We are pleased to introduce the 14th thematic edition of International Development Policy, ‘Governing Migration for Development from the Global Souths: Challenges and Opportunities’.
This volume presents a number of research projects and case studies from the global South that illustrate how different public policies and legal frameworks on all levels, from the subnational to the international, affect migration positively and negatively. It also addresses the links between sustainable development and migration by assessing migration policies using the ‘5 Ps’ approach: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships. Importantly, the current context of migration presents its own challenges as we see a return to a new Westphalian system of sovereignty, as countries see a surge in nationalism and a rise in xenophobia, and as we struggle through the worst global health pandemic the world has seen in a century.
The thematic issue comprises contributions from about thirty authors with a broad range of backgrounds and expertise. Its focus is from regions of the global South, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa (mena). These academics, researchers, practitioners and migration and healthcare specialists provide insights for both policymakers and researchers interested in understanding the impacts migration policies have on vulnerable populations.
The introduction to this edition provides an overview of the main themes addressed, and of the multilevel issues at stake in terms of governing migration. Chapters then wind geographically from the mena region to Africa, on to Asia, and end with several case studies from Latin America. Each chapter touches on key issues associated with a particular region, while linking back to the global themes of governance, sustainable development and how recent developments such as covid-19 have affected migration both positively and negatively.
The chapters on mena and African regions look at questions of security, of mobility, of the diaspora and of growing xenophobia. The Asian context gives us a policy commentary on attracting highly skilled migrants, the impact of covid-19 on health and migration, and how the migration of healthcare workers, specifically nurses, has been affected by covid-19 and other recent global developments. Finally, in the Latin American case studies authors explore how migrants and migrant caravans have been affected by covid-19, migration policies and legal frameworks. They also explore what countries are doing to achieve the migration-related Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs), why
These 14 diverse chapters piece together a snapshot of what migration looks like, as well as of how migration policies and frameworks have affected global migration. Given the constraints placed on travel early on in the covid-19 pandemic, the guest editors and authors of this edition employed tremendous efforts to ensure internal peer review of early drafts of each chapter, and we thank all of them for doing so. In addition, we are grateful to two external anonymous peer reviewers, who provided input to all chapters in this volume.
International Development Policy also wishes to express its gratitude to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (sdc) and the Republic and State of Geneva—Service for International Solidarity (ssi) for their financial support. Given the importance of the subject, we sincerely hope that this volume will provide the analysis of multi-level governance and the real-world case studies necessary to foster discussion by all stakeholders on how the development–migration nexus can best be served by policies and frameworks on many levels.
The Editors
Geneva, January 2022