Migration and the MDGs
from a South-South perspective:
Capacity Building on Harnessing Migration for Development in
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States
Laurent De Boeck
Director
ACP Observatory on Migration
UNITAR Seminar on
Migration and the Millennium Development Goals
New York, 2 September 2010
1
Overview
1.
Presentation of the ACP Observatory on
Migration
2.
The migration - development nexus
3.
Contribution of the ACP Observatory on
Migration to the MDGs
2
Observatory Rationale
Address three main challenges linked to
South-South migration research:
Data gaps
Lack of cooperation between researchers and
policy-makers
Lack of research capacity
3
Objectives and Goals
Establish a network of research centres, universities,
government agencies, civil society, media and the private
sector in the six ACP regions
Consolidate existing migration data and respond to
research and policy needs
Provide policy-makers, the civil society, media and the
public at large with reliable and harmonized data
migration
Train and capacity reinforcement of multi-disciplinary
South specialists and experts
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12 Pilot Countries
East
Africa
Central
Africa
Kenya
Tanzania
West
Africa
Cameroun
Pacific
DRC
Senegal
Nigeria
Southern
Africa
Papua New
Guinea
Caribbean
Timor-Leste
Angola
Lesotho
Trinidad &
Tobago
Haiti
5
The Migration-Development Nexus
Trends in Migration & Development thinking have changed in
recent years
Before 2000, views mainly emphasized root causes and brain
drain
Currently concentration is on positive potential of transnational
migration, remittances and diaspora
The 2010 UN Secretary General Report on MDGs qualified
migration as an ‘emerging issue’
There are numerous links between migration and
development: the potential of migration to support
the realization of the MDGs in Southern countries
such as the ACP States should be acknowledged
more widely.
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ACP and South-South Migration
Estimated number of
international migrants in
2010:
•
World: 214 million
•
Africa: 19.3 million
•
Caribbean: 1.4 million
•
Pacific: 0,1 million
(Source: United Nations, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division, International
Migration 2009)
South-South Migration
data:
In 2007, almost 50 per cent of
migrants from developing
countries resided in developing
countries
Almost 70 per cent of emigration
from Sub-Saharan Africa
concerned South-South
movements in 2005
In 2007, over 80 percent of
South-South migration was
estimated to take place between
countries with contiguous
borders
(Source: D. Ratha, W. Shaw, South-South Migration
and Remittances, World Bank, 2007)
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Migration in the Development Agendas
There is growing recognition of developmentmigration links
But
Lack of integration of migration issues into
development agendas has caused
inconsistencies and incoherence in national
policies and priorities
8
Millenium Development Goals
Guiding principles of
countries seeking to
eradicate poverty and
improve the welfare of
people
1: Eradicate poverty and
hunger;
2: Achieve universal primary
education;
3: Promote gender equality and
empower women;
Used as a strategic
framework of reference by
international development
agencies
4: Reduce child mortality;
Are unprecedented in their
scope
7: Ensure environmental
sustainability;
5: Improve maternal health;
6: Combat HIVAIDS, malaria
and other diseases;
8: Develop a global partnership
for development.
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Goal 1 - Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
 Poverty reduction by realizing the human right to
a decent standard of living through remittances
 « Social Capital » transfer
implication of the diaspora
and
greater
 Better management of migration flows can
contribute to giving access to water and food to
populations who are deprived of them
 Better management of labour mobility and policy
responses to facilitate remittances flows can
contribute to development
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Goal 2 - Achieve Universal Primary Education
 Migration tends to impact positively on the
expenditures for education in households
 Movement of population can contribute to bringing
education to children who do not have access to it
(UNDP, 2009)
 Greater importance must be given to social impact
of migration in order to seize the impact of
migration on school enrolment (ippr, 2010)
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Goal 3 - Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Percentatge of female migrants in the World: 49 (UNDESA 2010)
 Migration is an empowering experience for many
women (Susan Martin, 2007)

Migrant’s exposure to different norms regarding
women’s rights in the destination country can allow
them to develop new attitudes toward gender roles
(IPPR, 2010)
 More and more women are members of diaspora
associations and contribute to the development of
the country of origin (e.g. Migrant Women for
Development in Africa, IOM, 2010)
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Goals 4 & 5 - Reduce Child Mortality and Improve Maternal Health
 Remittances used in healthcare services and to
develop and improve health systems infrastructure
(e.g. Ethiopia; IOM, 2010)
 Migration contributes to better education and
knowledge on health care issues (IOM, 2010)
 Social outcomes of migration can induce a change
in gender and power relations, improving access to
healthcare and education for women and children,
and the feminization of migration can also include
changes in reproductive behaviour (IOM, 2010)
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Goal 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS
 The conditions in which the migration process
takes place are a cause of migrants’ vulnerability
(WHO, 2010)
 Policies reducing risks for migrants can contribute
to a decline in the spreading of HIV/AIDS
 Greater access to health systems for migrants in
countries of destination can contribute to reducing
the spreading and social impact of HIV/AIDS
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Goal 7 - Ensure Environmental Sustainability
 Migration can alleviate pressure on natural resources
in environmentally vulnerable areas (IOM, 2005)
 Migration can be a possible adaptation strategy of
communities vulnerable to effects of environmental
degradation (IOM, 2010)
 Migrants can use the savings and skills they have
acquired to address environmental degradation in their
homeland (IOM, 2009)
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Goal 8 - Develop a Global Partnership for Development
 Development of partnerships is
harnessing migration for development
essential
for
 Diasporas can play a major role in development and
ensuring knowledge and technology transfer
 Cooperation to develop more accessible formal
channels for remittances transfers and trade linkages
can increase the impact of migration on development
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CONCLUSIONS
The ACP Observatory on Migration will
contribute to the attainment of these goals by:
• Producing and disseminating research
findings
• Creating a network of ACP migration
and development experts
• Strenghtening South-South cooperation
• Capacity-building
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KEY MESSAGES
There are clear positive links between migration and
the MDGs
Migration should be a consideration in development
frameworks aiming to achieve the MDGs
More exploration, indicators and research are
required on the impact of migration on development
Mainstreaming of research and policies on SouthSouth migration should be included in national and
international agendas
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Thank you
Contact: mrfbrusselsacp@iom.int
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