aims to achieve this overall objective through the following outcomes:

i) Skills audit data utilized to guide economic development interventions in Botswana.
ii) GoB demonstrates increased capacity on labour migration management.