Awhile back one of my photographs appeared in "Migration and Development: The PSI Perspective" published by Public Services International (PSI).
PSI is a global federation of public sector unions representing more than 20 million workers involved in the delivery of public services, and they "are seriously concerned that the current discourse on migration and development is narrowly focused on the "economics of migration" at the expense of migrants’ rights."
Here is a brief look at the report.
"Do States provide enough protection for the most vulnerable groups of migrants such as migrant children, migrant women, domestic workers and irregular migrants?"
That's one of the questions asked by Public Services International (PSI) in their report "Migration and Development: The PSI Perspective", which elaborates the position of PSI as it engages in the debate on migration and development.
Public Services International Believes In "Decent Work"
The report states: "Current trends in migration reflect a country’s ability or inability to develop and retain its own workforce. Decent work is at the heart of this. Governments must strive to implement policies that promote decent work in the countries where people live. Decent work is founded on four pillars which take due account of the gender dimension: productive and freely chosen employment, rights at work including the ILO core labor standards, social protection and social dialogue."
This is important reading folks, so I'll share a bit of the PSI report's information in a "Did You Know?" format.
Did You Know?
1. About half a billion workers continue to live earning below $1 USD per day while 5 out of 10 people in the world survive on vulnerable or precarious work. (International Labor Organization (ILO), 2008).
2. In 2007, the number of unemployed women rose to almost 82 million and global trends show that women have a higher likelihood of being unemployed than men. (ILO, 2008).
3. In the last five years, the phenomenal rise in the volume of remittances
that migrants send back to their home countries has attracted international attention from governments and international financial institutions.
4. In 2006, the World Bank estimated remittances at $207 billion USD, with total remittances including informal transfers at about $300 billion USD, thereby labeling it as “an important and stable source of development Finance. (The World Bank, 2007).
5. That the UN and ILO Conventions provide full protection of the rights of migrants, including those displaced by climate change.
At any rate, the relationship between migration and development is a hotly debated according to PSI. They feel that:
"the labor migration policies of industrialized countries exacerbate the brain drain in developing countries. Without serious consideration of developmental challenges and poverty levels in developing countries, countries in the North design policies that draw skilled workers from the South while filtering out low skilled migrants through stricter immigration controls, security measures and employment sanctions. Migration policy is increasingly becoming a function of the labor market, without due regard to human and labor rights."
In dealing with the challenges posed by migration and development, PSI calls for:
1. A comprehensive and coherent set of policies that address migration and employment policies within the context of current global development challenges.
2. A gender sensitive and rights-based approach to migration.
3. Defending the integrity, access and quality of public services, as a way to reduce inequality, pursue sustainable development and build the foundation to decent life and decent work for all.
4. Adoption of a WHO Code of Practice on the Ethical Recruitment of Health Workers.
How do you weigh in? Do you think "forced migration resulting from climate change will pose serious challenges to development brought about by increased pressure on urban infrastructure and services, undermining of economic growth, increased unemployment, intensification of conflict and creation of conditions leading to the deterioration of health, educational and social well-being among the population"? (IOM, 2008).
Is it women and children who will be most adversely affected?
It seems to me that while the PSI report states, "It will be the poorest countries that will have the greatest challenges in coping technologically with climate change and in accessing adequate resources to help reduce the need for people to move.", governments of these poor nations should act as responsibly towards the developed world as PSI wants the developed world to act towards poor nations.
Although the report says, "Governments must strive to implement policies that promote decent work in the countries where people live" this glosses over the realities. Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Congo Republic, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and Philippines are all poor countries…..and rank among the world's most corrupt nations.
Developmental challenges and poverty levels in developing countries are perpetrated by government corruption and CORRUPTION is a word that never appears in the report. I acknowledge that people are unbelievably poor, I see them everyday. However, although this report is thought provoking, it fails to address corruption as one of the root causes of poverty and forced migration.
According to the recent UK government-commissioned Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, "international efforts to combat climate change must prioritize the preservation of existing natural forests."
It's a well known fact Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's family has stripped the country's forests. Cambodia has lost over 30% of its primary tropical forest in just the last 6 years. This plundering of natural resources demonstrates that Hun Sen's government is not acting in the people's best interest and his greedy and corrupt policies are "exacerbating the drain" of human resources in Cambodia.
And those hydroelectric dam projects being planned. Will their construction lead to ecological damage and human suffering due to land loss and displacement? Will Khmers go to Korea or Thailand to work in manufacturing or farming if they lose their land or will they remain in Cambodia?
Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index recommended that:
"The world’s wealthiest governments must strictly enforce the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which criminalizes the bribery of foreign public officials."
"Developing countries should use aid money to incorporate strengthened integrity and corruption prevention as an integral part of poverty reduction programs."
Whatever happens, "Migration and Development: The PSI Perspective", makes for some interesting reading and may offer some people a fresh perspective. It's just missing one key word.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
PSI is a global federation of public sector unions representing more than 20 million workers involved in the delivery of public services, and they "are seriously concerned that the current discourse on migration and development is narrowly focused on the "economics of migration" at the expense of migrants’ rights."
Here is a brief look at the report.
"Do States provide enough protection for the most vulnerable groups of migrants such as migrant children, migrant women, domestic workers and irregular migrants?"
That's one of the questions asked by Public Services International (PSI) in their report "Migration and Development: The PSI Perspective", which elaborates the position of PSI as it engages in the debate on migration and development.
Public Services International Believes In "Decent Work"
The report states: "Current trends in migration reflect a country’s ability or inability to develop and retain its own workforce. Decent work is at the heart of this. Governments must strive to implement policies that promote decent work in the countries where people live. Decent work is founded on four pillars which take due account of the gender dimension: productive and freely chosen employment, rights at work including the ILO core labor standards, social protection and social dialogue."
This is important reading folks, so I'll share a bit of the PSI report's information in a "Did You Know?" format.
Did You Know?
1. About half a billion workers continue to live earning below $1 USD per day while 5 out of 10 people in the world survive on vulnerable or precarious work. (International Labor Organization (ILO), 2008).
2. In 2007, the number of unemployed women rose to almost 82 million and global trends show that women have a higher likelihood of being unemployed than men. (ILO, 2008).
3. In the last five years, the phenomenal rise in the volume of remittances
that migrants send back to their home countries has attracted international attention from governments and international financial institutions.
4. In 2006, the World Bank estimated remittances at $207 billion USD, with total remittances including informal transfers at about $300 billion USD, thereby labeling it as “an important and stable source of development Finance. (The World Bank, 2007).
5. That the UN and ILO Conventions provide full protection of the rights of migrants, including those displaced by climate change.
At any rate, the relationship between migration and development is a hotly debated according to PSI. They feel that:
"the labor migration policies of industrialized countries exacerbate the brain drain in developing countries. Without serious consideration of developmental challenges and poverty levels in developing countries, countries in the North design policies that draw skilled workers from the South while filtering out low skilled migrants through stricter immigration controls, security measures and employment sanctions. Migration policy is increasingly becoming a function of the labor market, without due regard to human and labor rights."
In dealing with the challenges posed by migration and development, PSI calls for:
1. A comprehensive and coherent set of policies that address migration and employment policies within the context of current global development challenges.
2. A gender sensitive and rights-based approach to migration.
3. Defending the integrity, access and quality of public services, as a way to reduce inequality, pursue sustainable development and build the foundation to decent life and decent work for all.
4. Adoption of a WHO Code of Practice on the Ethical Recruitment of Health Workers.
How do you weigh in? Do you think "forced migration resulting from climate change will pose serious challenges to development brought about by increased pressure on urban infrastructure and services, undermining of economic growth, increased unemployment, intensification of conflict and creation of conditions leading to the deterioration of health, educational and social well-being among the population"? (IOM, 2008).
Is it women and children who will be most adversely affected?
It seems to me that while the PSI report states, "It will be the poorest countries that will have the greatest challenges in coping technologically with climate change and in accessing adequate resources to help reduce the need for people to move.", governments of these poor nations should act as responsibly towards the developed world as PSI wants the developed world to act towards poor nations.
Although the report says, "Governments must strive to implement policies that promote decent work in the countries where people live" this glosses over the realities. Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Congo Republic, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and Philippines are all poor countries…..and rank among the world's most corrupt nations.
Developmental challenges and poverty levels in developing countries are perpetrated by government corruption and CORRUPTION is a word that never appears in the report. I acknowledge that people are unbelievably poor, I see them everyday. However, although this report is thought provoking, it fails to address corruption as one of the root causes of poverty and forced migration.
According to the recent UK government-commissioned Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, "international efforts to combat climate change must prioritize the preservation of existing natural forests."
It's a well known fact Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's family has stripped the country's forests. Cambodia has lost over 30% of its primary tropical forest in just the last 6 years. This plundering of natural resources demonstrates that Hun Sen's government is not acting in the people's best interest and his greedy and corrupt policies are "exacerbating the drain" of human resources in Cambodia.
And those hydroelectric dam projects being planned. Will their construction lead to ecological damage and human suffering due to land loss and displacement? Will Khmers go to Korea or Thailand to work in manufacturing or farming if they lose their land or will they remain in Cambodia?
Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index recommended that:
"The world’s wealthiest governments must strictly enforce the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which criminalizes the bribery of foreign public officials."
"Developing countries should use aid money to incorporate strengthened integrity and corruption prevention as an integral part of poverty reduction programs."
Whatever happens, "Migration and Development: The PSI Perspective", makes for some interesting reading and may offer some people a fresh perspective. It's just missing one key word.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
2 comments:
that's a key word there, corruption. in my recent travels i've been really becoming aware of how much it is affecting the lives of so many people. it's absolutely staggering, and i'm thankful that such a bright individual has chosen to help by telling the stories you are, quite eloquently at that.
Ok thanks! All I can say is stay tuned! BGest Regards, JB
Post a Comment