Development Impacts

Migration is recognized as an important vehicle for boosting development in both countries of immigrant origin and destination, and policymakers increasingly are seeking to use immigration policy to foster economic and social development at national levels and on the global stage, for example through the United Nations' 2013 High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development and the European Union's Global Approach to Migration and Mobility. The research here examines migration's varied development impacts and role of migrants as agents of innovation.

Recent Activity

Multimedia July 10, 2020 Enhancing the Social and Economic Inclusion of Refugees through Local Development Strategies	Multimedia June 15, 2020 Migrants in Africa & COVID-19: From Emergency Measures to Inclusive Social Protection Systems
Articles April 2, 2020 Africa Deepens its Approach to Migration Governance, But Are Policies Translating to Action? By Camille Le Coz and Antonio Pietropolli	Articles August 22, 2019 A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities By Gerasimos Tsourapas
Policy Briefs June 2019 Migration, Development, and Global Governance: From Crisis toward Consolidation By Kathleen Newland	Multimedia March 6, 2019 A Conversation with António Vitorino, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration
Articles December 12, 2018 A Once-Smooth Path for the Global Compact on Migration Becomes Rocky By Alessandro Regio and Michelle Mittelstadt	Policy Briefs October 2018 Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration By Kathleen Newland and Brian Salant

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Reports August 2010 Diaspora Investment in Developing and Emerging Country Capital Markets: Patterns and Prospects By Aaron Terrazas	Policy Briefs June 2007 Leveraging Remittances for Development By Dilip Ratha
Reports September 2006 Remittances and Development: Trends, Impacts, and Policy Options, A Review of the Literature By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Reports September 2006 From A Zero-Sum to a Win-Win Scenario? Literature Review on Circular Migration By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Books October 2005 Emigration, Brain Drain and Development: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa By Arno Tanner

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Feature

October 9, 2013

The High-Level Dialogue: Sizing up Outcomes, Implications, and Future Forms of Engagement on Migration and Development

The recent special session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, labeled the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD), was the UN's second-ever discussion devoted solely to international migration. This article examines the implications and outcomes of the HLD, identifies some of the issues that garnered widespread support, and assesses whether the international community is inching toward greater multilateral engagement on migration.

Feature

June 28, 2013

Diasporas and Development in Post-Communist Eurasia

The region encompassing Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Union is the source of a sizeable share of international migrants today, yet many of these countries' development efforts do not benefit from strong diaspora ties.

Feature

June 13, 2013

The Growing Linkages Between Migration and Microfinance

The expansion of access to credit through microfinance—now a multibillion-dollar sector—has resulted in profound shifts across the developing world. This article, using Cambodia as its example, discusses the ways in which households are using microcredit in coordination with migration, and addresses critical questions about who benefits from these linkages—and what vulnerabilities they might create for migrants.

Feature

March 5, 2013

Beyond Remittances: Reframing Diaspora-Driven Development in El Salvador

El Salvador's lengthy civil war crushed diasporas' opportunities for political or civic engagement in this small, densely-populated Central American nation. However, hometown associations—diaspora organizations that contribute to the development needs of their members' hometowns—represent a modern-day venue for civil society participation. This article explores how diasporas are contributing to development in more ways than just cash flows and projects by transforming the governance landscape.

Feature

October 2, 2012

Disentangling Immigration and International Development in the United States

Immigration and international development policy conversations have become entangled in the U.S. context, not necessarily to the benefit of either debate. This article explores how a contemporary understanding and decoupling of the issues can contribute to more effective policymaking.

Recent Activity

Articles

April 19, 2024

Bangladesh’s Economic Vitality Owes in Part to Migration and Remittances

For a young country, Bangladesh has a complex migration history, with periods of forced migration during the partition of India and Pakistan as well as the 1971 war of independence. In recent years, labor emigration has proved a major economic boon to the country. This country profile reviews trends and the impact of emigration, with a particular focus on the effects of remittance sending and receipt.

Expert Q&A, Audio

March 26, 2024

Could a Loss and Damage Fund Compensate Climate Migrants?

In this episode of the Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast, we speak with Adelle Thomas from Climate Analytics about efforts to provide restitution for people who have been negatively affected by the impacts of climate change, potentially including displacement.

Reports

March 2024

Mobility Shutdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Asia and the Pacific

Some of the strictest COVID-19 pandemic-era limits on human mobility occurred in the Asia Pacific region. Border closures started in East and Southeast Asia in early 2020 and quickly spread through the entire region, in some cases remaining in place for more than two years. This report examines the approaches countries took and reflects on the immense costs and benefits of using border measures to tackle public-health risks.

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 27, 2024

Moving Mountains: Climate Migration in High Altitudes

This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration speaks with Amina Maharjan from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development about the unique climate migration issues that are witnessed in mountain regions.

Reports

February 2024

Leaving No One Behind: Inclusive Fintech for Remittances

Remittances are a vital lifeline for migrants’ families around the world and an important source of revenue for many low- and middle-income countries, especially in times of crisis. As more people turn to digital financial technologies for these money transfers, this shift holds the potential to shake up the rigid remittance industry and boost development benefits. But it also brings new challenges, as this report explores.

Articles

February 22, 2024

Reliant on Labor Migration, the Global South Forges a New Social Contract with Its Citizens

Countries such as Nepal and the Philippines have grown reliant on sending workers abroad to earn money, skills, and connections that help boost their economies. In these cases, emigration has become a way for governments in the Global South to offer their citizens access to social services and protections that they could not otherwise provide. This article details the emergence of this new mode of state-society relations.

Articles

January 3, 2024

The Philippines’ Landmark Labor Export and Development Policy Enters the Next Generation

Fifty years after the birth of the Philippines' strategy to use emigration as a tool for development, the government is doubling down on labor migration. While deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) slumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the government and civil society pivoting to assist with return migration and reintegration for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, emigration has since rebounded, as this article details.

Video, Audio, Webinars

November 16, 2023

Migration, Integration, and Development in Secondary Cities

This webinar examines the challenges that refugees and other migrants face in—and place on—secondary cities, municipal capacity to respond to needs, the types of support required at national and other levels, and how development actors can better partner with secondary cities and local actors. The discussion features the launch of a related report.

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