Migration, Remittances and Transnationalism InterAmerican Committee on Social Development Santiago,

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Migration, Remittances and TransnationalismInter-
American Committee on Social DevelopmentSantiago,
ChileApril 5-6, 2004

• David Valenzuela, President
• Inter-American Foundation
• Washington, D. C.

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Contents of Presentation

• What is the Inter-American Foundation?
• The importance of migrants in development
  thinking?
• The remittance flow - cash and non-cash
• Transnationalism a 21st century phenomenon

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What is the Inter-American Foundation?

• Independent U.S. Government Corp
• Established in 1969 by Congress
• Publicly Funded
• Public/Private Sector Board
• 25 Million Annual Budget
• Operates in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Awards grants to local organizations for
  grassroots development

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IAF MISSION

• Strengthen the bonds of friendship and
  understanding among the peoples of this
  hemisphere.
• Support self-help efforts designed to enlarge the
  opportunities for individual development.
• Stimulate and assist effective and ever-wider
  participation of the people in the development
  process.
• Encourage the establishment and growth of
  democratic institutions, private and
  governmental, appropriate to the requirements of
  the individual sovereign nations of this
  hemisphere

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Migration and Development

• Migration a shrinking world community - the
  push and the pull
• Migrants overwhelming host countries
• Migration safety net or brain drain?
• Remittances

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Remittances

• The phenomenal growth of remittances
• 34 USbillions
• macro impact
• the micro impact

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What is Transnationalism?

• Communities whose members, while geographically
  dispersed in one or more countries, maintain
  close contact with each other and tend think of
  themselves as part of a single community.
• Migration becomes a two-way street for the
  collective good of community members

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IAF Experience with Transnationalism

• Cooperativa sin Fronteras
• Haitian diasphora
• Fundacion para la Productividad en el Campo
  (APOYO)
• Active grants in Mexico, El Salvador, Haiti

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Remmittances and Beyond

• Collective remmittances
• Ideas/values/entrepreneurship/technical
  assistance/business linkages
• Negative influences - changed diets, cash
  economies - criminal behavior, stratification

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Co-Community Development

• Migrant Associations and HTAs can become
  effective development partners in their
  communities of origin
• Both migrant communities and their communities of
  origin are strengthened in the process

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Co-community development features

• migration and development can be linked
• migrants and organizations working with migrants
  are natural partners in grassroots development
• there are transnational dynamics and other
  potential actors that must be considered beyond
  the current focus on financial remittances and
  HTAs
• the truly transformative grassroots development
  impact of transnational relationships is often
  not strictly financial in nature
• the process of engaging in grassroots development
  benefits both migrant communities and communities
  of origin

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Looking to the Future

• Enhancing the development potential of
  remittances
• Ensuring that transnationalism becomes a positive
  force for both migrants and their communities of
  origin
• Raising awareness among local governments,
  non-profits, foundations, and policy makers
• Establishing creative partnerships to strengthen
  and support co-community development