Al-Sisi reviews Egypt's food security, strategic commodity reserves    Egypt signs strategic agreements to attract global investment in gold, mineral exploration    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Egyptian Exchange ends mixed on July 15    Suez Canal vehicle carrier traffic set to rebound by 20% in H2: SCA chief    Tut Group launches its operations in Egyptian market for exporting Egyptian products    China's urban jobless rate eases in June '25    Egypt's Health Minister reviews drug authority cooperation with WHO    Egypt urges EU support for Gaza ceasefire, reconstruction at Brussels talks    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Egypt, Mexico explore joint action on environment, sustainability    Egypt, Mexico discuss environmental cooperation, combating desertification    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger        Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







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Across borders in the Age of Mobility
Published in Daily News Egypt on 10 - 07 - 2007

It is commonplace to say that we live in a globalize world. Less well understood is that globalization is taking place in stages. We are in its second: the Age of Mobility. In its first stage, as flows of capital and goods were liberated, the benefits of globalization flowed primarily to the developed world and its principal trading partners, among them Brazil, China and India. As we enter the newer age of mobility, people will move across borders in ever-greater numbers. In their pursuit of opportunity and a better life, they have the potential to chip away at the vast inequalities that characterize our time - and accelerate progress throughout the developing world. To take just one example: Migrants sent home $264 billion in 2006, triple all international aid combined. In some countries, a third of families rely on these remittances to keep them out of poverty. Across the developing world, remittances underwrite health care, education and grassroots entrepreneurship. The freer movement of people helps oil the global economy. When a hospital in London needs nurses, it recruits them from Ghana or Sierra Leone. When Google seeks programmers, developing nations are often the source. Until now, this flow of people mostly has benefited richer countries and generated worries about brain drain in poorer ones. But our knowledge is growing about how to make the migration equation work for everyone. Yet, rather than looking at the potential developmental gains from migration, governments have been slow to adapt. The result is burgeoning illegal immigration, social tension, discrimination, loss of faith in government and the empowerment of criminal networks. Earlier eras witnessed migration on a similar scale. At the turn of the 20th century, approximately 3 percent of the world's population was on the move. A hundred years later, the United Nations estimates that there are 191 million international migrants, a roughly similar ratio. And this number is growing. A new OECD report says developed countries saw permanent migration rise in 2005 at an annual rate of about 10 percent. Today, migrants move quickly and easily thanks to low-cost transportation. The Internet, affordable telephony and satellite television keep them in constant touch with home. Banks wirelessly and instantly transmit hard-won earnings to their families. Globalization, meanwhile, has radically transformed our labor markets, while growing economic inequality (together with natural and man-made crises) prompts more emigration. It is this fluid tableau that makes ours the age of mobility. Almost all of these changes can be harnessed to reduce poverty and inequality. Remittances are a case in point. Until just a few years ago, migrants were paying exorbitant fees to send money home, losing as much as 20 percent in transaction costs. But then governments, civil society and the private sector mobilized to drive down those costs. The British government, for instance, stoked competition by setting up a website (www.sendmoneyhome.org) that allowed users to compare transaction costs. Banks created prepaid and debit cards specifically for migrants and the families. Mobile phone companies are introducing technologies that allow money to be transferred by phone. These innovations underscore migration's potential to contribute to development. In September 2006, for the first time in its history, the United Nations held a migration summit. Many predicted that developed and developing countries would come to blows-the latter would decry brain drain and the violation of migrant rights, and the former would simply walk out of the room. Instead, more than a hundred countries engaged in a constructive exchange. The experience was so positive that they embraced a proposal championed by my predecessor to create a Global Forum on Migration and Development. The inaugural Forum begins today ((July 9)) in Brussels, with some 800 delegates from more than 140 countries. The Global Forum represents an important first step in our efforts to harness the power of migration to advance development. We will learn of efforts like IntEnt in the Netherlands, which has helped migrants establish some 200 businesses in their native countries; of microbanks in Mexico that allow local communities to leverage remittances for investments in education, health, and businesses; of the UK/South Africa International Code of Practice on the Ethical Recruitment of Health Workers; and of how dual citizenship laws ease the way for migrants to play a bigger role in development by bringing their capital, knowledge, and networks back home. We cannot hide from the fact that migration can also have negative consequences. The Global Migration Forum provides an opportunity to address these problems in a comprehensive and pro-active way, so that the benefits of migration are fully realized both in developing and industrialized countries. The keys to making this happen are fundamental to our shared global humanity: tolerance, social acceptance, education, and mutual openness to cultural differences.
Migration can be an enormous force for good. If we follow the evidence, and begin a rational, forward-looking conversation about how to better manage our shared interests, we can together help usher in the third stage of globalization-a long-awaited era where more people than ever before begin to share in the world's prosperity.
Ban Ki-moonis the Secretary General of the United Nations


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