People leave their home countries for a better life and better working conditions elsewhere. More than 200 million people now live in a foreign country, around half of them in North America and Europe. A number of people also migrate from one developing country to another: 'South-South migration'.

The international community increasingly views migration as an opportunity. Once migrants have established themselves in their new countries, they regularly send money back home in amounts more than double that spent as official development aid. In times of crisis, migrants increase their transfers home in an expression of solidarity. Such funds enable children to attend school or the sick to visit a doctor, or they are saved for a rainy day – to cover unforeseen expenses – or used as start-up capital for businesses.

Associations of migrants from the same country, 'diaspora communities', frequently initiate public welfare activities from their host countries. They promote knowledge transfer between their new and old homes, organise cooperation among universities and improve the living conditions of the people in their countries of origin. Many migrants start up businesses, engage in trade, or organise inter-company cooperation. Activities of this kind strengthen the local economy and social infrastructure. The know-how gained abroad thus returns to benefit the countries of origin.

Host countries also see positive results. Migrant workers maintain high productivity levels in societies with aging populations and form new trade contacts between the host and home country. Migrants' knowledge of the language, customs and cultures of two countries benefits the economies on both sides, too. Migration can thus be advantageous for migrants, countries of origin and host countries – a triple-win situation. However, to harness this potential, numerous obstacles need to be overcome, and this is where GIZ comes in.

The European Union, too, has made migration a key focus of its foreign relations and is investing more and more funding in the field of migration and development as well as in promoting legal migration and deterring illegal migration. The United Nations’ High Level Dialogue on International Migration has been holding conferences since 2006 to promote international exchange on a regular basis. In Germany, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is working to achieve greater coherence between migration and development policy and is using the new approach in its development cooperation projects and programmes.