The general objectives of My JMDI e-Toolbox on Migration and Local Development are to:

• develop the understanding of the linkages between Migration and Development (M&D) at the international, national and local level and their contextualisation of local realities;
• reinforce the capacities of local actors in planning and implementing coherent frameworks for M&D at the local level;
• identify all relevant stakeholders and operationalizing partnerships to increase the impact and sustainability of local M&D initiatives;
• expose stakeholders to a comprehensive informative and learning tool including research and literature;
• provide concrete tools for the institutionalisation and territorialisation of the M&D Nexus and the related actions and policies at local level.

At the end of the e-course, participants will be able to:

• develop a general understanding of the major concepts, tools and strategies related to migration and local development;
• understand the linkages between migration and local development;
• support the establishment of partnerships, cooperation and dialogue on M&D at the local level;
• establish an enabling framework of conditions geared towards the empowerment of migrants and their associations;
• appreciate the role of migration as an opportunity for job creation and local economic development;
• recognize local integration/re-integration of migrants as an asset for local development.

The Core Module aims to introduce the main concepts related to or associated with the complex issue of the Migration and Development Nexus and its application at the local level.

This module therefore provides the tools necessary to tackle the other modules (1 to 5), which will focus on the specific actions local and regional authorities can take to tackle the developmental challenges and opportunities related to migration.

The Core Module will address the following aspects:

Topic 1: Challenges and opportunities of migration and local development. The first topic will focus on the M&D Nexus and on the challenges and opportunities related to it, as well as on its particularities at the local level.

Topic 2: Adopting a gender approach to migration in a local context. The second topic will tackle the fundamental notion of gender and its importance in the M&D context.

Topic 3: Migrants as local development actors. The third topic will focus on migrants and their role in M&D.

Topic 4: The role of local authorities in empowering migrant communities. The fourth topic will focus on local and regional authorities and their role in M&D.

Topic 5: Adopting a human rights-based approach to migration and development in a local context. The last topic will explore the notion of a rights-based approach to migration and its importance in M&D.

click here to download the Core Module 

Module 1 aims at exploring how migration and local development are connected, in terms of policies and initiatives. In other words, the module focuses on the linkages between migration and local development, and on how these linkages are effectively managed in the field.

Module 1 will address the following aspects:

Topic 1: What is local development (LD)? The first topic explores the particularities of what we call “local development”, including the actors that influence it and the way it is articulated within the national and international contexts.

Topic 2: Local development and migration: coordination, synergies and policies. The second topic addresses the way migration can affect local development, and vice versa, throughout the migration cycle. It also provides an insight into how local development is planned and implemented. This is done through the introduction of the concept of the mainstreaming of migration within local development planning.

Topic 3: Data on migration and local policies. The third topic focuses on one of the most critical conditions that influence the way migration policies are defined: data. It provides an insight into the different kinds of data on migration and on the way they inform policies.

Click here to download Module 1 

Module 2 aims to tackle the key issue of partnerships able to enhance local M&D processes. The stress is put on the importance of recognizing the interrelationship and complementarities that exist between different actors, and the way these actors may be linked through partnership. The module also focuses on the role LRAs play in setting up or participating in these partnerships.

Module 2 will address the following aspects:

Topic 1 - M&D partnerships: forms and frameworks, from the global to the local level. The first topic explores the different scales of partnership, from the international to the local level, and the different actors involved. It also illustrates the main features of partnerships, as well as the different kinds of partnership within or across borders.

Topic 2 - Decentralized cooperation, co-development and territorial partnerships. The second topic focuses on local-to-local partnerships, and more precisely on decentralized cooperation, co-development and territorial partnerships.

Topic 3 - Public-private partnerships. The third topic addresses public–private partnerships (PPPs) and their potential application in local M&D processes.

Topic 4 - Working with diasporas/migrant association in territories of origin and destination. The fourth topic deals with the different ways to partner with migrant associations, from both a territory of origin and of destination point of view.

Module 3 aims to explore the ways to strengthen migrants’ agency as protagonists of local development. The stress is put on the means for creating an enabling environment for migrants to express their potentials, as well as to empower migrants and their associations for meaningful participation in local development – in both territories of origin and destination.

Module 3 will address the following aspects:

Topic 1 - Strengthening migrants' agency as protagonists in local development. The first topic will explore the concept of agency, and broadly set out the ways to both enable and empower migrants for local development.

Topic 2 - What are the services for migrants and their families in territories of origin and destination? The second topic will focus on the services that can be provided in both territories of origin and destination to promote the integration/reintegration of migrants, but also their participation in transnational activities.

Topic 3 - Promoting and engaging migrant organizations. The third topic will discuss in what ways migrant associations can be engaged in local initiatives and the reasons for doing so.

Topic 4 - Promoting politica participation and engagement in policy-making. The fourth topic will highlight the importance of promoting migrants’ political participation, in both territories of origin and destination, and provide examples on how to do so in contexts where migrants do not have formal representation rights.

Module 4 aims to examine how, within a decent work perspective, territories can develop jobs and economic opportunities maximizing the skills of migrants so as to increase both the quantity and the productivity of labour employed and increase local economic development.

The module therefore analyses all the possibilities and challenges related migration, as well as examining local strategies to upgrade and help territories move to a prosperous circle of higher productivity, employment and income growth, and development at the local level, as well as to improve access to skills for more migrant women and men.

Module 4 will address the following aspects:

Topic 1: The Nexus between labour migration and local economic development (LED). The first topic explores the Nexus between labour migration and local economic development and the different actors involved.

Topic 2: Maximizing the use of migrants’ skills and responding to the labour market needs at local level. The second topic presents different strategies towards maximizing the use of migrants’ skills and responding to the labour market needs at local level.

Topic 3: Entrepreneurship of migrants: challenges and opportunities. The third topic focuses on building and nourishing the entrepreneurship of migrants and more precisely on analysing the challenges and opportunities that migration brings in terms of LED.

Topic 4: Remittances and migrant investments for local economic development. The fourth topic addresses remittances and their potential application in local M&D processes and their role in both a territories of origin and destination. The module also focuses on the role LRAs play in setting up social dialogue, policies and programs that capitalize on the opportunities brought forward by the development of skills among migrants and the challenges faced at different levels of local development.

Module 5 aims to cover two distinct though intimately related fields of action on migration policy: integration and reintegration. 

Module 5 will address the following aspects:

Topic 1 – The paradigms and challenges of migrants’ integration and reintegration and their impact on development.

Topic 2 – The role of local authorities in facilitating the integration of migrants.

Topic 3 – The role of local authorities in facilitating the reintegration of migrants.

Focus is given to how both issues impact and are impacted by the whole migration cycle, and on the importance of good knowledge of migration trends in order to define pertinent policies and practices.

The module underlines the key issue of cooperation and partnerships for the design of effective mechanisms towards integration and reintegration, and therefore the importance of knowing about and involving a wide range of actors.

An important element is that the module also stresses how being well prepared influences both integration and reintegration, and therefore the importance for local authorities to design strategies aimed at enabling migrants to properly prepare themselves.