The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Libya has launched the Human Development Report 2009, entitled “Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development,” to coincide with its celebrations for UN Day 2009. The report was launched in Tripoli, Libya at a press conference attracting the national and international media, with a presentation delivered by the heads of UNDP and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya.

This year’s human development report examines migration from a development perspective and demonstrates that migration can have a positive impact on human development for the people who move, for destination communities and for those who remain at home. Nearly one billion- or one out of seven- people are migrants.

The report forms part of a series of yearly global reports commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme. It aims to frame debates on the most pressing development challenges facing humanity.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is also published within the Human Development Report. This provides a summary of indicators of people’s well-being, combining measures such as life-expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita. Libya was ranked 55 out of 182 countries in terms of its HDI, and is classified as a high human development country.

In their joint presentation, Mr. Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UNDP Resident Representative a.i., and Mr. Laurence Hart, Chief of Mission at IOM, looked to apply the findings of the Human Development Report 2009 to the Libyan context. They emphasised that a key concern in Libya is managing irregular migration, as the country hosts around 1-2million irregular migrants.

IOM has been working on a number of initiatives in this sphere, through providing humanitarian support to stranded migrants, supporting the voluntary return and reintegration of stranded migrants, enhancing Libyan border control capacities and educating migrants on the risks of irregular migration. As part of the UN Day activities, a music concert was co-funded by IOM, CEN-SAD, UNDP and UN in Libya, where popular bands from Niger and Ghana sought to inform migrants of the dangers of irregular migration through music.

Balakrishnan said, however, that “all too often migration is seen primarily as a security issue, rather than a development issue. But let us not forget the example of many developing states today, who owe their economic power to the efforts of their migrant populations.” Attention was also focussed on ways in which UN in Libya can support the government in developing viable labour migration policies, so that the country can benefit from skilled and unskilled manpower from abroad.

For further information on the Human Development Report 2009:
Please visit http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2009/ or email sophie.mcbain@undp.org