Cooperation strengthened with GIZ

Division 3.3 “Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications” at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) will now be advising the GIZ programme THAMM Plus and TCTI II in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. By working closely with these countries the objective is to simplify the recognition of their vocational qualifications in Germany. The agreement that has now been made applies until 31 March 2028.

While there is a lot of pressure on the labour market in the North African countries of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, the skilled worker shortage in Germany is worsening. Labour migration plays an important role in these countries in that it lessens the burden on local labour markets. Fair migration thus also contributes to positive development in the countries of origin.

Two important programmes of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH address this: “Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa” (THAMM Plus) in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, and “Technical Support for the Comprehensive Technical Education Initiative with Egypt II” (TCTI II). Both programmes have the objective of sustainably anchoring development and occupation-oriented labour migration between North Africa and Europe as well as the development of the VET sector in Egypt.

THAMM Plus develops measures for people in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia so that they receive improved employment chances both in their country of origin and on the international stage. This includes specialist qualifications, language courses and intercultural training. Partnerships between the countries of origin and Germany are also established i.e. by networking between vocational schools, employment agencies, chambers, and initiatives from federal states and regions. Further, THAMM Plus fosters the competencies of partner institutions in the countries of origin so that they can implement mobility programmes.

The objective of TCTI II is to implement the vocational education and training reform in Egypt in a way that is transparent, relevant to the labour market and gender-equitable. In addition to fostering efficient financial planning and monitoring of vocational education and training at the Egyptian Ministry for Education and Vocational Training (MoETE), the scheme introduces an examining body in line with national standards in order to recognise obtained competencies. It also supports vocational schools and uses labour market information in order to improve VET provision.

BIBB’s advice to the THAMM Plus and TCTI II projects of GIZ strengthens and develops the structural and content requirements in the partner countries for the recognition of qualifications in Germany.

Country-specific advice for the three partner countries is provided as part of THAMM Plus. In Morocco it particularly addresses capacity building within the country itself. Via training and the provision of further information material the goal is to create sustainable structures that can promote labour migration between Morocco and Germany beyond the project time span.

In Tunisia and Egypt, previous experiences from recognition procedures are used to identify parameters that can be involved in the development of qualification measures and can optimise the recognition of vocational qualifications in the context of labour migration.

As part of TCTI II, the idea is to investigate as to how additional qualifications and certifications in the Egyptian VET system can increase the likelihood of employment for graduates on the German labour market too, especially in regard to improved eligibility for recognition.

The cooperation between BIBB and GIZ thus effectively fosters the cooperation between Germany and three important countries of origin in North Africa and contributes to the implementation of EU Commission recommendations from November 2023 on the recognition of qualifications held by citizens of third countries.

Cooperation with the GIZ Programme “Migration and Diaspora” (PMD) already took place in 2022 and 2023. The goal was to inform the labour administration and other advisory stakeholders in 12 countries about the possibilities and requirements of recognition in Germany. The new cooperation is therefore another good example of the successful cooperation between BIBB and GIZ which has now existed for over 13 years.

More information

BIBB: Project description in the project database (DaPro)

GIZ: THAMM Plus

GIZ: TCTI II

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/2611 of 15 November 2023

Positive response to GIZ and BIBB training series

BIBB and GIZ renew their cooperation agreement