The potential skilling, upskilling, and reskilling opportunities for the migration and mobility of workers, with a specific focus on gender aspects of workers in the countries of origin. Horizon Europe project Global Strategy for Skills, Migration and Development (GS4S).

This working paper examines the intersection of skilling, reskilling, upskilling and migration in three countries of origin - Egypt, Bangladesh and Nigeria - offering a comparative analysis of their socioeconomic contexts, policy landscapes and skilling initiatives. The analysis highlights commonalities across the countries, such as persistent skills mismatches, gender disparities and inequities in access to skilling programs especially in rural areas. Additionally, barriers including fragmented policies and limited data on labor market outcomes constrain the effectiveness of these existing initiatives. The paper concludes with actionable recommendations for policymakers, educational institutions, and development agencies. It advocates for aligning skilling programs with labor market needs, promoting inclusivity through gender-sensitive and regionally equitable policies, expanding legal migration pathways and adopting data-driven approaches to enhance program evaluation. It analyzed secondary labor market data, and mapped skills development programs (i.e., existing initiatives and policies). This working paper is part of the Horizon Europe project GS4S - Global Strategy for Skills, Migration and Development, under Grant agreement number 101132377. The rights to the underlying data behind the publication are the authors’. For the current collection, the Radboud University acts as both publisher and administrator. The Radboud University handles the storage and access of the data through the Radboud Data Repository, in consultation with and on behalf of the partners of the Horizon Europe project.