The MATCH project was funded by the European Union's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and ran from January 2020 to December 2022
Within this demand-driven circular migration project, MATCH addresses labour market shortages in four European countries; Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. This is achieved by enabling an estimated 105 migrants from Nigeria and Senegal to work for a period of six months to two years in companies within sectors where specific labour shortages have been identified.
In the Netherlands, IOM works in partnership with the Netherlands-Africa Business Council (NABC), to promote existing legal pathways for highly skilled candidates from Nigeria and Senegal to work temporarily in Dutch companies; primarily within the ICT, technology and digitalization sectors.
MATCH targets candidates who, through their temporary work placement, are provided with the opportunity to upscale their skills in Europe and increase their employability upon return to their home countries.
In addition to the circular mobility scheme, MATCH implements complementary activities in order to increase the impact of the project. These include:
- Skills development: selected candidates are offered various training organized by the individual companies and employment agencies.
- Knowledge transfer: labour migrants are invited to engage in projects in their home country to facilitate skills and knowledge transfer to their communities of origin.
- Peer-to-peer capacity building: MATCH facilitates the exchange between employer organizations and employment agencies in the four participating EU Member States and their counterparts in Senegal and Nigeria. Employer organizations and employment agencies in Nigeria and Senegal benefit from capacity building training on labour market analysis, matching of labour supply with demand and exploring labour opportunities abroad. This facilitates the roll-out of future labour mobility schemes benefiting countries of origin and destination alike.
This project supports the implementation of the following Sustainable Development Goals
