Migration and Development Consultations

Issue #1: "Buyer's Remorse" on Immigration Policy
The current economic downturn has made many destination countries cautious about welcoming permanent migrants, with some expressing the policy equivalent of buyer's remorse: paying too high a price for something no longer desired.
Issue #2: The Recession-Proof Race for Highly Skilled Migrants
Gloomy economic forecasts do not seem to have slowed the hunt for highly skilled migrants or foreign students — the best near-term solution to fill shortages and enhance competitiveness.
Issue #3: Remittance Patterns in Flux
Remittances to developing countries have steadily climbed, but the economic crises this year raise the question of how those countries will fare with the United States and Europe in recession.

By Ellene Sana

“Help is Just a Text Away” has been selected to be showcased at the first “Migration for Development Knowledge Fair” in Brussels, Belgium. The Fair, organized by the European Commission and the UN partner agencies, as part of the new EC-UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative, will be held at the Musee du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium from 1st-4th December 2008.

The SOS SMS was launched on February 14, 2006. After the first year of activation, CMA's intake of cases of distressed migrants increased by 500%, with a thousand SOS SMS cases, or 86% of all cases of CMA for 2006. Sixty-six percent of these cases were from Saudi Arabia. One reason for this is because the SOS SMS project was an initiative of our OFW partners (the Pusong Mamon Task Force - anginyonglingkod.org) in Saudi Arabia -- hence it is most popular in Saudi; and of course, another explanation is that considering 1 in 4 OFWs is in Saudi, most of the distressed OFWs are there.) 

For our first year report on sos sms, you may check out our ajg forum series 2, year 2007 on promoting and fulfilling the human rights of migrants... please visit our website at:
http://www.pinoy-abroad.net/lungga/index.shtml?apc=i---1-
The SOS SMS project works because of the committed networks and partners of CMA worldwide. Special thanks to the SOS SMS-PMTF team in Saudi, Ana, CMA case worker and to Bobby Soriano in manila who make ICT works for the human rights of migrant workers. Thanks also to DFA Oumwa who also receives the SOS SMS.

Dear Friends,
Greetings from the Secretariat. I hope all is well with you.

We are pleased to inform you that on 5 November 2008 the Committee for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) approved the General Recommendation 27 (GR 27) on Women Migrant Workers. The GR 27 aims to highlight the grave abuses and acts of discrimination that women migrants face, and to clarify the standards set out in the Convention that are relevant to these abuses. GR 27 aims to address the violations against the rights of women migrants in States of origin, transit and employment or residence. It also aims to use CEDAW to further women migrant's rights and advance women's substantive equality in all spheres.

By Krista Mahr / Mabini | Time.com | Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008

It's almost time for dinner in little Italy. A man walks along the street in shorts, dangling a cigarette from one hand, pushing a stroller with the other. Kids mill around a basketball hoop missing its net. Men chat on a porch nearby. Twenty years ago, people from Mabini, a small city in the central Philippines, started to leave for Italy to find better-paying jobs. Today, some 70% of the neighborhood is supported by monthly checks from Rome or Milan. Now, Italian-inspired villas crowd the town's hilly streets. There are flat-screen TVs, luxury cars and pricey Toblerone chocolates. But, as Florian De Jesus, a social worker in the area, observes, "In Italy, there are more women." To read entire article, click here.

“Tierra adorada, hija del sol de Oriente,
su fuego ardiente en ti latiendo esta...”
- Jose Palma, Himno Nacional Filipino

Our history has brought us to foreign lands but it is the fire of our country, the same fire that beats in our hearts that keeps us a nation no matter where we are. Always, the biggest challenge of being in a foreign land is survival but equally and truly remarkable is the charity of them who have never ceased to bring hope, assistance and honor to our country.

Circa 1417, Paduka Batara, a respected Sulu royalty, who was on a trade mission to China was honored by imperial ministers with a memorial arch and gateway bearing the inscriptions “Reverent and Steadfast.” Paduka Batara’s children, who were with him for the mission became the first recorded migrants from what is now the Philippines.

Since then, in our struggle as young nation, migrants have played pivotal roles that would define our national character; at the peak of this struggle is the great Jose Rizal, himself a migrant, whose works unearthed the greatness of the Filipino, long buried by oppression. Migration has become a permanent aspect of Philippine life and Filipinos overseas have become important partners in Philippine economic and social development. In recognition of the important role of Filipinos overseas, the Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas has been instituted through Executive Order No. 498 issued in December 1991.

A biennial event, the Awards will be hosted by Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2008 at the Malacañan, in observance of the Month of Filipinos Overseas. The President will be honoring Filipinos overseas who have dedicated their work in the service of the Filipino people and who are exemplars of Filipino talent and industry. Overseas-based civil society organizations which have helped improve the life of underserved communities in the Philippines will also be honored.

The global search for Presidential awardees seeks candidates whose personal, vocational, professional or organizational achievements truly reflect professional excellence, cultural pride, dedication to national development,
faith in the Filipino, and parental sacrifice for the country.

Once more, we look forward to a new moment of pride and gratitude.

Congratulations to all the awardees!

FINAL LIST OF AWARDEES: PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR FILIPINO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS OVERSEAS

* Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (LINKAPIL) Award

This award shall be conferred on Filipino associations or individuals for their exceptional or significant contribution to reconstruction, progress and development in the Philipines.

by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/29/2008 7:08 PM

Migrants’ rights, protection and expansion of legal avenues and coherence within nations and across borders are the main concerns of the recommendations of 220 delegates of the Civil Society Days to the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Pasay City.

Sharan Burrow, Civil Society Days conference chairperson and president of the International Trade Union Confederation, on Wednesday officially submitted civil society’s recommendations to Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos jr., chair of the October 29-30 GFMD government meeting.

“The government will consider our recommendations. Clearly, we will monitor the progress in the lead up to 2009,” Burrow said.

“Our deliberations took place at an extraordinarily challenging time: as the world’s governments struggle for responses to the global financial crisis, and the threat of climate change, and as migration policies in many regions became more restrictive,” Burrow said, as she addressed representatives from 163 United Nations member-states gathered for the two-day intergovernmental meeting. Burrow said they are also urging governments to consider providing decent work for migrants.

“The Asia-Pacific region is dependent on migration, all their governments are here. Clearly, there's a lot of work to do but we urge them to not just focus on the financial crisis or the challenge of climate change but to recognize that the capacity for decent work and ecent work for migrants is inherently part of that solution,” said Burrow.

Click on the icons to download the following documents for the GFMD 2008 CSO Days (Oct. 27-28, 2008). If you'd like to view the presentations online right now, please click here.

Powerpoint Presentation of the Outputs of the National Consultation (with GFMD Themes and Philippine Agenda) PDF format, 108kb	GFMD Roundtable Themes' Consolidated Reports from the 4 Island Consultations (Redlined)
Philippine Agenda's Consolidated Reports from the 4 Island Consultations	Proposed Framework on Migration and Development presented by the 5-person Working Group
Powerpoint presentation of USEC Conejos during the Interface with 30-person delegation	Summary of the CSO-Government Interface Discussion
Directory of Government Officials who attended the Interface	Powerpoint presentation of EC-UN regarding the funding window
Summary of presentation done by the multilateral agencies	Directory of Guests, Observers and Secretariat
To download all the documents at once (.ZIP file), click on the box icon.	Directory of the 30-person delegation

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