GCRF South-South Migration, Inequality and Development Hub

Migration between the countries of the Global South, otherwise known as South-South migration (SSM), accounts for nearly half of all international migration, reaching almost 70% in some places. The potential of SSM to contribute to development and delivery of the SDGs is widely acknowledged but remains unrealised, largely due to existing inequalities at the global, national and local levels which determine who is (and is not) able to migrate, where to, and under which terms and conditions. These multidimensional inequalities are associated with a lack of rights for migrants and their families; difficult, expensive and sometimes dangerous journeys; and limited opportunities to access services and protection, which can, in turn, exacerbate inequalities. The challenge of ensuring that SSM reduces inequalities and contributes to delivery of the SDGs is intractable due to:
- A lack of evidence about the ways in which horizontal and vertical inequalities can undermine major development investments and policies, and about the types of interventions which can overcome inequalities associated with SSM;
- A failure of existing development approaches to take account of how SSM (and related policies) is/are influenced by broader economic, political and social processes (and relevant sectoral policies);
- A focus on individual ODA-recipient countries rather than on dynamic effects along migration 'corridors' which connect origin and destination countries and the development implications of (two-way) flows of people, finance, trade and knowledge;
- The politicisation of migration and a growing tendency to focus on migration management and border controls at the expense of equitable migration and development related outcomes;
- The top-down, high-level orientation of much development policy planning which can dehumanise migrants by focusing on economic indicators and outcomes rather than experiences and well-being, broadly defined; and
- A gap between policy and legal frameworks to limit inequalities associated with SSM (where these exist), and their equitable delivery / implementation in practice.

The Hub is oriented towards addressing this challenge and ensuring that SSM is able to make a more equitable and effective contribution to poverty reduction, development and delivery of the SDGs, particularly SDGs 1, 5, 8 and 10. It does so by bringing together, for the first time, research and delivery partners from 12 ODA-recipient countries which constitute six SSM 'corridors' (Burkina Faso-Cote d'Ivoire, China-Ghana, Egypt-Jordan, Ethiopia-South Africa, Haiti-Brazil, Nepal-Malaysia) who will work in partnership with five UN agencies and the OECD. The Hub will deliver challenge-led programmes of research and evaluation to address inequalities associated with SSM, undertaking extensive new data collection and policy analysis, and testing interventions and solutions in a range of geographical contexts. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) will lead the Hub's communication and dissemination work, working alongside our research partners in the Global South to develop a range of outputs for different local, national and global audiences to maximise the Hub's impact on policy and practice.

The Hub builds on existing RCUK investments but also develops equitable new partnerships in order to generate novel and innovative perspectives on the intractable challenge which it seeks to address. In particular, by bringing together researchers from the Global South working across the countries making up the SSM corridors, and connecting these teams with leading migration scholars in the Global North, the Hub provides an opportunity for significant cross-learning within and between the corridors, and on SSM more generally. In so doing it offers considerable added value, strengthening capacity and capability for understanding - and responding to - the challenges associated with SSM and delivery of the SDGs.

The Hub will contribute to efforts to ensure that individuals, households, communities and countries in the Global South benefit fully and equitably from SSM and that its benefits are properly harnessed to support delivery of the SDGs. The Hub's impact work in countries at both ends of the corridors focuses on three main policy areas which are informed by UNDP's (2013) framework for addressing global inequalities: reducing income inequalities caused or exacerbated by SSM; closing gaps in education, health and other outcomes for migrants and their families; and tackling SSM-related prejudice, discrimination and exclusion. Specifically:
1. Policies to reduce income inequalities
Inequality, particularly income inequality, plays a key role in determining human well-being, intersecting with horizontal inequalities such as gender and age in specific ways in different geographical contexts. The Hub will generate evidence to support policies and approaches to ensure that SSM reduces these inequalities, for example by:
- Providing capital and other livelihood opportunities for those who do not want to migrate;
- Ensuring equal access to a range of (legal) migration opportunities;
- Regulating recruitment processes to ensure that migrant labour contracts are fair, accommodation is affordable, and abuses are minimised;
- Reducing the costs of migration, in particular recruitment fees and remittance transfers; and
- Supporting hometown, religious, community and wider diaspora associations which channel remittances and knowledge to community-level investments and initiatives.
2. Closing gaps in education, health and other outcomes
Delivery of the SDGs and economic growth depend on improved outcomes in education and health. Migrants and their families often experience difficulties in securing access to key services and social protections due to a lack of legal rights, knowledge and/or poverty, with disproportionate effects experienced by groups such as children who move independently or remain behind. The Hub will contribute to policy efforts that close gaps in education, health and other outcomes, for example by:
- Securing access to social protection for migrants regardless of status or sector;
- Expanding access to education, health and other opportunities for migrants (including migrant children and the children of migrants) through sectoral policies that address the needs of migrants and specific sub-groups;
- Developing appropriate legal frameworks to ensure migrants can access their rights to social protection; and
- Building legal empowerment movements to ensure migrants know about, and are able to access, their rights.
3. Tackling prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion
Prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion directed towards migrants serve to reinforce inequalities of outcomes and opportunities and impact on delivery of the SDGs. Anti-discriminatory legislation and universal service provision can help promote equal opportunity, but interventions are also required to develop and strengthen the agency, voice and political participation of migrants and their families so that they can shape their environment and the decision-making processes that affect their well-being. The Hub will work with project partners to shift dominant, often negative, political and policy narratives around SSM at local, national, regional and global levels, for example by:
- Strengthening civic engagement of socially excluded/marginalised groups;
- Working with policy makers and advocacy organisations to develop legislation based on the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination;
- Using new technologies to create inclusive citizen networks and build transnational solidarity;
- Working with grassroots empowerment initiatives to ensure migrants are able to access legal rights and entitlements; and
- Creating political space for policy interventions that directly address inequalities arising from SSM.