What is Migration and Development?
Migration is not a new phenomenon – it has existed throughout history with people moving from one place to another for economic, political, social, and environmental reasons. The growth and dimensions have reached new heights as a result of globalization.
Since 1970, the number of international migrants has jumped from 82 million to nearly 200 million. This represents nearly three percent of the world’s population (See IOM, World Migration Report 2008).
Today migration has become a subject of great controversy. On the one hand, there is concern over the apparent ‘brain drain’ in the developing world where the loss of highly qualified labour in critical sectors such as health and education is causing development challenges. On the other hand, the return of migrants to their countries of origin with new skills is contributing to ‘brain gain’. Furthermore, in 2008, remittance flows to developing countries was USD $328 billion. This figure is more than the level of Foreign Direct Investment (See World Bank, Migration and Development Brief 9).
Prior to 2006, no major event had focused on the interrelations between international migration and development. The UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development marked a defining moment in the consideration of the means to maximize the benefits of migration while minimizing negative impacts. Since this event, which stressed that “international migration could contribute to development”, addressing international migration concerns has become a topical issue. Various interventions including the First, Second and Third Global Forum on Migration and Development have brought governments and civil society actors together – providing an avenue for governments and civil society organizations to address issues related to migration and development.
What is the JMDI?
The EC-UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI), is a three-year programme funded by the European Commission and implemented by UNDP in collaboration with UNHCR, UNFPA, ILO and IOM.
Ghana was selected alongside fifteen other countries – Moldova, Georgia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Cape Verde, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ecuador and Jamaica – in the implementation of the Joint Initiative.
The overall objective of the Joint Initiative is to support civil society organizations and local authorities seeking to contribute to linking migration and development.
The core four thematic areas that the joint initiative seeks to support include:
How does the JMDI work in Ghana?
Following the JMDI Call for Proposals which was launched on 1 December 2008 and closed on 27 March 2009, 56 applications were submitted by Ghanaian civil society groups and local authorities. Out of this, 26 were found to be eligible. After the final review of eligible proposals, two projects including the Sankofa Family Poultry (SFP) and the Buduburam Community Capacity Development Initiative (BcomCDI) were selected from Ghana for funding. SFP and the BcomCDI, together with their European partners received grant amount of 188,749.00 Euros and 199,904.00 Euros respectively to implement these concrete interventions.
The Sankofa Family Poultry project is a 16-month initiative that aims at re-establishing smallholder poultry breeding in five communities in Ghana as an effective means for livelihood, income supplement and nutrition. The main activities involve: developing the capacities of young people and women in 5 rural communities in Tamale and Somey, including 130 trainees in poultry health, and 170 women supported to establish sustainable livelihoods. In addition, it will engage female members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Europe to support the transfer of their knowledge of basic agricultural techniques and health measures to local women and advocating for pro-development policies in Ghana.
Buduburam Community Capacity Development Initiative is an 18-month project to provide entrepreneurial-driven sustainable economic livelihood empowerment through developing ICT skills, technical and the provision of managerial capacity of existing community-based organisations and entrepreneurial business management support services through a micro-credit scheme. The main beneficiaries of the project include Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees, returnees as well as Ghanaian host populations in and around the Buduburam Refugee Settlement Camp. The project will provide micro-credits to 200 people.
Contact details:
EC-UN Joint Migration & Development Initiative (JMDI)
United Nations Development Programme
P. O. Box 1423, Accra-Ghana
Tel.: +233 21 785394-9
Email: registry.gh@undp.org
Web: http://www.migration4development.org
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