Research and Policy Dialogue Initiative on Migration and Development in Nepal

With Remittances will continue to be important to Nepal and Nepalese households alike in the coming years. Currently, there are no institutional tools, programs or assessment of desired opportunities and services to counter this trend and encourage migrants to save and invest. Nepal’s excessive reliance on migration to fill the absence of in-country employment opportunities poses a threat as any substantial decline in capital inflow from migrants may destabilize the Nepalese economy at micro and macro levels. The project envisaged assisting the Government of Nepal (GoN) and related stakeholders in developing policies and project interventions to more effectively harness the link between migration and development. 

In pursuit of the objective mentioned above, the IOM conducted a research on the nature, use and impact of migration related social, human and financial capital flows on Nepal’s socio-economic development. To this end, the project carried out household and migrants’ surveys in 31 randomly selected districts of Nepal, including structured interviews with key stakeholders/ local authorities and consultations with the GoN, private sector and civil society organizations. The project fostered ongoing consultative and capacity building process within the context of National Planning Commission also closely engaging the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, the Ministry of Finance and a local research partner to conduct the research and jointly develop the recommendations.  The process made the Government, civil society and private sector partners fully cognizant on the development potential of migration for promoting sustainable local development in Nepal. 

Building on the recommendations of the High-Level Consultation of 2014, and in particular resolution no. 2, on enhancing linkage between migration and development, the data and evidence emerged through the research and the consultative process has provided the GoN, civil society and private sector entities, with a viable baseline against which to formulate future policies, projects and market interventions for migration mainstreaming.