Maximizing the Development Impact of Migration in Nepal: Comprehensive Market Study

Abstract

This report presents selected data generated from the migrant worker and household surveys carried out within the project Research and Policy Dialogue Initiative on Migration and Remittances in Nepal, implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mission in Nepal, and financed by IOM Development Fund. Stakeholder workshops and review of secondary literature/data complemented this primary data. Where relevant, it provides a comparative analysis with the results of similar surveys conducted in other South-Eastern and Eastern European (SEEE) countries since 2006. This comprehensive and multistage approach was carried out by adapting concepts and methodologies developed by the International Agency for Source Country Information Migration (IASCI), in collaboration with the Center for Sociological, Political and Psychological Analysis and Investigations (CIVIS), to Nepali context in close coordination with IOM, IIDS and the Project Steering Committee. The aim of the project Research and Policy Dialogue Initiative on Migration and Remittances in Nepal is to assist the Government of Nepal in developing evidence based policies to harness effectively the link between migration and development. To achieve this, it is necessary to increase awareness among key stakeholders on the nature, use and impact of remittances entering Nepal, to describe migrant workers’ and their households’ overall financial behaviour, including savings and consumption, as well as to assess the overall impact of migration on the country’s socio-economic development.