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On Line Dialogue

  • 4th theme for discussion: Diasporas drive development

    Migrants play a key role in driving sustainable development in their home communities. In fact in recent years, remittances from migrant workers have been outpacing official aid flows and even foreign direct investment (FDI) as a source of external finance for many developing countries. In 2008 alone, remittance flows to developing countries reached $328 billion. At a micro-level, remittances between individuals and their families are significant in covering everyday life needs; at the macro-level, collective pooling of remittances has enabled investments into longer term development and infrastructure projects (see the Asia Remittance Study).


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  • 3rd theme for discussion: Creating jobs and engaging diasporas

    The 1st Millennium Development Goal (MDG) aims at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. ] A key target in relation to this MDG focuses on jobs, including jobs for women and young people. However, more young people are unemployed or underemployed than ever before, working in the informal economy or trapped in temporary, involuntary part-time or casual work with little benefits and limited prospects for advancement. 


    The global economic downturn has compounded this jobs crisis. The search for jobs and a better life is one major driver of migration - from rural to urban areas, and across borders.

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  • 2nd Theme for discussion - Summary

    The second topic for discussion concentrated on the increase in the restrictive policies countries like Malaysia, Australia, Thailand have put into practice (such as the freezing of work permits issued) or the offer of financial incentives aimed at encouraging unemployed migrants to return home, as in the case of Spain or the Czech Republic. The main conclusions of this second theme of the Online dialogue are:1)The economic crisis strengthens xenophobic tendencies and protectionism 2)Resistance to easy solutions 3)Unemployment, poverty and migration: a chain of effects 4)A challenge to social justice. Are unskilled migrants used as scapegoats? 5) Restoring the system of social justice - Respecting Human Rights: Inclusive policies and the role of IOM

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  • 2nd theme for discussion: The economic crisis, return migration and poverty

    2nd theme for discussion: The economic crisis, return migration and poverty

    As the economic downturn persists, restrictive policies based on freezing the issuing of work permits (as in the case of Malaysia, Australia, Thailand inter alia) or offering financial incentives to encourage unemployed migrants to return home (for example Spain or the Czech Republic are multiplying. These measures are based on the premise that migrants take jobs from the native population, or that they disproportionately benefit from welfare services and that dire times call for dire measures. Yet is this a wise approach?

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About On Line Dialogue

 

The CSD Athens 2009 organizers have launched the On-Line Dialogue platform in order to facilitate the widest possible exchange of views between Civil Society partners all over the world and to enable interested participants to get informed about this year’s Civil Society Days.

 

The online dialogue is open in 4 languages: English, French, Spanish and Greek. It takes the form of a blog section where topics/questions are raised and both individuals and organizations are welcome to reply and comment on. (Please note that there will be a short time lapse from when a comment is submitted to the online dialogue website to when it will be published). To contribute your thoughts and comments and participate in the online dialogue, you must register with the CSD/GFMD Athens 2009 website. To register, click here.

 

The issues of debate are proposed by the Organizing Committee of CSD Athens 2009. Each topic/question will be “open” for comments and responses for a 15-day period. At the end of this period, the blog moderators will draft a summary of what has been discussed. Summaries will be posted in the language of the blog and in English. The online dialogue input will be used as background material for consideration during the two-day CSD conference.

 

Sharing Experiences: In parallel to the debate focused on specific questions, contributors are invited to post information about their experiences and best practices on migration and development. For more information click here.

 

Disclaimer:

The views expressed in this forum by contributors/participants are theirs alone and do not represent the official view of the Civil Society Days GFMD Organising Committee, nor of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. The Organising Committee takes all precautions possible to avoid that racist, offensive and inappropriate language/terms are used in this discussion forum/blog. However, given the volume of the communication, if any offensive statement has escaped the attention of our editors, readers who note such statement are encouraged to contact us. Also, contributors to this blog are invited to follow an ethical code of non discrimination and of non offence to others.