THE OECD Development Centre announces the "Foundations Accelerating Impact 2030"
initiative and discusses how to leverage migration, remittances and
diaspora during the Third International Conference on Financing for
Development
As the global community gathers this week in Addis Ababa to discuss financing
for development and in the lead up to the redefinition of the forthcoming Sustainable
Development Goals, the need to rethink about the contribution of two key –
but usually overlooked – actors of the financing for development agenda is
pressing: foundations and migrants.
Philanthropy’s financial contribution to development has nearly multiplied
by ten over a decade, climbing from around USD 3 billion in 2003 to around
USD 30 billion in 2013.
Building on its Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement that help
foundations working with or in developing countries to improve the impact of
their development activities and taking stock of a new era in government-foundation
partnerships, the OECD Development Centre announced the imminent launch of
a new global initiative called “Accelerating Impact 2030”.
This framework, backed by foundations and like-minded actors, in partnership
with the OECD Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD), aims
to demonstrate how the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can
be achieved faster and more cost-effectively if philanthropic and public resources
are deployed more efficiently.
Leveraging mutual resources and building bridges to finance development were
equally at the heart of the discussion on the role of migration, remittances
and diasporas in financing development, co-organised by the World Bank, the
Global Migration Group and the OECD Development Centre. The event recognised
migration’s prominent place in the post-2015 agenda, given the inclusion of
migration-related targets in the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals.
Emigrants contribute to the development of their countries of origin probably
more than most other sources of finance for development. Remittances sent by
migrants represent more than three times the global flows of aid to developing
countries in 2014. These remittances feed the economy of many developing countries.
In some instances, they help finance productive investment projects. The role
of diasporas in the development of their countries of origin is also key.
The impact of migration, remittances and diasporas is felt not just in countries
of origin, but also in countries of destination. The joint work of the International
Labor Organisation and the OECD Development Centre highlights the economic
contribution of labour migration in developing countries as countries of destination.
Mobilising domestic resources is key to development. Immigrants are not only
workers and consumers, but also taxpayers who contribute to the development
of their countries of destination.
Migrants can best contribute to the development of both countries of origin
and destination if they can move safely and work in conditions equal to native
citizens. The event discussed some potential policy recommendations:
++ Signing bilateral agreements between countries of origin and destination
to facilitate labour mobility and reduce recruitment costs;
++ Strengthening competition among money transfer operators to reduce intermediary
costs on the remittance market;
++ Adopting measures to fight discrimination and facilitate the integration
of immigrants into the labour market and into society; and
++ Creating an enabling policy environment for leveraging migration’s development
impact.
The OECD Development Centre’s experts also participated in a side-event on
leveraging science and technology for sustainable development in partnership
with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement and the French Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and in a UNICEF panel discussion on Financing for Equity
and making an Investment Case for Children.
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