World Development Report 2023

Recently, the World Bank published the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees & Societies.

Highlights :

·     The World Development Report 2023 estimated a 120% income gain for Indians who migrate to another country for work, compared to a 40% rise in the case of internal migration.

·     An Increase in Income: Under-skilled Indian citizens migrating to the US noticed a hike in their income of nearly 500%, followed by the UAE by almost 300%.  Those migrating to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations other than UAE stand to gain less.

·     Overview of Global Migration and Refugees: There are currently 184 million migrants globally, which is 2.3% of the population, including 37 million refugees. 

According to World Development Report 2023, there are four types of migrants:

• Economic migrants with strong skill match (e.g., Indian IT professionals in the US or construction workers in GCC nations)
• Refugees with skills in demand at the destination (e.g., Syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey)
• Distressed migrants (e.g., Some poorly skilled migrants at the US southern border)
• Refugees (e.g., Rohingya in Bangladesh)

Increased Remittances: According to the World Development Report 2023, remittances have increased to some of the countries with a large migrant population, including India, Mexico, China, and the Philippines.

• India received the highest ever foreign inward remittances of USD 89,127 million in FY 2021-22.
• In 2021, total global remittances were estimated at USD 781 billion and have further risen to USD 794 billion in 2022.

·     A Decline in Working-Age Adults: The share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries over the next few decades.

Challenges in this Regard :

1. Global Inequalities:  In terms of real wages, labour market opportunities, demographic patterns, and climate costs.
2. Lack of Citizenship: A significant number of people do not have citizenship in the country where they reside.
3. Distressed Migration: Some migrants move without skills that match the needs of the destination country and they are not refugees either.
   As a result Promoting regular and orderly migration pathways, enhancing the protection and integration of migrants, and fostering the development of origin and destination countries are key to addressing this challenge.

Way Forward :

Match-Motive Framework:

• Firstly, The “match” aspect is grounded in labour economics and focuses on how well migrants’ skills and related attributes match the needs of the destination countries.
• “Motive” refers to the circumstances under which a person moves in search of opportunity. This determines the extent to which migrants, origin countries, and destination countries gain from migration: The stronger the match, the larger the gains.

Manage Migration Strategically:

• Secondly, Origin countries should make labour migration an explicit part of their development strategy.

Balancing Skill Demand and Social Inclusion:

• Thirdly, Destination countries should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their inclusion and address social impacts that raise concerns among their citizens.

Ensuring Protection:

• Fourthly, Provide international protection to refugees in a manner that can be sustained, financially and socially because most refugee situations last many years.

Manage Cross-border Relations Differently:

• In addition to all of the above, Bilateral cooperation can be used to strengthen the match of migrants’ skills and attributes with the needs of destination economies.

Questions related to World Development Report 2023 :

Q. 1) World development report is published by which organization?

1) United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
2) United Nations Organisation (UN)
3) World bank
4) International Monetary Fund
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1,2 and 3

Ans. Option c) World Bank . The World Development Report (WDR) is an annual report published since 1978 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or World Bank.

Q.2) Which of the following are the top migration Corridors?

1) India-US, India-GCC
2) Mexico-US, China-US
3) Bangladesh -India
4) Philippines-US and Kazakhstan-Russia
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 4 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1,3 and 4 only
(d) All of the above

Ans. Option d) All of the Above, India-US, India-GCC, and Bangladesh-India have been identified to be among the top migration corridors globally along with Mexico-US, China-US, Philippines-US, and Kazakhstan-Russia.

To score higher in competitive exams, you should focus on questions related to various reports published by the World Bank, IMF, And United Nations, etc. In addition to this, to ace the exam, Students can also join Chetan Bharat Learning for UPSC/HCS/PCS/State exam preparations.

For Previous year’s questions and answers related to various Reports Click Here