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Migration II

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Foto: Ap

In last week’s article, I wrote that “Investments by developed states to improve economic conditions in these countries and ensure that jobs, education, health, and security services are available for all can also help keep potential migrants at home”.

These investments can come from governments or from the private sector. 

Given the high levels of corruption in the Central American Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras), I believe that government and private sector aid to these countries should be funneled to non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) whose reputations are good and have direct connections with the local population.

Government to government aid should go to projects aimed at political, economic and social reform, in order to address the structural weaknesses in governance that these governments suffer.

A good example of this is the announcement last week by the Canadian government that announced that, with a commitment of $10 million over the next 4 years, Canada will work with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to assist women and girls affected by irregular migration and forced displacement in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Canadian Minister for International Development Harjit S. Sajjan said that working together is the only way we can end the forced displacement of people from Central America and Mexico. It is a major humanitarian and refugee crisis that disproportionally affects women and girls. By working with partners like the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency, Canada will support initiatives that will reinforce the safety and well-being of women and girls by improving living conditions and protection mechanisms.

While $10 million over four years may seem to be a pittance at first glance, Canada’s record of working in developing countries with small but well-directed and managed projects has been very successful over the past four decades. Working directly or with international organizations and NGO’s, funds flow directly to those in need and in a position to address those needs rather than to governments where they may well be lost to corruption, greed, and political necessities.

Canada also has a temporary agricultural workers program, where workers from developing countries go there legally with all their rights protected and spend anywhere from 6 to 10 months working on Canadian farms. Instead of migrating illegally, they can come back year after year of invited by their employers and live in Canada temporarily without fear.

But the private sector has a serious role to play in this venture as well.

The same day that my article appeared in the press, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris announced seven new commitments as part of the Call to Action launched on May. Businesses and social enterprises will make new, significant investments to address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity. Commitments include those from: CARE International, Cargill, Grupo Mariposa, Parkdale Mills, PepsiCo, JDE Peet’s, and PriceSmart.

In addition, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Nespresso—who announced initial commitments in May—announced further action in the region. As a result, businesses and social enterprises have invested more than $1.2 billion in response to the Vice President’s launch of the Call to Action.

According to the White House, Mastercard committed to bring 5 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras into the formal financial economy and to digitize 1 million micro and small businesses. To achieve that goal, Mastercard has announced a commitment of $100 million in investment in the region, and that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala to establish a Digital Country Partnership to facilitate digital acceleration in areas such as commerce, social benefit payments, transportation, tourism, and economic development for small and medium-sized companies.

In addition, Microsoft has committed to expanding internet access to up to three million people in the region by July 2022 and to build on its global skills initiative to provide access to digital skills learning paths to connect people to skills and certifications. Microsoft’s Airband initiative is now on track to expand broadband internet access to 4 million people by 2024. In addition, Microsoft will commit to training over 100,000 individuals in the next three years, including in soft, technical, and digital skills, enabling them to access higher-paying, local jobs.

These are very promising initiatives.

The idea is to keep would-be irregular migrants at home, to technologize local economies, and provide citizens of those countries with the tools that they need to participate in the global economy. Education and jobs, not charity, are key here, and these tools will help keep would-be economic migrants at home and contributing to a growing local economy.

Doing good works. 

The private sector investments in these countries will not only help mitigate the challenge of ending the tragic flows of economic and political refugees to the North but also limit the role of the criminal gangs that feed on these victims of poverty and hopelessness. 

As local economies offer good jobs and training for their citizens, the incentive to turn to crime will be reduced and people will want to stay at home. This initiative will also create good-will and new markets for the companies that invest in the Northern Triangle, increasing their local revenue and market share.

These win-win initiatives may not reverse the flow of people northwards tomorrow, but they will create the foundations of economies that can eventually offer hope to their citizens.

And hope in the future is what these people need in order to stay at home.  


Keep reading: Migration

 

Edition: Estefanía Cardeña


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