| De: |
"Paulina Nikiel" |
| Sujet: |
Summary statement week 4
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| Envoyé: |
Oct 17th, 2008 - 17:07:59 |
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Dear friends,
Please find below the summary statement for week 4.
Kind regards,
Paulina Nikiel
Questions
Improving the impact of remittances
What are some of the national strategies for improving financial
institutions and enhancing understanding of the rural markets in your
country to promote the positive impacts of migrant remittances? (e.g.
innovative products and services; financial education, etc).
Policy and institutional coherence and partnerships
Policy and institutional coherence on migration and development within
Government- Does your country have a Migration Policy? What do you as
a young person expect from a migration policy in the context of
promoting legal migration for countries and youth migrants alike?
Which mechanisms have proven most effective in promoting policy
coherence? What are the key indicators of "effectiveness"? What are
some concrete examples of effective inclusion of migration into
national development plans and poverty reduction strategies?
Summary and comments week 4
The number of African migrants in global flows is expected to grow
significantly in coming decades due to a squeeze between the strong
demographic growth, particularly in the West Africa, and the limited
impact of economic growth on employment. The migrants contribute to
the economic development of their countries of origin. The World Bank
considers that remittances are a source of increasing development
financing, which in some countries is more important than official
development assistance. They represent also a flow of income for
families in the developing world who might not otherwise receive
assistance. In that sense, remittances also help to foster a sense of
financial democracy. For example, the extra income from remittance
transfers may cover the basic needs and free up money which can be
spent on education and health care, thereby resulting in a more
productive population.
Negative aspects
However, if we add the unofficial flows, the total of remittances
could be 2.5 higher than those registered by the Word Bank. As most of
migrants have no papers to open a bank account, they use informal
networks to send money to their home countries. They also prefer
informal transfers because the exchange rate is higher and traders pay
a rate up to twice the official rate. But often, the sender is not
aware of or able to discern what fees may be applied to the receiver.
Lack of transparency and hidden fees are further problematic in light
of the disproportionate participation of people who lack access to
bank accounts or other official institutions and financial services,
and are therefore exposed to potentially deceptive practices on both
ends of the remittance chain. Moreover, the remitter is often in a
foreign country with limited use of the language and is unable to
investigate alternative ways for money transfers.
The basic needs are:
-improving the legal remittance channels
-reducing transfer costs.
Need for improving migration policies
The cooperation between the European Union and African countries in
terms of employment should be supported, mainly in the areas where
emigration tradition is strong. For example, France has led actions to
support public employment services in Africa for several years (ANPE
action in North and West Africa). Basically, they aim to improve
information networks for workers willing to immigrate and to
facilitate their back to the country of origin.
The poverty in the countries of origin is only one motivation among
others. Other factors come into play, such as degree of confidence in
the economic development of the country, education and the future of
youths. For example, the procedure of getting visas and student
grounds needs to be simplified in order to contribute to the
development of economic relations and provide opportunities for those
who wish to emigrate to countries to be informed and to get skills and
knowledge that would give them the chance to participate successfully
and meaningfully in the development of both their host and sending
nations.
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