Launch of HDR 2009 – Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development

Allowing for migrationboth within and between countrieshas the potential to increase peoples freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report.

Human Development Report

We live in a highly mobile world, where migration is not only inevitable but also an important dimension of human development. Nearly one billionor one out of sevenpeople are migrants. The Report, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, demonstrates that migration can enhance human development for the people who move, for destination communities and for those who remain at home.

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 persons 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.

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.

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 resourcesto migrants and to origin countriesthat 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 cashremittancesbut 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.

The Report also argues that the exodus of highly skilled workers such as doctors, nurses and teachersa major concern of a number of developing countries that are losing these professionalsis 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.

For more information on the latest HDI and to access the Human Development Report and the complete press kit please visit: http://hdr.undp.org