The Hague Process (THP) has established itself as an independent and non-political forum for discussion about refugees and migration within a human rights and development perspective. As such, THP plays the role of a ‘bridge-builder’ between interested governments and governmental institutions on the one hand and civil society - including academia, voluntary organizations and faith groups as well as the business, local government, education, and health sectors - on the other.

THP has set up a Business Initiative that examines the relationship between business and migration so as to enable business to play a more constructive role in shaping humane and effective refugee and migration policy agenda, building on its own resources and experiences.

Last month, the World Bank hosted an international conference on Diaspora and Development (Washignton DC, July 13-14, 2009). All the papers and presentations are now available from the Conference website.

Moreover, videos of all the sessions are available so you can watch the issues debated on line. To view the opening presentation of the Conference and the Update on the CSD/ GFMD click here.

The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises [SEV in Greek] held an event in Athens in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Business Forum organized by SEV (July 2009) on the subject of “The developmental dimension of migration in South-Eastern Mediterranean countries”.

The main objective of the event was to explore how migration and relevant policies may contribute to economic growth in countries of origin and host-countries alike, and how development policies may tackle the main reasons that lead to migration, such as poverty and the lack of socio-economic prospects.

The overall objective of the JMDI – a 3-year programme implemented by UNDP, UNHCR, UNFPA, ILO and IOM with a budget of 15 million Euro – is to support civil society organizations (CSOs) and local authorities seeking to contribute to linking migration and development. The JMDI aims to do this by 1) setting up and reinforcing networks of actors working on migration and development and 2) identifying good practice in this field and sharing information on what actually works at the local and international level with a view to 3) feeding into policy-making on migration and 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).

With the support of the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, a team from AFFORD (African Foundation for Development) (Irene Omaswa & Ndidi Njoku) were able to present their experiences as diaspora resource persons involved in enterprise development activities in Sierra Leone, at the recent World Bank International Conference on Diaspora and Development in Washington DC.

A “Preparatory Meeting on the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD): Roadmap for Bangladesh” was organized by IOM-Dhaka on 4th June 2009. Representative attended the meeting from relevant ministries, migrants’ and civil society organizations, private sector, recruiting agencies, and international development partners of Bangladesh (IOM, Bangladesh).

The meeting was held in order to initiate the preparatory process of the upcoming 3rd GFMD meeting to be held in Athens in November 2009. IOM and WARBE Development Foundation made a presentation providing a broad overview of the GFMD process, Bangladesh’s participation in the previous two rounds and the main themes and issues of the upcoming round.