Tag: Remittances

Covid-19, Migration

Inequalities and international migration: securing benefits for all post COVID-19

By Jason Gagnon, Development economist, OECD Development Centre

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The COVID-19 pandemic has turned international migration on its head. According to the United Nations, there were 272 million international migrants in the world in 2019, reflecting a steady rise over the years, reaching 3.5% of the global population. However, since the start of the crisis, migration has decreased significantly. Due to restrictions, admission of foreigners to OECD countries has fallen by 46%. In the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, and many other parts of the world, the trends point in the same direction. The general fall in migration flows is likely to continue in 2021.

Continue reading “Inequalities and international migration: securing benefits for all post COVID-19”
Development Matters
Asia, Migration

The potential of migration for development in Afghanistan

By Nassim Majidi, Founder and Director, Samuel Hall

A family in Sheberghan, Afghanistan. Photo: Mustafa Olgun / Shutterstock.com

Countries in Asia are at different stages of harnessing the potential of migration for development. At one end, there is the case of the Philippines, where international migration is central to domestic social and economic development. At the other end of the spectrum is Afghanistan, where much of the conversation has narrowly focused on forced migration, return and reintegration, missing out on the potential of migration for development. Yet the migration and development dialogue in Afghanistan should be a priority, at a time when COVID-19 is leading the country into an economic recession. Experts have so far provided informal estimates that up to 80% of the Afghan population may end up under the poverty line due to COVID-19, with dire consequences for food security and overall wellbeing.

Continue reading “The potential of migration for development in Afghanistan”

Development Matters
Country systems, Covid-19, Latin America and the Caribbean

Haitian Families and Loss of Remittances During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Toni Cela, Senior Research Associate of the Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) hub & Co-ordinator of the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development (INURED), and Louis Herns Marcelin, Co-Director of the MIDEQ project; Professor at the University of Miami; & Chancellor of INURED

This blog is part of a series on tackling COVID-19 in developing countries. Visit the OECD dedicated page to access the OECD’s data, analysis and recommendations on the health, economic, financial and societal impacts of COVID-19 worldwide.

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo: Rafal Cichawa/Shutterstock

Migration has always featured prominently in Haiti’s history. At times forced, as in the case of sociopolitical repression and the aftermath of disasters, induced to fulfil labour and workforce needs in the Caribbean and in other periods voluntary as in the circulatory movement recorded in the Caribbean, South and North America. Over the past decades, migration in Haiti has evolved from a survival strategy for individual migrants and their families to now buttressing the local economy through the transfer of remittances. This reality was made evident during the 2010 earthquake rebuilding effort when the Haitian diaspora identified itself as Haiti’s “single largest donor” citing “the magnitude of its remittances to the Haitian Republic and how those contributions totalling [USD] $2 billion dollars annually allot[ed] for 30% of the GNP .”  In comparison, public revenues, excluding grants, represent 13% of GDP and are projected to fall to 10% in 2020.

Remittance transfers to Haiti have continued to grow over the past decade, the lion’s share of funds originating in countries throughout the Americas, particularly the United States, where the majority of Haitians have settled. Yet, the global economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to the global remittance economy. For Haiti, reduction in remittances will further weaken an already feeble economy while negatively impacting the livelihood and health of families and communities. Continue reading “Haitian Families and Loss of Remittances During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

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Covid-19, Development finance

Remittances during COVID-19: Reduce costs to save livelihoods

By Paul Horrocks, Manager, Private Finance for Sustainable Development; Friederike Rühmann, Policy Analyst; and Sai Aashirvad Konda, Consultant at the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate

This blog is part of a series on tackling COVID-19 in developing countries. Visit the OECD dedicated page to access the OECD’s data, analysis and recommendations on the health, economic, financial and societal impacts of COVID-19 worldwide.

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Mumbai, India – Migrant workers return home during a nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, on May 2020. Photo: Manoej Paateel / Shutterstock

The COVID-19 crisis is severely affecting migrants’ ability to send money home to their families.

The World Bank predicts a decline in global remittances by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This decline threatens the livelihoods of millions of households in developing countries, and the international community must urgently invest in innovative, resilient, and cost-reducing solutions to support developing countries amid the crisis and in their recovery.

Impact of COVID-19 on remittances

Remittances serve as an important source of income for millions of households in developing countries and act as a safety net in times of emergencies, natural disasters and crises. In 2019, the flow of remittances reached a record flow of $554 billion to low-and middle-income countries. Continue reading “Remittances during COVID-19: Reduce costs to save livelihoods”

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Building resilience, Policy

Can the G20 make a difference for development?

By Federico Bonaglia, Senior Counsellor to the Director at the OECD Development Centre Can the G20 really make a difference for development? The short answer is yes. The long answer is that the G20 can actually do more and should not miss the opportunity offered by the SDGs to deepen its engagement on global development. How can we upgrade the development agenda? In a two-part … Continue reading Can the G20 make a difference for development?

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Migration

Is migration good for development? Wrong question!

By David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit, OECD Development Centre

This summer’s conference in Addis Ababa acknowledged migration’s positive contribution to development. The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) now take the next step of announcing migration-related targets. The SDGs recognise the need to protect the rights of migrant workers, especially women migrants, adopt well-managed migration policies and reduce remittance fees. However, international migration remains a very sensitive issue for most countries, as the current refugee crisis reveals. Such apparent schizophrenia between the international development agenda and the national policy one raises one important question: Can migration be good for development in countries migrants leave behind? Continue reading “Is migration good for development? Wrong question!”

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Migration

Don’t just pay lip service to migrants’ contributions – back them with policies

By David Khoudour, Head of the migration and skills unit at the OECD Development Centre

The new development goals recognise migrants’ huge economic contributions in remittances and taxes, but we need flexible migration policies that support them.
The international community no longer considers migration a threat. This, at least, is what an optimistic observer could infer from the final document adopted at the conference on financing for development in Addis Ababa this month. The accord signed at the end of the meeting – the Addis Ababa action agenda – acknowledges the positive contribution of migrants to the development of countries of origin, transit and destination. Continue reading “Don’t just pay lip service to migrants’ contributions – back them with policies”

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