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April 24, 2006
Forum Highlights the Value of Migrant Investments in Local Development
“Productive projects coupled with remittances from a vibrant immigrant community will bring about many changes in Mexico”—this was the message given during the talk entitled “The Promise and Pitfalls of Migrant Investments in Local Development”, the second of a Speaker Series on Remittances and Development in Latin America held at The Fletcher School on April 6.
The speakers, who were introduced by Fletcher Professor Katrina Burgess, included Rodolfo Garcia Zamora, Professor of Development Studies at the University of Zacatecas, Efrain Jimenez, President of the Federation of Zacatecan Clubs of Southern California, and Jill Wheeler of the Inter-American Foundation.
The speakers highlighted the value of remittances as the backbone of numerous development projects in Mexico today that are targeted towards income generation, capacity building and social and political development. Mexican Home Town Associations (HTAs) like the Federation of Zacatecan Clubs have emerged as the new vehicles that have made productive projects such as these possible by mobilizing Mexican migrants in the U.S. to volunteer their time and invest funds into development projects in their home communities. HTAs have been able to institute significant changes and garnered political support in Mexican communities with these remittances.
The Inter-American Foundation is a U.S.-based funding agency that funds innovative and participatory projects. Recently, the agency has been looking at migration in Zacatecas and has gotten involved in some productive projects in the area.
In 2004, migrant Mexican communities in the U.S. sent $16 million in remittances to Mexico. This amount rose to $20 million in 2005.. Among migrant Mexican communities, the Zacatecan clubs have been especially active, since they have built ties with the U.S. migrants from their home town for over 100 years.
A specific project that was discussed during the forum was the 1-for-1 program initiated by the Zacatecan Federation in 1986, wherein Mexican State governments matched the funds donated by immigrants dollar for dollar to pursue social infrastructure projects in the home communities of immigrants. In 1992, this was expanded to include matching funds from the Federal government as well to create the 2-for-1 program. In 1999, the 3-for-1 program took shape when municipal funds were added to the pool.
From 1993 to 2005, there have been 1,500 social projects in Zacatecas involving the 2-for-1 and 3-for1 schemes. These programs have financed social infrastructure projects such as clinics, hospitals, schools, wells for potable water, roads and scholarships to students. The HTAs in the US do not only donate the money, but also play an active role in the design, implementation and monitoring of these projects.
Efrain Jimenez says that in the past, they have run into roadblocks in implementing their infrastructure development projects. For example, even though HTAs have built schools, they sometimes find these schools empty as families in the community have migrated to the US.
“People want their families to have a better life”, he says. “Migration is not an option -- it is a necessity. Politicians need to change their speech. If they want to stop migration they are not going to do it with a wall. When people are hungry, when they want to feed the family they are going to go over a brick wall, human wall or whatever they want. The U.S. government and Mexican government have to invest in creating jobs, so that people have alternatives.”
Nevertheless, Jimenez says that the HTAs have made rapid strides in building credibility as good partners for the Mexican government through their mission of social infrastructure development. The Zacatecan Federation convinced the Rockefeller Foundation to become a partner, and the latter has given them funds to transition from doing mere infrastructure building to implementing productive projects that will give people more options.
“No matter how many thousands of projects we finance, we are not going to be able to change where Mexico is going now unless public policy is changed,” Jimenez says. “We need a voice and a hold in the place where decisions are taking place which are Congress and local authorities”.
For this reason, the Zacatecan Federation has been actively seeking political support, and they have been happy to find that it is forthcoming. “Because of the amount of investment that we have been making, our bi-national status is recognized today”, he says. They have support from the Mexican government, Congress and Senate, while two mayors and two congressmen are also actively lobbying for the success of their projects today in Zacatecas.
By Shinjinee Chattopadhyay, MALD '07
Posted by fletcher at April 24, 2006 11:33 AM
