Key Moments
Opportunities without borders - Migration Summit 2023
Key Moments
Expanding legal work opportunities for migrants is crucial and underfunded.
Key Insights
Over a billion people are on the move, seeking better lives yet facing significant barriers to legal employment.
Traditional categories for people on the move (refugee, labor migrant) are siloed and limit holistic support.
There's a significant global demographic imbalance: aging populations in high-income countries and a surplus of young people in low-income countries.
A human-centered framework highlights five key needs: choice, capability, dignity, voice, and inclusion.
Expanding legal, safe, and ethical migration pathways offers substantial economic benefits for individuals, sending, and receiving countries.
Increased funding, policy change, and cross-sector collaboration are essential to address the economic exclusion of people on the move.
THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT INCUBATOR'S MISSION AND APPROACH
The Global Development Incubator (GDI) is an organization dedicated to launching social impact initiatives aimed at systemic global change. With a focus on issues ranging from agricultural finance to anti-trafficking, GDI has spent the last several years delving into migration. They aim to break down traditional silos by viewing people on the move through a unified lens, recognizing their shared aspirations and challenges regardless of their specific legal status, such as refugee or labor migrant. This approach seeks to uncover opportunities for greater economic inclusion and systemic change in the migration landscape.
THE SCALE AND FUTURE OF GLOBAL MOBILITY
Current global mobility involves significant numbers, with approximately 46 million refugees and asylum seekers, plus an additional 900 million people globally who wish to move across borders if given the opportunity. This represents nearly one in seven people worldwide, not including internally displaced individuals. Projections indicate these numbers will grow substantially by 2050 due to demographic shifts: aging populations in higher-income countries creating labor shortages, while lower-income countries face a growing youth population with insufficient job opportunities. Climate change is also expected to exacerbate these imbalances, making migration an increasing inevitability.
A HUMAN-CENTERED FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPORT
GDI has developed a human-centered framework to better support people on the move, focusing on five interdependent needs: choice, capability, dignity, voice, and inclusion. This framework moves beyond traditional legal categorizations. 'Choice' addresses limited opportunities due to stringent immigration policies, while 'Capability' emphasizes the need for education and skills. 'Dignity' highlights the vulnerability to exploitation in high-risk migration pathways, and 'Voice' calls for meaningful representation in decision-making processes. 'Inclusion' represents the ultimate goal, where public and private sectors foster environments for people on the move to thrive and contribute to host economies.
BARRIERS AND TRANSFORMATIVE OUTCOMES OF MIGRATION
Significant barriers restrict legal movement and employment for people on the move, with many refugees facing work restrictions and limited asylum options. Despite these challenges, expanded legal and ethical migration pathways offer transformative outcomes. Individuals can experience substantial income gains, poverty can be reduced in sending countries through remittances, and receiving countries can benefit from filling critical labor shortages and fostering economic growth. Addressing these barriers is crucial to harnessing the potential economic and social benefits for all involved parties.
PATHWAYS TO ECONOMIC INCLUSION FOR PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
To achieve a world free from systematic economic exclusion for people on the move, GDI proposes six impact pathways. These focus on preparing individuals through better training and skills recognition, and enhanced access to financial services. They also emphasize safe, transparent, and ethical facilitation of movement and employment, including cross-border matching and responsible recruitment. Crucially, advocating for policy changes and ensuring effective implementation of existing policies are identified as key governmental responsibilities. These pathways aim to create tangible opportunities and sustainable solutions.
INVESTMENT NEEDS AND THE CALL TO ACTION
There is a significant underinvestment in the economic inclusion of people on the move, with very little official development assistance and private philanthropy dedicated to this area. GDI is working to convene donors and establish a 'Global Mobility Fund' to support innovation, scale existing efforts, and conduct critical research. The call to action emphasizes the need for practitioners to consider the full spectrum of needs for people on the move and for those outside the direct migration sector to recognize the opportunities for integrating migrants into broader livelihood and training programs, including cross-border possibilities.
Mentioned in This Episode
●Products
●Tools
●Organizations
●Books
●Studies Cited
●Concepts
Common Questions
The Global Development Incubator (GDI) focuses on creating livelihood pathways for people on the move, aiming to break down traditional silos between categories like refugee, labor migrant, and trafficking victim. They advocate for a human-centered framework that addresses common needs such as choice, capability, dignity, voice, and inclusion.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
Efforts to change public perception and discourse around migration, seen as a long-term strategy to influence policy.
One of the five common human needs, referring to accessing education and skills needed for livelihood opportunities.
Pervasive in low and middle-income host countries, posing challenges for policy effectiveness regarding migrant integration.
A significant issue in Sub-Saharan Africa, with millions of young people unemployed and job creation lagging behind.
The importance of ensuring that existing migration and employment policies are effectively communicated and enforced.
Mentioned as a potential pathway to employment for refugees in future sessions.
The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery focuses on eradicating forced labor and exploitation.
The ultimate goal in the human-centered framework, ensuring migrants are integrated into host economies through public and private sector efforts.
The global trend of aging populations in higher-income countries and growing young populations in lower-income countries, creating a balance of labor needs and supply.
Mentioned as a potential pathway to employment for refugees in future sessions.
The ability of people on the move to access legal and safe work and movement, a key area identified for increased resources and attention in global development.
A financial model used by 'Malango' to enable students from Sub-Saharan Africa to study in Europe, where repayment is tied to future income.
The overarching challenge that policy changes are often the biggest barrier to improving migration pathways, and that funding alone cannot solve this.
A focus for future sessions on employment pathways for refugees.
A driving factor for policy changes in countries like Japan, illustrating the need for migrant labor.
Financial resources sent by migrants to their home countries, contributing to poverty reduction and economic benefits.
The growing number of people in forced labor globally is highlighted alongside labor shortages and refugee unemployment.
Practices ensuring that migrant workers are not exploited or deceived during the recruitment process.
A framework for supporting people on the move based on common needs like choice, capability, dignity, voice, and inclusion, rather than solely legal status.
Traditional interventions for people on the move that often focus on basic survival needs, potentially leading to dependency.
One of the five common human needs, emphasizing the importance of protecting migrants from abuse and exploitation.
Requires EU states to provide access to basic bank accounts for all legal residents, including refugees, though implementation varies.
Mentioned as an example of a pathway with theoretical promise but significant potential delays in paperwork processing in the US.
An organization in Australia that works on communicating policies related to skills and employment effectively.
Collaborating with GDI to identify research gaps related to migration.
Enables students from Sub-Saharan Africa to study in Europe through income share agreements, now part of GDI's People on the Move work.
Provides estimates on the number of jobs needed in lower-income countries, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, to absorb the youth entering the labor market.
Works on creating safe and legal labor mobility channels for workers, particularly those without college degrees, into OECD countries.
An agency in Seattle focused on ethical recruitment practices.
An initiative focused on internal migration in India, incubated by GDI.
An example of an organization working on ethical recruitment and creating positive incentives for responsible recruiters.
An incubator that launches new social impact initiatives aimed at global systems change, focusing on issues ranging from agricultural finance to anti-trafficking and migration.
Focuses on ending modern slavery, initially working at business and government levels, now evolved into a survivor-led global network.
High-income countries targeted for labor mobility partnerships, facing labor shortages.
Destination for Kenyan labor migrants, where some faced abuse.
Residents of these islands are eligible for work in Australia under certain funding programs.
Mentioned as one of the countries represented by participants in the panel.
Provides data on refugees and asylum seekers globally.
The World Bank's report on migration, which aligns with the findings presented in the video.
Mentioned as a source of inspiration, though the specific title is not stated.
Indicates that 900 million people globally would prefer to move across borders if given the opportunity.
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