Towards a Global Compact for Migration: A Development Perspective
Migration and development are deeply interconnected—each shapes the other—yet international cooperation on the topic remains contested. While development policymakers emphasize harnessing migration's development potential, many governments instead frame development as a way to reduce migration in response to public pressure. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Compact on Migration offered openings to reframe this debate.
A two-year collaboration between MPI and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ), supported by the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ), sought to inform those processes by examining how migration and development policies can be better aligned—and what role multilateral cooperation should play. A series of issue briefs covers key topics including legal pathways, return and reintegration, skills partnerships, and international migration governance.
See a later MPI-GIZ project, Critical Migration Governance Issues in a Changed World, here.
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Migration, Development, and Global Governance: From Crisis toward Consolidation
The 2018 Global Compact for Migration marked a milestone in international cooperation, but its long-term impact hinges on states' willingness to implement its 23 objectives.
Strengthening Refugee Protection in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
With 85 percent of the world's 25.4 million refugees in low- and middle-income countries as of 2017, development actors must help close critical protection gaps.
Global Governance of International Migration 2.0: What Lies Ahead?
Adopted by 152 countries in December 2018, the Global Compact for Migration sets the first international framework for migration cooperation, though implementation challenges lie ahead.
Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration
Compulsory returns pit rule of law against humanitarian and development goals—making reintegration assistance the clearest lever for sustainable returns.
Reimagining Skilled Migration Partnerships to Support Development
Skilled migration partnerships hold promise for linking labor demand with origin-country development, but high costs and weak outcomes stall most programs at the pilot stage.
Mind the Gap: Bringing Migration into Development Partnerships and Vice Versa
Development and migration-management actors share common interests, but conditional aid risks destabilizing fragile states and undermining partnerships.
Moving Beyond “Root Causes”: The Complicated Relationship between Development and Migration
Development aid may spur emigration before reducing it. The evidence shows only structural economic and governance investment creates durable alternatives to leaving.
Welcome to Work? Legal Migration Pathways for Low-Skilled Workers
Legal pathways for low-skilled migrants globally are narrow, male-dominated, and unlikely alone to replace unauthorized channels even if meaningfully expanded.
The Global Compact for Migration: How Does Development Fit In?
The 2018 Global Compact for Migration offers a chance to turn migration-development commitments into action, with issue-specific state coalitions the most realistic path.
