Last week at the UN in New York, a High Level Dialogue on migration was held, and as Chair of the UN Development Group I was invited to give a development perspective. Migration was the subject of the 2009 UNDP global Human Development Report. It made a number of useful recommendations on which I was able to draw. As well I drew from my own experience in public life in New Zealand over close to three decades, representing a constituency with many migrant communities. In essence, migration has the potential to benefit both source and host countries, IF it is organised to do so. Too often, desperate people, fleeing from war and persecution or from poverty, end up making desperate and tragic journeys. The very day I spoke last week, a boat collapsed near the Italian island of Lampedusa, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of would-be migrants. Those who make it through these routes may also face a life of exploitation. Yet orderly migration opens up the prospect of better lives, fills labour force needs in the host country, and sees valuable remittances sent back home to live living standards there. Now there is some discussion of how migration might feature in the post-2015 development agenda - my speech cites some possibilities. undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2013/10/03/helen-clark-speech-at-high-level-dialogue-on-migration-round-table-one-assessing-the-effects-of-international-migration-on-sustainable-development-and-identifying-relevant-priorities-in-view-of-the-preparation-of-the-post-2015-development-framework-/
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 10:46:02 +0000
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