The UN High Level Dialogue on
Migration and Development, the
Global Forum on Migration and
Development
Abdou Rahime Diallo
Foundation Partnership with Africa of the
German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation
&
Diaspora Policy Institute, DIC, Berlin, Germany
Changing thoughts on Migration and Development
Period
Until 1973
Research community
Development and migration optimism
Policy field
Develop-mentalist optimism; capital and knowledge
transfers by migrants would help development countries in
development take-off
1973-1990
Development and migration pessimism
Growing scepticism: concerns with brain drain; after
(brain drain and dependency)
experiments with migration return policies focused on
integration in receiving countries. Migration largely out of
sight in development field.
1990-2001
Readjustment to more subtle views under
Persistent scepticism: tightening of immigration policies.
influence of increasing empirical work (New
Economics of Labour and Migration (NELM),
livelihood approaches, transnationalism)
>2001
Boom in publications: mixed, but generally
Resurgence of migration and development optimism under
positive views
influence of the outcome of the research on remittances
boom and a sudden turnaround of views: brain gain,
diaspora as a driver of development.
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Background and Objectives
Operating modalities
GFMD – BACKGROUND
recent UN initiative to address the M&D-nexus in practical and action orientated ways as a
culmination of more than a decade of international debate on the growing importance of the
M&D nexus
3 Formative initiatives pre-dating the GFMD
Commission
on
THE
UN
POPULATION
& Global
DEVELOPMENT
CONFERENCE, International Migration (CGIM) by,
Mr. Kofi Annan, in 2003
CAIRO, 1994.
Endorsement of a Program of
Action, including a chapter on
international migration (Chapter
X) ranging across remittances,
temporary migration, transfer of
knowledge, skills and technology
etc. and calls for "orderly
international migration that can
have positive impacts on both
the communities of origin and
the communities of destination".
THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2006,
HIGH LEVEL DIALOG ON
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION &
DEVELOPMENT
Presenting
its report and
recommendations to UN Members the UN Secretary-General and his
States and the international Special
Representative
on
community in 2005:
International
Migration
and
 6 Principles for Action covering
all aspects of human mobility and
migration governance, including
the interconnections between
migration and development.
Development proposed the creation
of the GFMD. This proposal was
endorsed by a large majority of the
General Assembly, as was the Belgian
offer to launch the GFMD process.
The first meeting took place in
Brussels in July 2007 in the presence
of the Secretary-General of the UN.
1.
•To provide a venue for policy-makers and high-level policy practitioners to informally discuss relevant policies and practical
challenges and opportunities of the migration-development nexus, and engage with other stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, experts and migrant organizations to foster practical and action-oriented outcomes at national,
bilateral and international level
2.
•To exchange good practices and experiences, which can be duplicated or adapted in other
circumstances, in order to maximize the development benefits of migration and migration
flows;
3.
•To identify information, policy and institutional gaps necessary to foster synergies and
greater policy coherence at national, regional and international levels between the
migration and development policy areas;
4.
•To establish partnerships and cooperation between countries, and between countries and
other stakeholders, such as international organizations, diaspora, migrants, academia etc.,
on migration and development;
5.
•To structure the international priorities and agenda on migration and development
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With the exception of some guidelines (for example on the
state-led character) the operating modalities for the GFMD
process were not formalized by the UN General Assembly
Endorsement of GFMD operating Modalities at the 1st
meeting, Brussels 2007
◦ Ensuring continuity and practical support for the incoming Chairs of
the Forum
◦ Providing an initial structuring framework to 'organize' GFMD chairing
arrangements and funding and support to the Chair
◦ Provision for the creation of a supporting framework:
 Troika: the past, current and future GFMD Chairs
 Steering group: manageable number of governments that lend strategic
and political support to the Chair
 Consultative body: Friends of the Forum (States Members and Observers
of the United Nations)
 Light support unit: assist the Chair-in-Office with its administrative,
financial and logistical needs
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
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Objectives
Strategic thematic fields
Recommendations
Objective 1
Obejctive 2
Objective 3
•Creating a better
understanding of migration and
development
•Identifying stress fields
•Track recording the
development of international
M&D debates
•Generating more impact on
decision making processes in
the field of M&D
•Creating a platform for new
M&D debates (inviting experts
from “new” regions to receive
new insights)
•Consolidating the increasing
number of regional initiatives
focusing on the migration and
development nexus and
strategies on the national and
supranational level
•Creating a better orientation for
interdisciplinary scientific and
applied research and
cooperation
•Highlighting the M&D as a
policy area and a paradigm
•Laying the ground for new
academic cooperation and
high-level exchange and
discussions
•Laying the ground for enhanced
knowledge about M&D
•Laying the ground for a better
policy and decision making
(1)The high level dialogue on
migration and development (HLD)
The subject of migration and development
focuses
on
the
connections
and
intersections
between
migration
and
development, and has evolved as a policy
area, an area of study, and (more
controversially) has been posited as a
development
paradigm.
Nevertheless,
migration and development has become
increasingly central both to academic
discourse and policy discussions.
Acknowledging migration and highlighting
the migration and development nexus: At
the EU level, the 2005 Global Approach to
Migration (GAM) sought to embed these
issues into an overarching framework for the
EU policy on external migration, aligning
policies on development, foreign policy,
immigration, and labour markets. The GAM
was re-launched in 2011 as the Global
Approach to Migration and Mobility, and
includes both a migrant-centred approach
and issues such as South-South migration
(2)The high level dialogue on
migration and development (HLD)
Similarly, the Euro-African Conference on
Migration and Development in 2006 (the
‘Rabat process’) focused on migration and
development issues related to the “WestAfrican migration route” including migration
to Europe from northern, central and
western Africa, and there are several
programmes established within regional
groupings such as ECOWAS, the East African
Community (EAC), and the Economic
Community of Central African States
(ECCAS).
Migration and development also featured in
the Cotonou Agreement (2000) between the
EC and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific
(ACP) regions, which promoted economic
integration of these as well as sustainable
partnerships
for
development.
Other
examples include the South American
Conference on Migration, or the Ministerial
Consultations on Overseas Employment and
Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin
and Destination in Asia (the ‘Abu Dhabi
Dialogue’).
(3)The high level dialogue on
migration and development (HLD)
The Indian and Chinese diaspora (in Singapore, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong as well as the West) played a role in
critical points of the economic take-off of both
countries (as well as countries of residence) in the late
1970s, 80s and 90s, providing massive investment,
knowledge, skills and other know-how.16 These
diasporas were harnessed to support a strong
structural transformation agenda. A key part of that
agenda was also the up skilling and integration of
women, especially in China, into the development
agenda. This latter case also shows the pivotal role that
can be played by female migrants, which is of
increasing relevance given the growing feminisation of
migration. Diaspora capital in these two cases has been
a factor – among several – in enabling the economies
of China and India to grow over the last thirty years, a
phenomenon which has arguably lifted more people
out of poverty than the MDGs.
The bulk of the research and other literature on
diaspora and migrant financial capital have focused on
remittances, and the levels of resource involved are
impressive: $50 bn was formally remitted to Africa
alone in 2012 from the African diaspora worldwide.
Countries of origin are increasingly alert to the
potential offered by diaspora financial capital, and have
set in place a number of schemes to encourage
diaspora investment. Some examples focus on labour
and tax incentives for the diaspora, such as India’s
Non-Resident Indian (NRI) and Person of Indian Origin
(PIO) schemes; others include the diaspora bond
schemes developed by governments in Ethiopia, Kenya,
and Rwanda, or sovereign wealth funds such as
Rwanda’s ‘Agaciro’ fund, which aims to attract
diaspora investment.
(4)The high level dialogue on
migration and development (HLD)
Starting with the 1994 Cairo Conference on
Population and Development, which stressed the
need to maximise the benefits of migration, and
‘increase the likelihood that migration has positive
consequences for development”, there have been a
number of international policy fora focusing on the
link between migration and development: the 2001
Swiss-led Berne agreement; the 2003 ‘Doyle
Report’,
which
proposed
an
independent
commission on governance of migration; the first
UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration
and Development in 2006; and the Global Forum
on Migration and Development (GFMD) which
emerged from this.
2013 a useful and authoritative overview of the
migration and development policy initiatives has
been produced but it is worth noting the point that
“dialogue and cooperation on migration initially
developed at the regional or inter-regional level in
the framework of a series of state-led, non
binding,
regional
migration
dialogues
or
consultative processes”, largely because of political
considerations in destination countries. There have
also been a number of regional initiatives focusing
on the migration and development nexus. At the
EU level, the 2005 Global Approach to Migration
(GAM) sought to embed these issues into an
overarching framework for the EU policy on
external
migration,
aligning
policies
on
development, foreign policy, immigration, and
labour markets. The GAM was
(5) The high level dialogue on
migration and development (HLD)
Portraying the diaspora as key stakeholder of :
Remittances
knowledge transfer and brain gain
Circular migration
Reflecting on challenges and obstacles to
develop
and
implement
migration
and
development policies
Lack of awareness that migration is
development strategy rather than a threat
a
Economic development through job creation Lack of policy coherence to develop and
and remittances
implement policies with all stakeholders
Diaspora capital on Co-development practice
Lack of integration into the policy framework
Strategic position and role as diaspora as More
supra-national
bridge builder and driver of change
cooperation is needed
and
international
More cooperation with grassroots organisation
is needed
• Evolution of Migration and development as a Policy Area and Paradigm
• Progress on Migration and Development Policy Development and Implementation
1.
• Integration of M&D Nexus, M&D into national, regional and supra-national development strategies
and policies
• The Role of Migration and Diaspora in the M&D & MDGs to Date
• Diaspora and Development as a Paradigm
2.
• Diaspora as Key stakeholders in Migration & Development: Financial, Intellectual, Social and other
Capital of the Diaspora
• Diaspora participation in M&D policy processes
• Civil Society Involvement in HLD 2013
3.
• HLD and the Post-2015 Development Framework
• Integration of M&D Nexus, M&D into the Post-2015 agenda