IOM‚ ICIMOD sign cooperation pact
KATHMANDU:
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on labour migration and remittances in climate change adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
Under the collaboration, ICIMOD and IOM-Nepal will work together over the next three years to better understand the role of labour migration and remittances in climate change adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Efforts will include joint research, policy briefs, and capacity enhancement, as well as promoting and sharing climate change adaptation and migration-related tools, methods and technologies, according to a statement issued today.
“Migration can be an adaptation strategy to climate and environmental change and is an essential component of the socio-environmental interactions that needs to be managed. Migration can also be a coping mechanism and survival strategy for those who move. It could also open up opportunities
for employments,” the statement quotes Ambassador Laura Thompson, IOM deputy director general, as saying during the signing ceremony.
Similarly, David Molden, ICIMOD director general, has been quoted as saying, “To maximise benefits of migration and reduce risks for migrant workers, their families, and the communities they come from, policies must acknowledge the potential of migration in supporting adaptation and livelihoods. There must be an accessible institutional arrangement for the better use of remittances and skills.”
Today, an estimated 105 million persons are working in a country other than their country of birth. Labour mobility has become a key feature of globalisation and the global economy, with the World Bank projecting that the international migrants from developing countries will remit $435 billion to their home countries this year.
In terms of remittances as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP), 29 per cent (or $5.55 billion) of the GDP of Nepal in 2013 was contributed by remittances.
Source: THT
