Sunday, October 20, 2013

Data dearth keeps migration off development agenda

Jan Piotrowski in SciDev.net: A lack of reliable data on how migration impacts development and limited interest from policymakers are sidelining the issue in the discussion on new development agenda, according to a report released ahead of the UN's High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development this week (3-5 October).

With its significant effect on economic, social and environmental conditions, migration must factor in the future sustainable development framework to allow an accurate analysis of a country's situation, says a report published by the International Organization for Migration on 13 September.

More-effective ways of collecting data are needed, although it is weak political will that is the biggest obstacle, says Frank Laczko, head of the organisation's migration research division, and a co-author of the report.

"In the past, migration has not been a sufficient priority in the development community and there is still a lot of hesitancy to integrate migration into national and regional development plans," he tells SciDev.Net.

The report, based on responses to a world poll of 25,000 first-generation immigrants in more than 150 countries, includes information on age, gender, income and skill-set, as well as feelings about their quality of life...

At the Tijuana-San Diego border, shot by Tomas Castelazo, Wikimedia Commons,  under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

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