Global Program
The Global Program acts as a policy laboratory for innovative, evidence-based, and politically feasible solutions to migration policy challenges. From direct policy advice to deep comparative research, its work interrogates policy design and effectiveness, helps countries newer to immigration learn from innovation and evidence in other regions, and anticipates how demographic, economic, and technological shifts will reshape migration in the years ahead. It supports governments in responding to crises with greater coordination and foresight, and provides a trusted off-the-record space for engaging with sensitive topics. Its main geographical focus is Europe, the Americas, and Australia, but it increasingly works with governments and other partners worldwide, including in East Africa and Asia. For more on the Global Program, click here.
Featured
Population Aging Is Here. Immigration Can Offer Half an Answer.
Immigration on its own cannot solve population aging, but five policy principles can help it play a more effective role in a broader demographic…
Creating Inclusive Urban Economies for Migrants and Refugees
Cities hold powerful levers to turn migrants' and refugees' underused talent into economic growth—but doing so requires moving beyond first…
More Featured Work
Key Statistics
International migrants comprise 3.7 percent of the global population. Learn more about them
304.0 million
The number of migrants globally in 2024
50.6 million
The number who as of 2025 were refugees or asylum seekers
94.0 million
The number of international migrants in Europe—the top destination globally
Showing 471–480 of 696 results
A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond
A breakfast briefing discussing the transformation of the ASEAN region into a single market and production base, including the steps that can be taken towards fuller labor mobility for high-skilled migrants.
A ‘Freer’ Flow of Skilled Labour within ASEAN: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges in 2015 and Beyond
ASEAN's freer skilled labor flow aspiration is undermined by low-skilled migration dominance, irregular flows, and weak political will to adapt domestic regulations.
Protection at Sea: Addressing Irregular Maritime Migration
More than 3,000 people died crossing the Mediterranean in 2014, exposing the tangled legal, humanitarian, and enforcement challenges of irregular maritime migration.
Better Work for Immigrants: Tackling joblessness and stunted progression in the European Union
This day-long conference in Brussels, co-sponsored by the International Labour Office and the European Commision’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, focuses on the dynamics by which migrants get stuck in low-skilled work, and the role of training and employment services in helping them progress in their occupations.
Aiming Higher: Policies to get immigrants into middle-skilled work in Europe
European integration policies have prioritized getting immigrants into work over career progression. Without reform, persistent labor market gaps will widen.
Mentoring: What can support projects achieve that schools cannot?
Mentoring by immigrant-background students improves grades and self-esteem but stays marginal without stable funding and institutional embedding in EU systems.
Developing School Capacity for Diversity
School quality affects migrant children more than higher-status peers, making professional capacity for diversity the central lever for closing the achievement gap in European education systems.
Language Support for Youth with a Migrant Background: Policies that effectively promote inclusion
Language barriers block academic progress for migrant children, but no single EU model exists, making context-sensitive national strategies essential.
The Global Boom in Investor Immigration: What Are the Lessons for Policymakers?
A discussion on the extraordinary boom in investor immigration. From the rapidly expanding EB-5 visa in the United States to Malta’s controversial “cash for citizenship” policy and a host of programs across Europe and the Caribbean, governments are increasingly offering residence rights or citizenship to wealthy individuals in return for a significant economic investment.
Selling Visas and Citizenship: Policy Questions from the Global Boom in Investor Immigration
Investor immigration programs have proliferated globally but frequently disappoint on economic returns, prompting even established programs to review or abandon them.
