International Migration and the Global Agenda: Reflections on the 1998 UN Technical Symposium

As a cross‐border phenomenon affecting many countries, migration should be an important area for international cooperation. Yet such cooperation has been slow to emerge. Politically, the topic has been marked by interest conflicts and differing national policy approaches. As a field of social scientific research, it has been characterized by fragmentation according to disciplines, paradigms, methodologies and ideologies. The 1998 United Nations Technical Symposium on International Migration and Development was therefore highly significant as a step towards a global response, although as a meeting of experts it fell short of the intergovernmental deliberations some states (especially emigration countries) have called for. The Symposium reviewed knowledge on the links between migration and development and discussed the relative success of various policy approaches. A number of key themes emerged. An inclusive research framework is needed which takes account of all types of population mobility and all stages of the migratory process. The contributions of a range of social scientific disciplines and paradigms should be integrated. An important advance has been the growing understanding of the role of social networks and cultural capital in the migratory process. The Symposium discussed the need for strategies which reflect the ambivalence of women’s experience: international migration can be both a source of exploitation and abuse, and an opportunity for greater autonomy. Issues of settlement and return of migration were debated: both need to be considered in strategies for maximizing the benefits of migration for the various participants. An urgent need for better public information and education on migration and settlement was noted. Overall, the Symposium showed the great complexity of links between migration and development. It also found that a knowledge base does exist for greatly improved policy formation and international cooperation in this area of growing global significance.