On 21.5.2013 the European Commission has issued a new Communication on the need to broaden the migration-development nexus. You may find it here http://www.eunomad.org/images/Communication_CE_maximising_the_development_impact_of_migration.pdf  This was done as a contribution for the second UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, to be held in New York on 3 and 4 October 2013, after 7 years since the first one.

The overall theme of the 2013 High Level Dialogue will be “to identify concrete measures to strengthen coherence and cooperation at all levels, with a view to enhancing the benefits of international migration for migrants and countries alike and its important links to development, wile reducing its negative implications”.

We would like to highlight the Communication’s focus on the need to widen the view of the link between migration and development in order to address comprehensively all issues at stake, such as migration within developing countries, mobility between cities, forced migration, climate change and environmental degradation, that is about sustainable economic, social and environmental development.  Another focus is on the measures to ensure and enforce  protection of human rights of all migrants, as a key component of all EU policies…

The Commission further highlights the need to work on the governance frameworks to improve policy coherence and to create tools to translate the knowledge into operational guidelines.  In this context, it requires further attention towards the role of local authorities and their development planning: “The role of city administrations is pivotal, as increasing migration and urbanisation are linked issues which have a significant impact on societies worldwide. Cities have the potential to act as catalysts of social change“.

The Commission also underlines the need to promote the migrant-centred approach as a cross-cutting priority of all EU actions on migration and development.

Read the conclusions…and share your comments and concrete ideas with us!

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This infographic is showing and exemplifying how migration is a rich, multi-faceted and complex phenomenon that can’t be separated from concepts of development and human rights. At the same time, this videoclip is highlighting how essential is that migration is not managed just as a problem of security, and ‘going back’ is not the only possibility. On the contrary, it is presenting indicators on how migration is an opportunity for everyone and it’s showing that only if human rights are always at the centre, the people see themselves as able to create development.

Enjoy the AMITIE video and… if you like it, spread it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Ya7ZuYGr4

                                                                                                       Bernardo Venturi, University of Bologna 

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Local AMITIE ambassadors, representatives of state and municipal institutions, NGOs and mass media are invited to take part in the launch event. Public opinion surveys show, Latvian residents have mostly negative attitude towards impact of immigrants on social and economic processes in the state. According to the Human Development Report about Latvia, only 29% of residents believe immigrants bring benefit to Latvian economy.

Therefore, the aim of the informative campaign is to show positive impact of migration on state and society, stressing contribution of immigrants who came to Latvia during past ten years in social, economic and cultural area and readiness of Latvian society to accept these people.

Among the campaign activities there are production of the film with immigrants’ stories, discussions about migration, human rights and development and announcement of four competitions. Also the AMITIE posters are already placed on the streets around Riga. The AMITIE Ambassadors from the posters call residents of Riga and Latvia to understand that they also work and study, raise children and help neighbours in Latvia just as all residents in order to make this country a better and more open place for flow of ideas and success.

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