Post on 25-Jan-2023
Ban Kin Moon, UNSG. CPD, 2013
“Migration is a fact of life
in our globalizing world.
Whether it takes place
within countries or across
border, migration can
bring people together”
Development Agenda
International migration has moved to the forefront of the national and international agenda
Five key goals
1. Establish safe, legal channels of
migration;
2. Align migration policies to the demands
of the labour market;
3. Address the problems faced by migrants
who have no legal status;
4. Promote integration into host societies;
5. Facilitate return and circular migration, so
people can go back to their homes at the
right time.
“Migration is the oldest action against poverty”
Galbraith Ms. Shamshad Akhtar UNASG,
2013 • Evidence based on good statistics and diagnostics
are the lynchpin of understanding migration
dynamics as they promote better understanding.
Numbers tell us an important story:
• First, the global migrant stock increased from 1.3
percent in 1990-1995 to 1.8 percent in 2005-2010,
even though population growth overall was slowing
down in this period. (214 millions of people, 2010)
• Second, while international migration is rising, it
remains a relatively uncommon event. More than 9
of every 10 persons in the world are living today in
their country of birth.
Ms. Shamshad Akhtar UNASG, 2013
• Third, as multi-polarity deepens, like aid,
trade and capital flows, migration is no longer
a North-South concern and debate only.
Countries of the South are the origin for
about 70 percent of all international migrants.
Of these roughly half reside in other
developing countries. South-South migration
flows are equivalent to North-South migration
(close to 73 million each) and size of North-
North is also gaining momentum. These
dynamics of migration have implications for
shaping the post 2015 agenda.
Ms. Shamshad Akhtar UNASG, 2013
• Multi-directional flows of migration underscore
the need for global action including both
developed and developing countries not just
as provider of cheap labor but as contributor of
development. Harnessing benefits of migration
is critical.
• It selects those who most want help. It is good
for the country to which they go; it helps break
the equilibrium of poverty in the country from
which they come.
High-level Expert Policy Dialogue on Migration in the
Post 2015 Development Agenda ,Stockholm, 2013
• What is the perversity in the human soul that
causes people to resist so obvious a good?”
Evidence confirms that migration can reduce
poverty. However it cannot be a substitute for
proper national planning and strategies to
address development. So framing the migration
debate solely on this ground perpetuates the
myth that people largely migrate out of despair
and that once a country reduces poverty, the
need for migration disappears.
High-level Expert Policy Dialogue on Migration in the
Post 2015 Development Agenda,Stockholm, 2013
• Migration is driven by needs and
opportunities. Even the most advanced
economies depend crucially on
international migration. Low-skilled
migrants are needed to do the jobs that
natives often shun. Ageing societies are
confronted not only with a shrinking labour
force, but also with an increasing demand
for care workers. Shortages of high-
skilled labourers are projected to worsen
in the coming years
High-level Expert Policy Dialogue on Migration
in the Post 2015 Development Agenda,
Stockholm, 2013
Popular concerns about major negative
impacts on workers or government
budgets are inconsistent with the results
of numerous studies in countries like the
United States, where the effect of
immigration on wages and employment
appears to be small, and where
immigrant contributions in taxes exceed
benefits received over the long run
High-level Expert Policy Dialogue on Migration
in the Post 2015 Development Agenda,
Stockholm, 2013
A similar argument can be made for
remittances in the context of developing
countries. The evidence suggests that
remittances can contribute significantly to
the improvement of human capital. Families
receiving remittances can send their
children to school and find access to health
services. In many countries, remittances
outweigh foreign direct investment and
dwarf official development assistance.
Transfers
Recent World Bank projections suggest
that these could reach $534 billion by
2015. Proper leveraging of remittances,
which are private resources, for
development would be good, but would
require suitable vehicles and instruments
backed by adequate safeguards and
returns to attract flows. Remittances
however cannot substitute development
funding.
Migrants
• “Migrants are instrumental for the
development of both sending and receiving
countries. Many professional, technical and
service circuits would not function without the
human, economic and cultural capital that
migrants bring to their countries of
destination. In parallel, communities of origin
benefit from migrant remittances, which
account for a significant share of the GDP of
many developing countries”. OIM,2013
Migrants
• “Increasing acknowledgement is given to
contributions of diaspora groups and
transnational communities: mobile populations
facilitate trade, investment, skills transfers and
cultural linkages between countries. Human
mobility helps to reduce the extent and
magnitude of poverty, by assuring employment
for a growing world population and favoring
valuable use of development resources
complementary to aid budgets”. OIM,2013
Migration
• In addition, migration helps improve school
attendance rates, empowers women, and
facilitates mitigation of health-related issues,
such as child mortality rates. Increasingly
relevant is the leverage of migration for
resilience-building and prepared response to
emerging global risks, such as natural disasters
or slow-onset effects of climate change. As a
result, if well managed and appropriately
factored into development planning, migration is
an enabler of sustainable development”. OIM,
2013.
UNFPA
• Migration figures prominently in
UNFPA ‘led consultation on
population dynamics in the post-2015
development agenda. The Dhaka
Declaration, has six recommendations
related to migration and human
mobility
• Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, CPD,
2013
Dhaka’s
Recommendations1. safe and orderly migration;
2. protection and assistance for migrants;
3. integration of migration into national
development policies, strategies and
programmes;
4. matching of skills and Jobs and labour supply
and demand’ low –cost transfer of savings an
investment incentives;
5. migration as a possible adaptation strategy to
address climate change;
6. and the migrants' human rights.
Dr Babatunde Osotimehin,
UNFPA, E.D.• Migration also figures prominently in the International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)
Beyond 2014 operation review.
• International migration affects the size of the
population as well as their composition by age and
sex, and emigration reduces the rate of population
growth in some origin countries, while intensifying
population decrease in other. Although immigration
can play a role in mitigation population decline o
slowing population ageing in destination countries, it
cannot in most circumstances reverse those trends.
Female Migration
The face of migration is changing : women and girls
now represent about half of all international
migrants- an in some regions of the world , they
outnumber their male counterparts. Many women
migrant on their own as heads of households, to
secure a livelihood. Others leave their homes in
search of more open societies, to get out of a bad
marriage, or to escape all forms of discrimination
and gender based violence, political conflicts and
cultural constraint. Like other migrants, women
contribute to he well –being of their households,
through remittances that benefit the family.
Youth migration
• More than 12 per cent of international
migrants are 15-24 years old. Despite their
significant numbers, young migrants barely
register in debates and policies on migration.
• Efforts should include access to education,
decent work and health services, including
reproductive health services, in other that
they may achieve their full potential and
contribute to inclusive social and economic
development.
Human rights of migrants
• Migrants are not numbers, their are
human beings endowed with
inalienable human rights .
• Respecting and promotion their
rights, including their reproductive
rights as well as theirs contribution to
development- has to be high on the
agenda of policy makes.
Human rights: Priority actions
• Promotion the ratification and effective
implementation of all core international human
and labour rights instruments
• Calling for national action plans to promote
awareness of migrant realities and to fight
xenophobia and discrimination against migrants
• Implementing the many existing frameworks to
enhance migrants ‘s access to social protection
and services, such as their access to sexual and
reproductive health services, including family
planning services especially for women and girls.
International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD)
Chapter Ten of the
Programme of Action of the
ICPD1994 remains the most
comprehensive negotiated
text on international
migration to date.
Post -2015 Development
Agenda• The contribution of migration to the
development of both sending and
destination countries has to be recognized
and integrated into national developments
plans and poverty reduction strategies.
• Policies that build on the positive aspects
and reduce negative consequences of
migration should be taken up in the Post-
2015 agenda
Post -2015 Development
Agenda• This includes analyzing and
tacking the root causes of
migration, facilitating the use of
remittance to reduce poverty and
contribute to communities'
development; and encouraging
diasporas to become even bigger
partners in development.
Post -2015 Development
Agenda• The question is how, what form and to
what extent? Given the scale and
impact of internal migration on national
labour markets, poverty reduction, family
cohesion, and development in general,
there is merit in integrating it explicitly in
the future UN development agenda,
especially in connection to the
sustainable development of urban and
rural areas, as emphasized in the
document of Rio+20