Harnessing the skills of migrants and diasporas to foster development: policy options

Direction générale de la mondialisation, du développement et des partenariats This study was prepared by the OECD in cooperation with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opinions e[pressed and the arguPents adYanced in this study do not necessariOy reÀect those of the Government of France or those of other member countries of the OECD. 3 Harnessing the skills of migrants and diasporas to foster development: policy options French Ministry of Foreign Affairs-DGM 4 Harnessing the skills of migrants and diasporas to foster development: policy options French Ministry of Foreign Affairs-DGM In 1960, there were 77 million migrants in the world ± a ¿gure that would nearly triple by 2010, to 214 million, or roughly 3% of the world population. At the same time, the nature and composition of migration movements underwent major changes, driven by the vast socioeconomic and geopolitical transformations that characterised the latter half of the 20th century. Decolonisation, European construction, the fall of the Iron Curtain, regional demographic dynamics , the widespread rise in the educational level of the world's population, the emergence of Asian economies and, more broadly, the globalisation of economies were major contributors to remap-ping international migration Àows and reshaping migrant pro¿les. +ost-country migration policies, in many cases more selective, also had an impact on the characteristics of migrants, especially of recent arrivals. As a result, today's migration Àows are charac-terised by a higher level of skill, a higher proportion of women and a broader range of destination countries than in the past. Many migrants have established roots in their destination countries while at the same time are better connected with their home countries because of easier transport and new tools of communication. Other groups of migrants exhibit forms of hyper-mobility, e.g. within free-movement areas or as employees of multinationals. The more " traditional " forms of temporary labour migration are persisting, if not expanding, but here too the expectations of migrants with regard to the ties they maintain with their countries of origin have changed, as has the way they conceive of and deliver on commitments to their home communities. In part because of these changes, the question of linkages between migration and development has never been more present on the international political agenda than it is today. The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the +igh-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, held under the auspices of the United …