UNDP presents new 2009 Human Development Report on migration
New Human Development Report challenges common migration misconceptions
Allowing for migration — both within and between countries — has the potential to increase people’s freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report launched here today.
To read new UNDP HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT, 2009: “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development” click here (full Report in English).
The Report Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development explores how better policies towards mobility can enhance human development. It first traces the contours of human movement—who moves where, when and why—before analysing the wide-ranging impacts of movement on migrants and their families and on places of origin and destination. It lays out the case for governments to reduce restrictions on movement within and across their borders, so as to expand human choices and freedoms. It argues for practical measures that can improve prospects on arrival, which in turn will have large benefits both for destination communities and for places of origin.
The reforms speak not only to destination governments but also to governments of origin, to other key actors—in particular the private sector, unions and non-governmental organizations—and to individual migrants themselves.
“Migration can be a force for good, contributing significantly to human development,” says United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark. “But to realize its benefits, there needs to be a supportive policy environment as this Report suggests.”
Indeed, migration can raise a person’s income, health and education prospects.
Most importantly, being able to decide where to live is a key element of human freedom, according to the Report, which also argues that large gains in human development can be achieved by lowering barriers and other constraints to movement and by improving policies towards those who move.
Speaking during the Report’s launch, Olivier Adam, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said the migration was a process to be managed, not a problem to be solved. Better policies have enormous potential to enable people to expand their choices and realize the potential gains of movement.
“For the first time, the Report, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, examines the evidence on migration – both internal and international from the perspective of people: the migrant, their families and the communities from which they came and in which they live and work,” he added.
However, migration does not always bring benefits. The extent to which people are able to gain from moving depends greatly on the conditions under which they move. Financial outlays can be relatively high, and movement inevitably involves uncertainty and separation from families.
The poor are often constrained by a lack of resources, information and barriers in their new host communities and countries. For too many people movement reflects the repercussions of conflict, natural disaster or severe economic hardship. Some women end up in trafficking networks, lose significant freedoms and suffer physical danger.
The Report traces the contours of human movement—who moves where, when and why—before analysing the wide-ranging impacts of movement on migrants and their families and on places of origin and destination. It lays out the case for governments to reduce restrictions on movement within and across their borders, so as to expand human choices and freedoms.
The new Report argues for practical measures that can improve prospects on arrival, which in turn will have large benefits both for destination communities and for places of origin.
Speaking during the Report's presentation, Tetyana Petrova, Director of Department for Labour Migration at the Ministry for Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine, praised UNDP for releasing this year's Report on migration, which is in her words 'has a direct impact on human development, especially, in developing countries'.
"Currently, over 1.5mn Ukrainians have moved abroad seeking beteer labour opportunities there, as low salaries and fewer jobs at home become the major driving force behind their labour migration," she added.
During the presentation, other participants told journalists about Ukrain'e standing on the human mobility map.
Daiva Vilkelyte, Senior Programme Coordinator IOM Representative, encouraged to read the Report as it entails profound information and detailed outlook on the world's mobility.
While Iryna Prybytkova, Professor, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Ukraine's Academy of Sciences, spoke of the socio-demographic profile of Ukrainian labour migrants.
Challenging common misconceptions
The findings in this Report cast new light on some common misconceptions. Most migrants do not cross national borders, but instead move within their own country: 740 million people are internal migrants, almost four times the number of international migrants. Among international migrants, less than 30 percent move from developing to developed countries. For example, only three percent of Africans live outside their country of birth.
The authors demonstrate that the gains to people who move can be enormous. Research found that migrants from the poorest countries, on average, experienced a 15-fold increase in income, a doubling of school enrolment rates and a 16-fold reduction in child mortality after moving to a developed country.
Links to development
For the countries where migrants are coming from, the Report warns that migration is no substitute for development. However, mobility often brings new ideas, knowledge and resources—to migrants and to origin countries—that can complement and even enhance human and economic development. In many countries, the money sent back by migrants exceeds official aid.
Migrants’ gains are often shared with their families and communities at home. In many cases this is in the form of cash—remittances—but the families of migrants may benefit in other ways too. These ‘social remittances,’ as they are called, include reductions in fertility, higher school enrolment rates and the empowerment of women.
For instance, remittances are a substantive % of GDP in Albania (10%), Moldova (38%), Tajikistan (45%).
In Ukraine, according to the new Report, in 2007 estimated USD 4.5 billion came in remittance inflows – about 4% of GDP. Total for remittances in the world amounted to about USD 371 billion; USD 15.9 bn for CIS countries.
The Report also argues that the exodus of highly skilled workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers—a major concern of a number of developing countries that are losing these professionals—is more a symptom rather than a cause of failing public systems.
When integrated into wider national development strategies, migration complements broader local and national efforts to reduce poverty and enhance social and economic development.
Taking down barriers
Overcoming barriers lays out a core package of reforms, six ‘pillars’ that call for:
- Opening existing entry channels for more workers, especially those with low skills;
- Ensuring basic human rights for migrants, from basic services, like education and health care, to the right to vote;
- Lowering the transaction costs of migration;
- Finding collaborative solutions that benefit both destination communities and migrants;
- Easing internal migration; and
- Adding migration as a component for origin countries’ development strategies.
In terms of international migration, the Report does not advocate wholesale liberalization, since people at destination places have a right to shape their societies; but it argues that there is a strong case for increased access for sectors with a high demand for labour, including for the low-skilled. This is particularly important for developed countries because their populations are ageing—and this may increase the demand for migrant workers.
Easing access and reducing the cost of official documents are other important steps towards lowering the barriers to legal migration. Rationalizing such “paper walls” will help stem the flow of irregular migrants, the Report argues, as people find it easier and less expensive to use legal channels.
Overcoming barriers also calls on receiving countries to take steps to end discrimination against migrants. The Report stresses the importance of addressing the concerns of local residents and increasing awareness of migrants’ rights, in addition to working with employers, trade unions and community groups to combat xenophobia.
Despite the cases of intolerance, research commissioned by UNDP for the Report demonstrates that people in destination countries are generally supportive of further migration when jobs are available, and appreciate the gains—economic, social and cultural—that increased diversity can bring.
Time for action
The world recession has quickly become a jobs crisis, and a jobs crisis is generally bad news for migrants. In a number of areas, the number of new migrants is down, while some destination countries are taking steps to encourage or compel migrants to leave. But now is the time for action, the Report argues.
“The recession should be seized as an opportunity to institute a new deal for migrants—one that that will benefit workers at home and abroad while guarding against a protectionist backlash,” says Jeni Klugman, Report’s writer. “With recovery, many of the same underlying trends that have been driving movement during the past half-century will resurface, attracting more people to move.”
People are going to move, and thus Overcoming barriers provides the tools to better manage inevitable human mobility, laying out principles and guidelines for traditional immigration destinations, such as the United States and Europe, and new migration magnets, such as Costa Rica, Morocco and Thailand. The package of reforms put forward in Overcoming barriers depends on a realistic appraisal of economic and social conditions and recognition of public opinion and other political constraints, the Report observes. But, with political courage, they are all feasible.
Human Development Index
Also released today as part of the 2009 Human Development Report was the latest Human Development Index (HDI), a summary indicator of people’s well-being, combining measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita. It shows that despite progress in many areas over the last 25 years, the disparities in people’s well-being in rich and poor countries continue to be unacceptably wide.
In 2007 relative to 2006, 50 countries – including Ukraine - fell one or more places in rank between 2006 and 2007, and a similar number moved up. Ukraine ranks 85 (one place down); and 7 places down between 2006 and 2005 (in 2005 – Ukraine’s HDI rank was 78 out of 177 countries).
Norway tops the list, followed by Australia in second position and Iceland in third—the same positions as last year according to the latest data. There are few changes in rank in the top ten and only one newcomer—France—which has displaced Luxembourg. At the other end of the index, Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone are respectively in the last three places and have also not changed ranks between 2006 and 2007.
This year’s HDI has been calculated for 182 countries and territories—the widest coverage ever. The estimates, which rely on the most recently available data compiled by the UN and other international partners, are based on 2007 data (HDI results, based on 2007 data, do not reflect the effects of the global economic crisis, which is expected to have massive impacts on human development achievements in many countries around the world).
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To get your own copy of the Report (in English or Russian), please, contact Sergiy Grytsenko, UNDP Communications Officer in Kyiv, at (+38044) 254 00 35.
For more information on the latest HDI and to access the Human Development Report and the complete press kit please visit: www.hdr.undp.org
ABOUT THIS REPORT: The Human Development Report continues to frame debates on some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. It is an independent report commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Jeni Klugman is the lead author of the 2009 Report. The Report is translated into more than a dozen languages and launched in more than 100 countries annually. The 2009 Human Development Report is published in English by Palgrave Macmillan.
ABOUT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Human Development is the expansion of the freedoms that people have to live their lives as they choose. This conception—inspired by the path-breaking work of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and the leadership of the late Mahbub ul Haq, and known also as the capabilities approach because of its emphasis on the freedom that people have to achieve vital ‘beings and doings’— has been at the core of UNDP’s approach since the first Human Development Report in 1990, and is as relevant as ever to the design of effective policies to combat poverty and deprivation. This approach has proved powerful in reshaping thinking about topics as diverse as gender, human security and climate change.
ABOUT UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.
UNDP is committed to helping Ukraine on its way to better living standards, prosperity and democracy. We bring best international practices to harness local abilities in overcoming human development challenges and assist national partners to implement effective policies. The Organization's goal is to ensure that people with fewer opportunities benefit from positive change in Ukraine. Since 1993 UNDP has been working in the following areas: Democratic Governance, Prosperity, Poverty Reduction and Millennium Development Goals, Local Development and Human Security, Energy and Environment. Please visit: www.undp.org.ua
Read more about the new HDR: www.hdr.undp.org
