Harnessing Migration for Rural Development: 2nd Regional GFMD workshop in Kingston, Jamaica
The European Union is supporting the Ecuadorian Chairmanship of the 2019 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) through the MIgration EU eXpertise (MIEUX) Initiative, implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), in hosting the two-day regional workshop “Harnessing Migration for Rural Development”, on 14 and 15 August in Kingston, Jamaica. The second of a series of four regional workshops ahead of the Quito Summit in November will gather representatives from academia, national and local-level governments, International organisations and civil society to exchange experiences.
Migration for rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean
Development strategies in many countries have tended to focus on preventing rural flight and stemming migration into overcrowded cities. Yet, as existing drivers –poverty, conflict, land degradation, food insecurity and discrimination – can be exacerbated by a changing climate and threatening to further undermine livelihoods that heavily depend on natural resources vulnerable to droughts, floods and other environmental impacts, governments may increasingly need to consider human mobility as part of rural resilience-building strategies. This workshop in Kingston, Jamaica, will discuss the role of migration and remittances in the transformation of rural areas, including the impact on agriculture and related industries, as well as local employment opportunities and entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In addition, it will explore options for policy makers at national and local levels to enhance positive and mitigate negative effects.
Inter-regional cooperation for improved international migration governance
The workshop responds to one of the priorities of the Ecuadorian GFMD Chairmanship to engage regional stakeholders in meaningful dialogue ahead of the Quito Summit. A wide array of stakeholders, among which representatives from local and central governments, academia, civil society and international organisations, will gather to contribute through these discussions to the supporting documents for the Summit´s Round-table 3.2 “Harnessing migration for rural transformation and development” ” of the GFMD 2019 agenda. Through the exchange of experiences and practices from Africa, Asia, Europe and LAC, the workshop aims to explore how to enhance the positive and mitigate the negative effects of migration and remittances to encourage positive social change and build resilience for populations in rural areas.
As Mr. Oleg Chirita, Head of Programme, Global Initiatives, ICMPD stated, “Around the world, growing urbanisation and the concentration of economic activity in cities have driven internal migration from rural areas to cities for decades, creating a number of challenges. However, there a number of examples from around the world that prove migration and remittances can prove beneficial and contribute to sustainable development and resilient societies.”
The GFMD and the Ecuadorian Chairmanship of 2019
Created in 2007, the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a state-led, informal and non-binding process, which helps shape the global debate on migration and development. Now in its twelfth edition, the GFMD Summit will be held in the week of 18-22 November 2019 in Quito, Ecuador under the theme “Sustainable approaches to human mobility: Upholding rights, strengthening state agency, and advancing development through partnerships and collective action.”
Ecuador’s GFMD 2019 Chairmanship comes at a timely moment for global migration governance, given the inclusion of migration-related targets in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the adoption of the two Global Compacts on Refugees (GCR) and on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in 2018. The Chairmanship is keen to nurture common ground among governments who may have differing views on the GCM while exploring complementarities of the two Global Compacts in line with commitments made in the New York Declaration of 2016.
Four regional workshops will take place between July and October 2019 involving regional stakeholders, as part of a set of concrete priorities that the 2019 GFMD Chair has put in place to enhance the GFMD process this year and beyond. In line with topics of the 12th GFMD Summit roundtables, the regional workshops will focus on social and economic inclusion of migrants; migration, rural transformation and development; legal pathways; and the role of cities in migration governance.
MIEUX and the 2019 GFMD
In line with one of its main objectives, MIEUX is providing relevant European expertise and content support to the Government of Ecuador in relation to the GFMD 2019 process. Specifically, MIEUX is assisting Ecuador with organising a series of regional workshops that should not only contribute directly to the thematic round-tables of the Quito Summit and to the background papers, but also function as standalone events that advance the global debate on migration and development. Targeting different stakeholders, such as local and central governments, academia, civil society, and regional stakeholders, this series of regional workshops aims at setting up a future-oriented regional model that could be utilised by future GFMD chairs in their respective regions.
First National Academic Workshop under the Ecuadorian Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development
The 2019 GFMD Chair seeks to strengthen the dialogue between all stakeholders in the process, including a more systematic participation of the academia. With this objective, the Ecuadorian GFMD Chairmanship convened the First National Academic Workshop on Migration and Development on June 27th 2019 with around 50 representatives from the academia on a national level. Held at the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN), the workshop had the following objectives:
1. to exchange perspectives on the substantive priorities of the GFMD 2019 Chairmanship
2. to foster the academia´s contributions based on their expertise in the field of migration and development
3. to strengthen the involvement of the academia in the different GFMD processes, taking into consideration the changes in the global migration governance.
During the introductory session, 2019 GFMD Chair Ambassador Santiago Javier Chávez Pareja, Vice Minister for Human Mobility of Ecuador, opened by highlighting the importance of the academia´s participation in the development of public policies based on research and evidence-based analysis. He also emphasized the need to include different stakeholders in the process of identifying solutions to the challenges in the context of human mobility.
The second session was divided into three parallel working groups, reflecting the substantive priorities of the 2019 GFMD Chairmanship as outlined in the Concept Note. The representatives from the academia participated in the working groups according to their respective research fields.
The first working group on “Coordinated responses to mixed movements: Partnerships and collective action to protect rights”, debated on providing regular pathways for migrants, how the Global Compact for Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees can contribute to solutions towards mixed movements, the importance of facilitating documentation for migrants, and what types of mechanisms on different government levels states and non-governmental stakeholders have used in the past to provide responses in view of large migratory flows. Other issues of discussion included enabling social and economic inclusion, taking into account the challenges of migrants´ access to basic services, the role of local institutions in the integration process, and the importance of labor inclusion for newcomers.
Concurrently, the second working group “Migration narratives and communication: What role, responsibility and resourced do governments have”, addressed the issues of shaping public narratives on migration and migrants, how governments develop public narratives on migration, and what media channels are used by governments to shape these narratives. Additionally, participants discussed about the ways governments use when communicating effectively with migrants. It was emphasized that is it important to think about strategies to make information more accessible for migrants, as well as to consider approaches to tackle the dissemination of misinformation on migration, among others.
The third working group “Addressing human mobility as part of urban and rural development strategies”, covered the topics on supporting arrival cities through policy coherence and multi-stakeholder partnerships, discussing about the authority cities have to establish policies on migration. In addition, the debate centered around which actors are important for the inclusion of migrants in urban areas and what policies are relevant to achieve social inclusion of migrants in urban centers. Another element of discussion included the issue of harnessing migration for rural transformation, discussing whether rural migration is a challenge or an opportunity for urban development, followed by the identification of the drivers for rural migration, the impacts that migrant remittances have on rural development and the creation of resilient cities.
In the closing session, each of the working group facilitators presented the results of the three thematic discussions. In particular, it was highlighted that scientific inputs from the academia are necessary and essential for the creation of public policies on migration. In result, the deliberations of this workshop will be reflected in an academic publication.
This workshop represents a first meeting of a series of activities planned by the 2019 GFMD Chairmanship along with the academia during the following months leading up to the Quito Summit. These preparatory activities will lead to an active involvement and significant participation of both national and regional academic actors in the Quito Summit.
| Name of Country | Document Title |
|---|---|
| Canada | Work permits |
| Pathway for permanent residents for asylum claimants who worked in health care sector | |
|
International Students: New temporary public policy Important new measures on post-graduation work permit eligibility for students beginning programs online Flexibility in post-graduation work permit rules |
|
| Exemptions to border restrictions: | |
| Chile | Information campaign for immigrants in the context of pandemic |
| Cyprus | Continuation of the operations of the Asylum Service |
| Enabel - Belgian Development Agency | Palim Project |
| Indonesia | Response from Indonesia |
| Dedicated COVID-19 feature on mobile application Safe Travel and website | |
| Morocco | The Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants, Migration and Development |
| Spain | Response from Spain |
| Switzerland and United Kingdom | Call to Action: "Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep them Flowing" |
| United Arab Emirates | UAE COVID-19 Measures |