SMP Belgium-Suriname | IOM Belgium and Luxembourg

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Establishing the foundations of a Belgium-Suriname Skills Mobility Partnership (SMP) in the healthcare sector

The Surinamese labour market faces significant challenges, as highlighted in the Suriname mid-term labour market policy 2022-2025 by the International Labour Organization (ILO). These challenges include a lack of educational capacity in rural areas as well as skills mismatch between educational curricula and labour needs. This hinders school-to-work transitions and leads to brain drain as talents seek opportunities abroad.

Simultaneously, Belgium is experiencing a massive workforce shortage across all sectors, and especially in the healthcar sector, exacerbated by an aging population and evolving skill requirements. Agoria's 2023 report warns that, without intervention, 541,000 posts could be left unfilled by 2030 on the Belgian labour market. With a vacancy rate of 4.35%, the second highest in the EU, and 186 identified shortage occupations, the scale of the challenge is substantial.

Skills Mobility Partnerships or SMPs aim to address these challenges by fostering bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements that promote skills development and mobility. SMPs focus on multi-stakeholder collaboration, including migrants, states, employers, and educational institutions, to enhance worker skills, support employment and integration, and ultimately drive economic growth and innovation.

The SMP will enable the Surinamese government to improve its healthcare education and system, while providing an opportunity for the Belgian government to alleviate the shortage of caretakers in its healthcare sector, with a focus on caretaking and nursing.

The present initiative will facilitate the development of a collaborative and sustainable SMP between the two countries whereby Suriname will offer access to a pool of skilled Dutch-speaking healthcare workers that can work temporary or permanently in Belgium in healthcare institutions while the Belgian healthcare sector will provide tailored financial and technical support. Belgian healthcare employers have committed to provide the necessary financial means for the capacity building (in Suriname) and training component (in Belgium) of the SMP.

The model developed will serve as the basis for a self-sustaining SMP between Belgium and Suriname. This will allow for the mobility of multiple cohorts of healthcare professionals as well as for continued capacity building support over time.