As the 3rd Annual Civil Society Days are coming to a close, how can we consolidate the momentum of the Athens 2009 Forum?
• In what ways can civil society ensure continuity and impact?
• What sort of governance structure do you consider would be more effective?
• How can it impact on government policies on migration and development and on business practices?
• How can we measure the impact of CSD on government policies on migration and development and business practices?
• What are the lessons learned?
• How can we evaluate the outcomes of the CSD Forum?

By Dilip Ratha, Sanket Mohapatra, and Ani Silwal

Newly available data show that officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries reached $338 billion in 2008, higher than our previous estimate of $328 billion. Based on monthly and quarterly data released by some central banks and in line with the World Bank’s global economic outlook we estimate that remittance flows to developing countries will fall to $317 billion in 2009. This 6.1 percent decline is smaller than our earlier expectation of a 7.3 percent fall.

While new migration flows have fallen, existing migrants are not returning even though the job market has been weak in many destination countries. We maintain our expectation of a recovery in migration and remittance flows in 2010 and 2011, but the recovery is likely to be shallow.

Visit the Migration and Development Virtual Fair!

Watch video interviews and post questions at 'M4D TV', discover the projects showcased in the Virtual Exhibition and cast your Vote for your preferred initiative!

 Visitors can also learn some of the myths about migration and development in the Quiz and comment on the discussions currently ongoing at the Global Forum on Migration and Development Civil Society Days at the Daily Blog from Athens.

The Virtual Fair is being organized by the EC-UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative, a strategic partnership between the United Nations and the European Commission.

http://www.migration4development.org/content/m4d-virtual-fair

(Full version presented at the Civil Society Days of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, Athens, November 2, 2009)

In today’s global environment, leaders need easy access to timely, comparable data they can use to formulate and implement coherent migration and development policies.

Gallup’s annual global surveys provide such a resource. In particular, Gallup’s World Poll (launched in 2005) annually surveys people in more than 150 countries areas (representing 95% of the world’s adult population). Since January 2007 Gallup has annually asked residents around the world about their desire to move abroad. The analysis that follows is based on 259,542 interviews aggregated across multiple surveys in 135 countries.

Which issues do you consider should be among the top priorities for next year’s CSD/GFMD that will be hosted by Mexico?

Our world is very unequal. For many people around the world moving away from their home town or village can be the best—sometimes the only— option open to improve their life chances. Migration can be hugely effective in improving the income, education and participation of individuals and families, and enhancing their children’s future prospects. But its value is more than that: being able to decide where to live is a key element of human freedom.

There is no typical profile of migrants around the world. Fruit pickers, nurses, political refugees, construction workers, academics and computer programmers are all part of the nearly 1 billion people on the move both within their own countries and overseas. When people move they embark on a journey of hope and uncertainty, whether within or across international borders. Most people move in search of better opportunities, hoping to combine their own talents with resources in the destination country so as to benefit themselves and their immediate family, who often accompany or follow them. Local communities and societies as a whole have also benefited, both in places of origin and at destinations. The diversity of these individuals and the rules that govern their movement make human mobility one of the most complex issues facing the world today, especially in the midst of the global recession.

The Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (SRC) is implementing a multi-country case study-based research project entitled “Strategic Opportunities in Caribbean Migration: Brain Circulation and Diasporic Tourism”. The research aims to identify the existing and potential benefits of brain circulation and diasporic tourism, providing policy recommendations with respect to both CARICOM’s internal trade and development strategies, as well as CARICOM’s separate bilateral trade initiatives with the European Union and Canada.

Longer-term contributions of the project will be to build the region’s migration-related research capacity, improve the quality of migration-related policy-relevant research available to policy analysts and policy makers, raise public awareness and promote a policy dialogue about migration and development policy issues. With this in mind, a policy dialogue will be held on 6th November 2009, at SRC, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. The project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL), Canada, is the key partner institution. Two edited volumes including four case studies on each of the two research streams will be published at the end on the project.