Migration and development
Currently there are different stories trying to grasp the dynamic taking place on the African continent On the one hand, there is a positive narrative saying the continent is on the rise. The Economist in 2000 called it the ‘hopeless continent’. Now the story is of hopefulness: they recently devoted a special issue called The Hopeful Continent showing trends towards better governance, economic growth and improving living standards. Not everyone agrees, however. In reaction to the idea of hopeful Africa, Rick Rowden countered with an article called The Myth of Africa’s Rise, in Foreign Policy ...
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Each year ECDPM publishes a Policy Brief, on Challenges for EU-Africa Relations, outlining key events and expected trends for the year to come. This year’s ‘Challenges Paper’ will aim in particular to cover the preparatory work for the EU-Africa Summit in 2014, and the major issues that will influence it or be addressed there, as well as the impact these issues might have on future EU-Africa relations. This article provides an initial indication of our plans for the paper that will be published at the end of year. If you have a different take on ...
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++ SERIES: BUILDING THE POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK++ Policy debates in international development frequently forget to acknowledge that the actions of individual citizens are often as least as important as the large development interventions. In Haiti, benefits from remittances sent home by migrants equal nearly 20% of GDP – more than twice the earnings from the country’s exports. Similarly, the reduction of income poverty in Nepal from 42% to 26% in 15 years was not mainly due to foreign direct investments, nor due to Official Development Assistance, but rather due to outward labour migration and remittances. ...
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ECDPM is currently reflecting on the content and orientation of the next issue of its annual Challenges Inbrief. This publication is published at the start of each year, and aims to identify key issues for policy making for EU-Africa relations in the year ahead. The paper, in traditional ECDPM style, aims to be informative and ‘facilitating’, helping readers identify key debates and moments in EU development cooperation and external action. The writing process provides us with an opportunity to take a step back from our day to day work to look forward and to reflect ...
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Relations between the European Union and its partners in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) are in a parlous state. Past readers of ECDPM’s annual Challenges Paper know that we regularly refer to ACP-EU relations as being at a critical juncture, and this is certainly true at the start of 2011. The EU’s credibility in much of the ACP is at an all-time low, and in the EU many seem to have lost faith in the future of the partnership with the ACP. Moreover, there is a collective failure to recognise that in the ...
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What’s at stake in the revision of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement’s article on migration?
The Africa, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Partnership Agreement includes an article on migration which sets out the principles for dialogue, fair treatment, return/readmission and development support to regions from which migrants originate. The article is currently under revision, with agreement by both parties to strengthen its development dimension. There is a perception, however, that the EU’s main goal is to tighten requirements for ACP countries to readmit illegal migrants. An ECDPM briefing paper on the revision, prepared in consultation with ACP and EU stakeholders, contends that readmission requirements should be reasonable, keeping in mind ...
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