Switzerland – US support for SL migrant workers

Launching the Safe and Resilient Migrant Workers (SRMW) project at the embassy of Switzerland in Colombo on March 2 (L-R) Madushika Lansakara, National Program Manager, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Dr. Dominik Furgler, Swiss ambassador to Sri Lanka & Maldives, Alaina Teplitz, US ambassador to Sri Lanka & Maldives, Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director, US Agency for International Development Sri Lanka & Maldives, Nirosha Hapuarachchi, Director Migration Skills & Guidance YouLead.

The Swiss and U.S. governments have joined hands to initiate the Safe and Resilient Migrant Workers (SRMW) project in Sri Lanka. Designed to provide much needed guidance and skills development for Sri Lankan migrant workers, SRMW will be fully integrated with the U.S. Agency for International Development supported USD 18 million youth employment and entrepreneurship project, YouLead.

YouLead’s work over the past three years on career guidance and vocational skills development, combined with more than ten years of experience by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) working to improve the overall well-being of migrant workers, makes the two partners an ideal match. The Swiss contribution of $1.5 million over three years will provide guidance and skills training for thousands of migrant workers, as well as helping returned migrant workers assess their skills learned overseas and link them to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in Sri Lanka.

SRMW, part of SDC’s ‘Safe Labor Migration Program Phase IV’ was formally launched on March 2, at the embassy of Switzerland in Colombo, by ambassador Dr Dominik Furgler of Switzerland and ambassador Alaina Teplitz of the United States.

The project is designed to make overseas employment safer and more rewarding, both financially and professionally, by providing better occupational information and by increasing the skill levels of Sri Lankans who go abroad for work. It will also work to help reintegrate returning workers into meaningful productive opportunities in Sri Lanka. SRMW comes at a particularly important time as more than 50,000 migrant workers are returning home due to the pandemic—many of them without employment prospects. The activity will focus its efforts in Kandy, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Vavuniya—all districts with large numbers seeking work overseas, while actively influencing national policy initiatives for improved skilled migration.