9:00-9:15

Welcome 

Presenter:

• Franciscus A. Godts, World Bank Executive Director, Belgium

9:15-9:45 

Opening Session: Migration and Development – World Bank Group and the Road to the Global Compact

Presenter:

• Dilip Ratha, Head, KNOMAD, World Bank

Chair:

• Kamal Amakrane, Director for issues on Migrants and Refugees, Office of the President of the General Assembly, 71th session

9:45-11:00

Panel I: The “Politics” of Migration: Fragility and Governance 

Panelists:

• Xavier Devictor, Advisor to Senior Director, Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, World Bank Group

• Shelly Pitterman, UNHCR Regional Representative for the USA and the Caribbean

• Miles Vitomir Raguz, Senior Regional Manager, Council of Europe Development Bank

• Benu Bidani, Practice Manager, Poverty Global Practice, World Bank Group

• Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director General, DG NEAR, European Commission

Moderator:

• Tom Nuttall, Charlemagne Columnist, The Economist

Some people move because of different causes related to politics: fragility, failing social contracts, poor service delivery, conflict and political persecution. How should the international community tackle these challenges? Looking beyond the simple dichotomy of the humanitarian and the developmental responses, this panel will take a critical look at our hitherto work on fragility and governance, and extract key lessons learned to assess how it affects responses to migration. Are we reactive, rather than pre-emptive? How do we ensure that unleashed citizen unrest powered by social media translates into trustworthy institutions that will survive after the revolutionary moment passes? Can we use e-Government to modernize public services and base them on citizen feedback to enhance mutual trust? How important is security sector reform and the development agenda in post-conflict situations marked by internal and forced displacement?

11:15-12:30

Panel II: The “Economics” of Migration: Poverty, Inequality and Jobs

Panelists:

• Vazil Hudak, Vice-president, European Investment Bank

• Stefano Signore, Head of Unit for Migration, Employment and Inequalities, DG DEVCO, European Commission

• Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director, Labor, Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, World Bank

• David Metcalfe, Director General, Europe and Middle East Bureau, Global Affairs Canada

• Manuela Tomei, Director, International Labor Organization Conditions of Work and Equality Department, ILO

Moderator:

• Kristina Mikulova, Slovakia Advisor to Executive Director, World Bank Group 

Some people relocate because of the economics of migration: skills mismatch and distorted labour markets, poverty and inequality, lack of jobs and business opportunities, and weak social safety nets. The international community has to step up efforts to design evidence-based policies for both source and host countries. How do we support livelihoods most vulnerable to slides back into poverty, and cater to youth and women? Can we upgrade skillsets, and tailor vocational training programmes to the needs of sectors with labour shortages? Do source countries possess a good enough understanding of the effects of demographic trends at home on jobs and labour migration? Perhaps most importantly, are we tapping into the economic potential of refugees and migrants in host countries, and, if not, which are the obstacles that stand in our way?

12:30-14:00

Lunch

Keynote: “Culture” of Migration: Ethnicity, Culture and Religion

Presenter:

• Jan Figel, EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief Outside the European Union 

14:00-15:15

Panel III: The “Nature” of Migration: Disasters and Environmental Change

Panelists:

• Linus Bengtsson, Executive Director, Flowminder

• Ruediger Koenig, Director General for Crisis Prevention, Stabilization and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Federal Foreign Ministry of Germany

• Tom Barrett, Head of Representation of the European Investment Bank in Washington D.C.

• Elizabeth Collett, Director, Migration Policy Europe
  

Moderator:

• James Dominic Edward Close, Director, Climate Change Cross-cutting Solutions Area, World Bank

Some people migrate due to disasters and environmental change: earthquakes, cyclones, floods, slow-onset environmental change and the loss of opportunity intimately related to them. Most of migration, displacement and planned relocation that take place in the context of environmental change is likely to occur within the developing world. Are we doing enough to build resilience to disasters as well as climate change? How well do we understand the implications of internal migration, including rural-urban, urban-rural and rural-rural movements, as well as cross-border South-South migration induced by environmental change? Can we mitigate the economic impact of displacement by ensuring greater security, reliability and use of South-south remittance flows?

15:30-17:00

Panel IV: The “Returns” on Migration: Remittances and Diaspora

Panelists:

• Kanchan Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Remitr

• Charlene Chen, COO, BitPesa

• Mohit Davar, Chairman of IAMTN and NonExec Director and Advisor to payment companies

• Lisa Nestor, Director of Partnerships, Stellar

• Annette Chammas, Head of Division “Policy Issues of Displacement and Migration” of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
  

Moderator:

• Dilip Ratha, Head, KNOMAD, World Bank

Some people move and share the returns on migration: sending money home is a powerful hidden force in global economics. The amount that international migrants send home to their families and friends is easily the triple of official development assistance. What is more, remittances are much more resilient in times of crisis than foreign direct investment or aid budgets. The SDGs explicitly include a target to reduce remittance costs to less than 3 percent. What are the frontiers of technology and innovation in the global remittance markets? Which barriers, practical, regulatory and behavioral, can we remove to ensure that remittances, which target the poor and vulnerable directly without middlemen and official agencies or development banks, reach them when they most need it? What can we do to reduce the cost of sending money home to maximize the development impact of remittances on recipient economies?

17:00-18:00

Keynote: Looking ahead and Next Steps

• Keith Hansen, Vice-president, Human Development Practice Group, World Bank Group
  

The keynote will highlight key commitments for the international community in the migration agenda and discuss challenges in implementation looking ahead. Can we agree on the lowest common denominator, or are we aspiring to a transformational impact that could shift perceptions and behaviors in host communities and among refugees and migrants alike? If we cannot yet graduate to the latter, what can we do to start changing the discourse on large movements of people in our constituencies and countries? Is portraying migration as an economic opportunity a narrative that they could relate to?

Contact Information:

World Bank

Ms. Sonia Plaza: splaza@worldbank.org

Slovakia Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ms. Kristina Mikulova: kmikulova@worldbank.org

Join remotely:

Webex:

Meeting password: 3cgMeEGp
Meeting number: 738 000 845

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UyzZqvWfJc

Video Conference Details: 
VC, Jabber, internal Phone (SIP): 55760012@worldbank.org/(H.323): 55760012
External IP: 192.86.102.202 followed by internal dial-in number 55760012