The Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) is an initiative co-ordinated by the World Bank that has been established and envisaged as a platform for synthesising and generating knowledge and policy expertise around migration and development issues. Within the KNOMAD framework, the Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence – which is chaired by the OECD Development Centre and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – seeks to address the need for improved coherence for development in the realm of migration and development in both developed and developing countries.

 

Objectives

 

More specifically, the KNOMAD Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence aims to: 

 

• Help policy makers consider the interactions between migration policies and other public policies when designing policies that aim to regulate migration flows, integrate immigrants and optimise the impact of migration on development.
• Examine the costs and benefits of policy and institutional (in)coherence for migration and development.
•  Establish a set of “coherence criteria” that can help identify good practices for promoting coherence and managing trade-offs and conflicting interests in the realm of migration and development.

 

Added value 

 

 

• The Thematic Working Group is leading the operationalisation of a dashboard of indicators for measuring policy and institutional coherence for migration and development in 10 pilot countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabe Verde, Jamaica, Moldova, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, and Trinidad and Tobago. 
• It is working to bring the broader community of migration and development practitioners and experts closer to the objective of defining, measuring and promoting policy and institutional coherence for migration and development.
• It is building a dynamic network of experts on policy and institutional coherence for migration and development.  
• It is spearheading the process of carving out and defining the field of policy and institutional coherence for migration and development, an emerging area. 

 

Rationale

 

Public policies play a key role in maximising the benefits and minimising the costs of migration, both in countries of origin and destination. Beyond designing policies directly aimed at regulating flows, integrating immigrants and optimising the impact of migration on development – for example, through channelling remittances towards productive investment, promoting brain circulation and mobilising diasporas – policy makers also need to consider the interactions between migration policies and other public policies. The purpose of the Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence is to address the coherence of policies and actions oriented towards migration and development. 

The topic of policy and institutional coherence has been an important part of the international discussion on migration and development, figuring prominently on the agenda of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. Nevertheless, coherence within the field of M&D is still an emerging field of research. Against this background, the overall objective of the Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence is to examine the benefits, as well as the costs, associated with enhancing the coherence of policies and institutions for migration and development. In particular, the working group seeks to establish a set of “coherence criteria” that will help identify good practices on how to manage conflicting interests, objectives and trade-offs in the realm of migration and development-related policy making.

 

Activities

 

In the first two years of KNOMAD, the Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence has: 

 

• Begun leading the operationalisation of a dashboard of indicators for measuring PICMD in 10 pilot countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Jamaica, Moldova, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, and Trinidad and Tobago.
• Established a network of experts working on the topic of policy and institutional coherence for migration and development (PICMD).
• Authored a background paper that lays out a conceptual framework for PICMD. 
• Commissioned a research paper on the development of indicators for measuring PICMD.
• Commissioned a research paper on the coherence between bilateral agreements in the areas of migration, aid, trade and knowledge transfer.
• Organised a workshop on "Strengthening the Migration-Development Nexus through Improved Policy and Institutional Coherence", which included the participation of over 70 researchers, policy makers and representatives of international and civil society organisations.
• Organised a global expert meeting, a national workshop in The Netherlands and a national workshop in Cabo Verde on the operationalisation of the dashboard of indicators.

 

Events

•  Consultation meeting on "Operationalising a dashboard of indicators for measuring policy and institutional coherence for migration and development", 9 September 2015, Geneva
•  National workshop on "Operationalising a dashboard of indicators for measuring policy and institutional coherence for migration and development: Cabo Verde's experience", 21 July 2015, Praia
•  National workshop on "Operationalising a dashboard of indicators for measuring policy and institutional coherence for migration and development: the Netherlands' experience", 12 June 2015, the Hague
•  Expert meeting on "Operationalising a dashboard of indicators for measuring policy and institutional coherence for migration and development", 10-11 June 2015, the Hague
•  Workshop on "Strengthening the Migration-Development Nexus through Improved Policy and Institutional Coherence", 4-5 December 2013, Paris

  

Contact us

 

For further information about the activities of the KNOMAD Thematic Working Group on Policy and Institutional Coherence, please contact [email protected].