Global Forum on Migration and Development

GFMD - Athens 2009 Recommendations

Roundtable 1.1 - Mainstreaming migration in development planning – Key actors, key strategies, key actions

1. Migration should be integrated into National Development Plans (NDPs), but also into Poverty Reduction Strategies. These must be complemented by policies, concrete actions and programmes at all levels. Their operationalization can lead to a win-win-win situation for both countries of origin and destination, as well as migrants.
2. There is a need for policy coherence and coordination at the national level between relevant ministries and agencies.
3. Based on the European Commission (EC) migration profiles, participants agreed that they can be beneficial to development and recommended that more countries adopt them. The profiles, however, need to be regularly updated, owned by the concerned countries and used as a tool for coherence between migration and development policies. It is suggested that they include relevant data and analysis concerning countries of origin and destination. Interested countries and international organizations are invited to liaise with the EC regarding improvements they wish to bring to migration profiles to be reported at GFMD 2010.
4. Bilateral agreements and regional initiatives can reinforce effectiveness of partnerships. Comprehensive partnerships between countries of origin and destination promote managed and regulated migration to the benefit of development.
5. Information should be provided to migrants at all stages of the migration process. In parallel, awareness raising campaigns in the destination countries should inform the public about migrants’ contribution to their development.
6. Regarding the gender issue, it is necessary to have disaggregated data and to take into account the different needs and experiences of men and women migrants. Resource allocation should be equitably distributed.

Roundtable 1.2 - Engaging diasporas and migrants in development policies and programs – Their role? Their constraints?

1. Establish a handbook containing lessons learned on, and practical guidelines for, engaging diasporas in development activities.
2. Engaging diasporas starts with knowing your diaspora. Therefore, a concrete suggestion was to further include diaspora data in migration profiles.
3. Create a common discourse between diasporas and governments on intentions, options and actions for cooperation aimed at building and / or sustaining trust.
4. Support the capacity of diaspora organizations and institutions working with diasporas for development.
5. Engage diaspora organizations in development planning of both countries of destination and origin, with particular emphasis on procedures.
6. Study the contributions of migrants to the wellbeing of destination countries.
7. Adopt a gender-oriented perspective in identifying, elaborating and implementing concrete projects in order to take into account concerns and needs of vulnerable groups.

Roundtable 1.3 - Addressing the root causes of migration through development, specifically in light of the current global economic crisis

1. There must be coordinated, unrestricted, transparent data sharing and sharing of experiences of the impact of relevant policies, so that policy responses to the crisis can be based upon the best available evidence.
2. Establish partnerships between countries of destination and countries of origin to deal with the varied manifestations of the economic downturn in coordination with each other.
3. Work together in the recovery of the crisis, taking into account the realities, benefits and challenges of the migration-development nexus.
4. Give serious consideration to the impact of climate change on migration and to joint efforts to face this challenge.
5. The need to have a particular focus on managing xenophobic tendencies and discrimination in times of economic crises and job losses.
6. Regarding the gender issue, special attention should be paid to the feminization of migration.

Roundtable 2.1 - Inclusion, protection and acceptance of migrants in society – linking human rights and migrant empowerment for development

1. Compile best integration practices and publish these on the GFMD website.
2. Undertake further research on how to evaluate impacts of integration policies on development (including cost-benefit analyses).
3. Conduct a comparative study on social protection policies for migrants.
4. Give consideration to commencing a pilot project on a bank/non-governmental program for low cost pre-departure loans to migrants as a follow-up to the Bangladesh study for Roundtable session 2.1, and to offer lessons for other governments.
5. Give consideration to strengthening the networks between Migrant Resource Centres in origin and host countries. Evaluate their effectiveness from the migrants’ perspective.

Roundtable 2.2 - Reintegration and circular migration: effective for development?

1. Establish a database on circular migration programs as an information tool for the GFMD.
2. Undertake longitudinal or one-time studies of the impact of reintegration on the local labour market in the origin country.
3. Establish an observatory to collect data and experiences of reintegration, to support future evaluations. Non governmental organizations should contribute to this project.
4. Define a set of indicators to evaluate the development impact of reintegration strategies.

Roundtable 3.1 - Policy and Institutional Coherence – Latest Data and Research Findings

1. The GFMD should pursue its focus on policy and institutional coherence on migration and development, and on research and data that can underpin such coherence. The 2010 GFMD in Mexico should again include a Roundtable session to discuss these issues.
2. Sustained attention needs to be paid to mainstreaming and integrating migration into development planning processes, including Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), activities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and National Adaptation Plans of Action concerning climate change (NAPAs).
3. The May 2009 ‘Migrants Count’ report of the Commission on International Migration Data for Development Research and Policy should be used as a valuable roadmap for governments and experts to improve data collection and analysis.
4. The 2010 global census round should be used as an important opportunity for all member-states to collect international migration data. National statistics offices should be alerted and the UN Statistical Commission should take this up at its upcoming meeting in February 2010.
5. Migration Profiles, developed by the EC and implemented by IOM in partnership with relevant governmental and non-governmental actors, should be further pursued as a tool for developing a comprehensive approach to data collection and coherent migration and development policies. These profiles, which are owned by the countries concerned, need to include data and analysis on both the country of origin and the host country. Countries and international organizations interested in establishing Migration Profiles and developing the format are invited to contact the EC, and progress would be reported at the GFMD in 2010.
6. The GFMD ad-hoc Working Group on Policy Coherence, Data and Research should pursue its activities in order to (1) continue providing an interface between government policy-makers and expert researchers, (2) discuss ways to improve the utility and prioritization of policy-relevant evidence, (3) ensure that policy and institutional coherence, data and research are also discussed in between annual GFMD meetings, and (4) contribute to preparations of future GFMD meetings. It remains voluntary and open, and includes interested GFMD participating governments, experts from civil society and academia, and international organizations.

Roundtable 3.2: Regional Consultative Processes (RCPs) and Inter-regional Fora

1. During its next three meetings until 2012, the GFMD should continue holding a Roundtable session for interested governments and other actors to exchange views and information on RCPs, Inter-regional fora and regional organizations and economic integration processes, with particular emphasis on the development implications of migration, as well as their contribution to promoting more effective, balanced and cooperative migration governance.
2. In between GFMD meetings, RCPs and Inter-regional fora should on a voluntary basis exchange information, by providing information on their migration and development related activities to the GFMD website, which should also create a link with the enhanced IOM website section on RCPs, to facilitate greater exchange between and amongst the RCPs on a broader range of migration issues.
3. The mutually reinforcing role of the GFMD and RCPs and Inter-regional fora should be promoted further, for the purpose of learning from each other and ensuring that the findings and recommendations resulting from GFMD discussions feed into the discussions of RCPs and Inter-regional fora that deal with the migration and development nexus, and vice-versa.
4. The positive experience of RCPs and Inter-regional fora in translating informal dialogue into action, including through working groups of governments interested in specific follow-up and implementation of outcomes, could usefully inspire inter-sessional follow-up to outcomes and recommendations resulting from GFMD discussions.