Migration and Development

Migration and the Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. Complete with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the agenda is a commitment by countries, non-governmental organisations, businesses, scientists, farmers, and other actors to act to eradicate poverty, strengthen universal peace, and protect the planet.

Safe and regular migration pathways are central to growth and prosperity, with migrants an important part of the solution for reaching the SDGs. Migration contributes to all 17 SDGs, and in particular to poverty reduction (Goal 1: No poverty); increased innovation and entrepreneurship (Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure); and investment in businesses and human capital (Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth). Migrant remittances also finance sustainable development and reduce inequalities (Goal 10: reduced inequalities).

SDG targets are specific sub-goals that help countries break down the task of achieving an overarching SDG, like SDG 1 ending poverty, into specific, concrete sub-goals, such as target 1.2. “Reduce poverty by at least 50%“. Indicators are the specific ways in which countries will measure their progress towards reaching any given target and goal, such as Indicator 1.1.1 “Proportion of the population living below the national poverty line by sex and age.”

Visit the Migration Data Portal to spin the wheel to explore how each SDG relates to migration and learn more about migration-relevant data for each.

Scenario

Instructions

Divide the class into 4 groups and assign one of the four migration-key SDGs, via the following links:

• Migration and SDG 1: No poverty
• Migration and SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
• Migration and SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• Migration and SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

Instructions

Instruct groups to visit the link for their specific SDG and to first watch the short, summary video. After that, students can scroll down the page to read the section “What do we know?” Groups can then scroll further down the page to click on each migration-relevant target and indicator to explore the way different countries are measuring their progress towards achieving the SDGs, with respect to migration.

Presentation

Groups can then present what they have learned to the class. Each presentation should:

• Briefly explain the way migration relates to their SDG of focus
• Choose one of the migration-related infographics or graphs to show and explain to the class.
• Describe some of the specific migration-related targets and indicators for their SDG of focus

Presentation

If available, describe some of the migration-related indicators, such as datasets and types of data, being used by different countries to measure progress towards achieving their SDG of focus Module 12: Migrants’ Contributions - Instructional Guide