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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM TRADING2005, even when inflated by debt relief <strong>to</strong> Iraq, came <strong>to</strong> $107bn.Moreover, remittance flows are steadier and more reliable than eitherFDI or aid.Remittances, flowing <strong>to</strong> poor families across the developing world,are typically spent on basic needs, including education and healthcare. They allow families and communities <strong>to</strong> cope better with therisks that afflict those living in poverty, whether at an individual level,when a family member falls ill or a crop fails, or at a community level– diaspora communities are usually the first <strong>to</strong> react when a monsoonor an earthquake hits. When Ecuador suffered an economic crisis inthe late 1990s, thousands of people left the country, many for Spain,and remittances rapidly expanded <strong>to</strong> 10 per cent of GDP – a vital lifelinefor a country in crisis. 85 Remittances from migrants are alsocritical in helping people survive drawn-out crises like those inNorth Korea, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. 86These cash injections have a tangible impact: children fromhouseholds where a family member has migrated are more likely <strong>to</strong>attend school, stay in school for longer, and progress through schoolsignificantly faster than their peers in non-migrant households. Thepositive educational impact is particularly strong for girls. In Pakistan,for example, girls’ enrolment rates increase from 35 per cent <strong>to</strong> 54 percent if they live in a migrant household. 87 The World Bank estimatesthat remittances have reduced poverty by 11 percentage points inUganda, six in Bangladesh, and five in Ghana. 88Not only does migration ease unemployment in the migrant’scountry of origin, it can increase the flow of capital in<strong>to</strong> the country,encourage foreign trade and investment via burgeoning diasporacommunities, and stimulate technology transfer and <strong>to</strong>urism, as wellas aid. More intangibly, migration boosts the inflow of new ideas.See Box 5.1.335

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