No. 1: Migration and Development in Africa: An Overview

Migration is clearly a major issue across Africa. Indeed, migration – both within countries and across borders – can be seen as an integral part of labour markets and livelihoods across much of the continent for at least the last century. Over time, and in different places, migration has taken a number of different forms. It has cut across class and skill boundaries, and exists in widely different geographical and demographic contexts. Migration represents an important livelihood strategy for poor households seeking to diversify their sources of income, but is also characteristic of the better off, and indeed of many African elites. In practice, however, the link between migration and poverty is often viewed more negatively. It is assumed across much of the continent that it is poverty that forces poor people to migrate, rather than migration being a potential route out of poverty. The poor are also generally seen as those worst affected by conflict-induced migration, itself a prominent feature in Africa. The movement of skilled and/or wealthy Africans is also generally viewed negatively (e.g. there is long-standing concern on the African continent with the impact of the ‘brain drain’ of African professionals). Only slowly, and in relatively few quarters, is understanding emerging of the potentially positive role that migration itself can play in reducing poverty, or of the possibilities for ‘mobilisation’ of the African diaspora in the fight against poverty. Meanwhile, public policy remains a long way from building effectively on such understanding. The aim of this study is to synthesise existing research on migration in Africa, and its relationship to development policy. The report focuses on the relationship between migration, poverty and pro-poor development policy. Pro-poor policy is taken here to mean policies that are context-specific, listen and react to poor people’s voices, and/or seek to assist poor people to become less vulnerable and build up their income and assets. Government health and education policies might not be considered intrinsically pro-poor, but become so where they are targeted at widening access to health and education services, and especially basic health and education services (e.g. primary care, vaccination campaigns, primary schooling), or at responding to the specific needs of the poor. Pro-poor policies might also seek to identify and support poor people’s livelihoods, through the promotion of social protection mechanisms (ranging from pensions, health insurance, maternity benefit and unemployment benefits to food aid and other social assistance) or enhancement and enforcement of poor people’s rights. In turn, our focus is not only on the policies of developing country governments, but also on those of non-government and intergovernmental organisations, and of donor nations. In terms of migration, the study covers both international and internal migration. In the sections that follow, issues are dealt with first in relation to sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, and then in detail for three regions – West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. The sections on Africa as a whole, and on West and East Africa were completed by researchers at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex, whilst the section on Southern Africa was written by researchers at the Southern African Migration Project

International migration and return of elites to Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire

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Harnessing the potential of Migration and Return to Promote Development: Applying Concepts to West Africa

This paper provides a state-of-the-art literature review and is intended to stimulate discussions around some of the most salient issues concerning the relationship between migration, return, and development. It outlines the operational framework and research strategy that will be used to investigate this relationship in an ongoing research project focused on West Africa. The report first presents an overview of the contemporary trends in international migration, or more precisely intercontinental migration, regarding this geographical region. It then discusses the consequences that such migrations can have on domestic labour markets, the effects of migrant remittances, and the brain drain phenomenon. The return of migrants is addressed in a seperate section because this part of the migration process deserves special attention if a better understanding of the migration-development linkage is sought. The developmental impacts of potential capital transfers occurring with return, and particularly the transfer of financial, human, and social capital, are discussed in the subsequent section. Finally, the last section of this paper presents elements for a meso-level approach to study these issues in order to achieve an improved understanding of the highly complex relationship between international migration, return, and development

Harnessing the potential of Migration and Return to Promote Development: Applying Concepts to West Africa

This paper provides a state-of-the-art literature review and is intended to stimulate discussions around some of the most salient issues concerning the relationship between migration, return, and development. It outlines the operational framework and research strategy that will be used to investigate this relationship in an ongoing research project focused on West Africa. The report first presents an overview of the contemporary trends in international migration, or more precisely intercontinental migration, regarding this geographical region. It then discusses the consequences that such migrations can have on domestic labour markets, the effects of migrant remittances, and the brain drain phenomenon. The return of migrants is addressed in a seperate section because this part of the migration process deserves special attention if a better understanding of the migration-development linkage is sought. The developmental impacts of potential capital transfers occurring with return, and particularly the transfer of financial, human, and social capital, are discussed in the subsequent section. Finally, the last section of this paper presents elements for a meso-level approach to study these issues in order to achieve an improved understanding of the highly complex relationship between international migration, return, and development

Sustained progress, but no room for complacency: Results of 2015 HIV estimations in India

Background & objectives: Evidence-based planning has been the cornerstone of India's response to HIV/AIDS. Here we describe the process, method and tools used for generating the 2015 HIV estimates and provide a summary of the main results. Methods: Spectrum software supported by the UNAIDS was used to produce HIV estimates for India as a whole and its States/Union Territories. This tool takes into consideration the size and HIV prevalence of defined population groups and programme data to estimate HIV prevalence, incidence and mortality over time as well as treatment needs. Results: India's national adult prevalence of HIV was 0.26 per cent in 2015. Of the 2.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS, the largest numbers were in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. New HIV infections were an estimated 86,000 in 2015, reflecting a decline by around 32 per cent from 2007. The declining trend in incidence was mirrored in most States, though an increasing trend was detected in Assam, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. AIDS-related deaths were estimated to be 67,600 in 2015, reflecting a 54 per cent decline from 2007. There were variations in the rate and trend of decline across India for this indicator also. Interpretation & conclusions: While key indicators measured through Spectrum modelling confirm success of the National AIDS Control Programme, there is no room for complacency as rising incidence trends in some geographical areas and population pockets remain the cause of concern. Progress achieved so far in responding to HIV/AIDS needs to be sustained to end the HIV epidemic