1. Workshop Conclusions and Recommendations Towards better Evidence on Migration and Development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Capacity-building Workshop on Migration Statistics Almaty, Kazakhstan, 31 October- 1 November 2013

2. The HLD on Migration and Development has illustrated the high demand and need for data to support evidence based policy decisions. Labour migration continues to remain an important issue for the region. There is a need to improve measurement of and promote the positive impact of migration, while measuring and mitigating its negative impact.

3. There is no debate on if migration affects development, but the question is how it affects development. Migration should be included in the post 2015-development agenda. Migration-related indicators developed for the post-2015 agenda should be limited in number, directly related to goals, and within the capacity of countries to produce.

4. There should be greater coordination between data collecting agencies to help improve the quality and harmonization of data. Indicators to measure the social pillar should include measures on family, health, education, and gender. It is often difficult to differentiate between environmental and other reasons for migration.

5. There was no agreement that environmental migration is a major concern for the region, particularly with regard to its relationship to development. Indicators should be developed in close cooperation between policy makers and statisticians. In the region, ambiguity and politicization of the term “migration” can lead to misunderstanding and affect data quality.

6. There is a need to assess the impact of migration on migrants themselves, as well as for countries of origin and destination, in particular its contribution to the social and economic pillars of sustainable development. Countries should use readily available remittance indicators and they should be included in the post-2015 development indicators.

7. Migration indicators should be mainstreamed into existing indicator groups for monitoring development progress, while separate migration-related goals could also be created. Remittances continue to be an important source of national and household income in the region and contribute to reducing poverty. Efforts should continue to be made to improve the quality of data on remittances.

8. Household surveys are important to improve measurement of the impact of remittances, as well as fill gaps in data reported by central banks. Household surveys should be harmonized to increase data quality and comparability, including questions to measure remittances.

9. Several financial-related indicators were identified, including those related to costs of migration, financial literacy, savings strategies, and entrepreneurship. Goals and indicators related to foreigners in the labour force were discussed. Duration of stay, education, economic sector, citizenship, language skills, demographic characteristics, income, and remittances were deemed important for measurement. Goals and targets still need to be better developed, consulted, and harmonized.