Transcript Human Development on the Move: Key Ideas and Work Plan

Human Development Report 2009
Overcoming barriers:
Human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia
5 October 2009
Key messages
• Mobility has potential to enhance human
development – among movers, those who
stay, and those in destination communities
• Better policies needed to help realize larger
gains and reduce potential negative impacts
• Ambitious, practical policy agenda to:
1. open channels for more people to move
regularly
2. improve treatment of migrants
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Human development lens
• Inequality within and across countries is a
key driver of human movement
• Being able to choose where to live is a key
element of human freedom, with intrinsic
and instrumental value
• Movement affects income and broader wellbeing: education, health, empowerment
• A focus on disadvantaged with most to gain
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Key facts
• Most people who move do so within the
borders of their own country
• Of nearly 1 billion global movers, 740
million are internal migrants
• Among 200 million international movers, a
majority move between developing
countries, or between developed
• Many more affected by the transfer of
ideas, knowledge, money
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Not everyone gains
• Many differences in circumstances
surrounding human movement
• Poorest often cannot move, or move under
uncertain, dangerous conditions:
e.g. insecurity, conflict, natural disaster
• 14 million refugees, 7% of world migrants
• 26 million internally displaced
• Trafficking, often victims of violence, abuse
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Barriers matter
• Movement of poor is constrained by
policies at destination and at origin
• Policy barriers have been tightened in
many countries, even as trade barriers fall
• Barriers especially high for people with
low skills, who often have temporary
status and face poor treatment
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Most movers gain substantially
• Migrant workers see gains in income, better
access to health and education
• Migrants usually fare worse than locally-born
peers due to unequal service access, quality
• In origin countries, remittances benefit
migrant families and generate local jobs
• Behaviors change with ideas from abroad
• Women liberated from traditional roles
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Migration not a
substitute for development
• Despite benefits, international migration not
a national human development strategy
• With few exceptions, emigration unlikely to
shape the development of an entire nation
• Migration at best complements broader
efforts to reduce poverty and improve HD
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Positive effects
in destination countries
• Concerns about impact on workers, crime,
services and cohesion often exaggerated
• Low-skilled can be affected, but effects
tend to be small; redistributive efforts
needed as part of national policies
• Research in 14 countries 1980–05 showed
increased employment; no evidence of
local job loss; investment growth
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
The crisis and beyond
• Recession has cut migrant worker demand
and hit key destinations and sectors hardest
• Underlying long-run trends will dominate:
i.e. aging populations in developed
countries; growing populations in developing
• These trends imply pressures for – and
benefits from – international migration
• An opportunity to improve policies, while
preventing protectionist backlash
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
Proposed reforms
• Two most important dimensions of mobility
policy agenda: admissions and treatment
• Recommendations target:
- destination governments
- governments of origin
- private sector, unions
- non-governmental organizations
- individual migrants
• Six major directions for reform
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
1. Liberalise and simplify regular channels
for people with low skills to work
abroad
• Expand seasonal work with: wage
guarantees, health and safety standards,
repeat visits, e.g. New Zealand
• Expand visas based on local demand with:
employer portability; right to apply to
extend stay, e.g. Sweden
• Visa quotas decided through public
discussion based on economic conditions
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
2. Ensure basic rights for migrants
• Human rights of immigrants often infringed
• Ensure rights for: equal pay, decent working
conditions, and collective organization
• Ease recognition of credentials earned
abroad
• Especially during recession:
- Give laid-off migrants opportunity to
search for another employer
- Publicize employment outlooks
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
3. Lowering the transaction costs of
migration
• Cost of international migration documents
often high in terms of time and money
• Proportionately higher for unskilled people
and those on short-term contracts
• Can lead unintentionally to irregular
movement, smuggling, corruption
• A need to simplify procedures, and to
reduce document costs
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
4. Improve outcomes for migrants and
destination communities
• Ensure that migrant children have equal
access to education
• Language training is key—for children at
schools, but also for adults
• More efforts to combat discrimination,
address social tensions, and prevent
violence against immigrants
• Tackle discrimination through awarenessraising campaigns
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
5. Enable benefits from internal mobility
• A third of governments maintain de facto
barriers to internal movement
• Ensure basic services for temporary and
seasonal workers and their families
• Ensure decent services at home community
so migrants are not compelled to move in
order to access schools and health care
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
6. Integrate mobility into development
strategies
• Migration can be vital strategy for families
seeking to improve their livelihoods
• Governments need to integrate migration
with other aspects of national
development policy
• Strong national economic conditions and
public-sector institutions are key
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009
In closing
• Strong leadership and public awareness
about migration facts needed
• The ‘how and when’ of reforms depends on a
realistic look at each country’s economic and
social conditions
• HDR2009 policy recommendations can
enhance HD for all groups: movers, those
who stay, those in destination communities
HDR2009 - Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development
Regional Launch – Moscow, Russia - 5 October 2009