Leveraging Human Mobility to Rescue the 2030 Agenda IOM Flagship Report for the SDG Summit

The IOM Flagship Report “Leveraging Human Mobility to Rescue the 2030 Agenda” is the first of its kind in terms of its scope, and a central contribution of IOM to the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit (SDG Summit).

The report showcases how, with the right action, human mobility can help achieve the SDGs, and support development beyond 2030. It presents related evidence under six “Acceleration Actions”, presenting potential benefits of policy action through analysis from the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS, University of Oxford) and World Data Lab WDL GmbH, examples of successful initiatives, and recommendations on how to move forward. 

The driving force behind these Actions is connection. They are relevant to policy areas which often operate separately, bringing new connections for the consideration of policymakers. This is reflected in the mix of SDGs each Action supports; many are not often seen in the same sentence. The Actions also aim to connect countries and communities. They are universally relevant, giving a role to play to countries in all regions, in receiving and sending countries of migration, across income levels. Finally, they knit together several cross-cutting elements of mobility and development policy, which must be connected to all interventions.

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Acceleration Actions for Development

1. Extend social protection and universal health coverage to all migrants, to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities and enable their active participation in and contribution to societies.

2. Reduce remittance costs and leverage different types of diaspora contributions to boost sustainable development finance, trade systems and global value chains.

3. Weave human mobility into development and urban planning, to increase social cohesion and boost development for all.

4. Develop safe and regular migration pathways, invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications, to meet the needs of changing labour markets and divergent demographic trends. 

5. Reduce the digital access gap for people on the move, to improve integration and unlock innovative and green entrepreneurship.

6. Integrate human mobility into national adaptation and climate change response plans, and invest in preparedness and loss and damages provisions, to forge impactful climate and peace action.

(This text was originally published on the IOM website. Click here to read the entire report.)