PRESS RELEASE NO. 8  

MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 28 --- The Philippines which has an estimated 10 million people living and working abroad has been chosen as one of the 16 countries to be covered by a recently-launched Joint Initiative on Migration and Development of the United Nations and the European Commission. 

“The Philippines has been chosen as one of the 16 target countries because of its size of migrants working abroad and lots of ideas, good practices and experiences to share with other countries,” Peter Sutherland, special representative of the UN Secretary-General on Migration, said today in a press conference during the ongoing 2^nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GMFD) at the Philippine International Convention Center. 

Other countries to be covered by the UN-EU joint initiative include Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia, Moldova, Ecuador, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Cape Verde, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia. 

Sutherland stressed that both former UN secretary-general Kofi Anan and his predecessor Ban Ki-moon are deeply committed on the issue of migration and development, leading to the establishment of GFMD during the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006. 

“I welcome the joint initiative as one of the more tangible and practical expressions of the global forum process and I’m delighted that such important project has been produced in just a short time of the forum,” Sutherland said. 

Taking off from the recommendations of the 1^st GFMD held in Brussels last year, the joint initiative will reinforce the role of civil society organizations and local authorities by ensuring that the capacity of the key stakeholders is strengthened to become efficient actors for migration and development.

“We hope it will address decision-makers and keep them fully informed of the good practices on migration and development and also create a forum where practitioners can meet and exchange knowledge with the aim of facilitating migration and development information,” Suneeta Mukherjee, UN resident commissioner and UN Fund for Population Activities representative to the Philippines, said. 

A Call for Proposals will be launched in the first week of December in Brussels, Belgium to provide 11 million Euro (P690 million) in funding for concrete project proposals in the four priority areas of migrant communities, migrant rights, the capacities of migrants and migrant remittances. 

The Joint Initiative will grant from 50,000 to 200,000 Euro per project to support concrete interventions in the four priority areas. 

Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of delegation of the EC to the Philippines, said the program is the EC’s first global initiative on migration and development that aims to address the opportunities and challenges such as mitigation of possible braindrain in the countries of origin. 

MacDonald said that with the Philippines being one of the covered countries, a Filipino can represent the Asian region on the advisory board of the joint initiative project. 

“It is good for both the civil society and the government in the Philippines to learn from their counterparts in other countries in Europe and I think, the Philippines has  a major contribution in  sharing its own experience with partners and colleagues from other countries,” he added.   

MacDonald recalled that the European Commission has provided two million Euro for the Philippines to fund the repatriation of the Filipino overseas workers (OFWs) trapped in the 1991 Gulf war. 

MacDonald also acknowledged the contribution of some one million OFWs living and working in Europe.  The number represents about five percent of the international workers in the European Union. 

“There are some very positive results on the presence of Filipinos in Europe.  Their contribution to growth and productivity in European Union is very much appreciated,” MacDonald said. 

On the other hand, MacDonald said the OFWs remittances “are extremely important” for the Philippines’ economy.  In 2007, the OFWs’ earnings hit US$15 billion and forecast to reach US16 billion this year. 

“The remittances matter a lot to the country’s economy and through this joint initiative, we could address all the issues concerning migration and development between the civil society and the governments,” Mukherjee echoed. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will implement the joint initiative project in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, UNFPA, UNHCR and International Labor Organization.