Human Development Report 2013 - UNDP

and regional trade arrangements has developed.These arrangements, involving fewer and sometimesmore-homogeneous players, can aligninterests and realize mutual gains for thoseengaged, without the deadlock encountered atthe multilateral level.Subregional trade and investment groups,such as the Economic Community of WestAfrica States and the Common Market ofthe South, have facilitated greater economicinteraction and policy cooperation in otherareas as well, from security to water resourcemanagement. These bilateral and regionalarrangements offer opportunities for furtherSouth–South economic integration andprovide a training ground for building competitivestrengths. 4Still, despite the benefits of bilateral and regionaltrade agreements, without better globaltrade rules and coordinating mechanisms thereare considerable efficiency costs. While encouragingfreer trade among members, tradingblocs tend to erect barriers to free trade witheach other, ultimately reducing global welfare. 5Other efficiency losses can result from theincreased market power that countries gain byconsolidating into trading blocs. 6 As researchfor this Report has shown, freer and fairer traderules can accelerate human development whencoupled with sustained public investment inhuman capabilities—including health, educationand other social services—and essentialinfrastructure—such as modern transportationand telecommunications links.Many aspects of a freer, nondiscriminatorytrade regime are best overseen by a stronger,reinvigorated set of multilateral agreements,but since regionalism may be here to stay, oneway forward is to gradually “multilateralize regionalism”.This would involve the WTO’s initiating“soft-law” ideas, such as the negotiationof voluntary best-practice guidelines for newregional trade agreements and modificationsof existing ones: the WTO could, for example,organize a hierarchy of guidelines for North–North, North–South and South–South regionaltrade agreements. 7MigrationIn 2010, at least 25 economies of the Southreported remittance inflows from migrantsexceeding 10% of GDP. Yet governance ofmigration is largely unilateral, by destinationcountries or bilateral. There are few mechanismsfor multilateral coordination. 8 Real humandevelopment concerns are at stake, mostimportantly, the rights of migrants. While remittancesprovide income for poor households,social upheaval and disruption also come withlarge-scale migration. Multilateral mechanismscould liberalize and simplify channels thatallow people to seek work abroad, ensure basicrights for migrants, reduce transaction costs associatedwith migration and improve outcomesfor migrants and destination communitiesalike. 9With the rise of the South, migration patternsare changing. Nearly half of remittancessent home to countries in the South come fromemigrant workers in other developing countries.In recent years, regional organizationsand economic integration processes have addedmigration to their agendas. These include theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations, theAfrican Union, the Common Market of theSouth and the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity. 10 In 2012, the Global Forum onMigration and Development held discussionson South–South migration for the first time.While the governance of migration is notinevitably or exclusively a multilateral issue,international coordination mechanisms couldprovide a supporting framework for the emergingnetworks of regional and bilateral agreements.The beneficial impact of these dialoguescould be multiplied by global initiatives onmigration issues.With the continuing growth in annualinternational migration—from an estimated70 million four decades ago to more than200 million today, originating largely fromthe South—there is a growing need for rulesto protect the rights of migrants and provideagreed international norms for the flow of immigrantsbetween source and host countries. 11Such rules would benefit all parties, in botheconomic and social terms, while the costs ofinaction will continue to mount. These costsare not solely or even primarily financial: theyinclude the profound human costs of forciblyprolonged family separation, all-too-commonmistreatment in the workplace and the unnecessaryand indefensible degradation of humanWith the rise of theSouth, migration patternsare changing. Nearlyhalf of remittances senthome to countries inthe South come fromemigrant workers in otherdeveloping countriesChapter 5 Governance and partnerships for a new era | 107