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Migrant remittances are now recognised as an important source of global development finance and there is increasing evidence that international remittances have considerable developmental impacts. The contribution of remittances to GDP in many developing countries is significant and has shown a steady increase over the past decade. However, while there is a consensus that remittance flows to Africa are increasing, little attention has been paid to the impact of these transfers on poverty alleviation, primarily because of data deficiencies at the household level. Despite their obvious magnitude, accurate data on remittance flows to Zimbabwe is unavailable or inaccessible. In an attempt to address such data deficiencies, SAMP devised the household-level Migration and Remittances Survey (MARS) which was administered in several SADC countries, including Zimbabwe. The MARS study was implemented in Zimbabwe in 2005 and surveyed 723 urban and rural households.

Effective and transparent government budgeting is vital to any democracy. In South Africa, massive poverty, inequality and unemployment remain, despite the successful political transformation, citizens and Parliament have a particularly important role to play in shaping budget policy and overseeing its implementation. South Africa reached a crossroads in fiscal governance when it passed the Money Bills Amendment Act in 2009, a law which granted Parliament strong powers to amend the budget prepared by the executive. This publication explores the content of the new law as well as the challenges and opportunities arising from it. It also discusses the role of Parliament in ensuring pro-poor budgeting. Good fiscal governance is too important for the wellbeing of South Africans to not be a part of our public conversations.

Migrant remittances have become an important source of income for many developing countries, exceeding official development assistance. As a result, migration and remittance behaviour are becoming a growing focus of international attention. Understanding the processes and patterns of remittance behaviour can help shed light on their usage and impact, both on recipient households and on wider socio-economic development in migrant-origin countries. One key aspect of such an understanding is the gender dynamics of migration and remittance practices. Globally, there is evidence of the feminization of migrant flows, with women increasingly migrating as independent migrants in their own right. Female migrants maintain strong ties to family members in their home countries. These include significant flows of remittances, of both cash and goods, sent to family members at home. Southern Africa has a long history of cross-border migration and associated¿flows of remittances. Although cross-border economic migration in the region has been dominated by male migrant labour to the South African mining industry, women have also engaged in movement across the region's borders for purposes of seeking work. Evidence suggests that female migration in the region, especially to South Africa, has increased significantly over the past 10-15 years. Little is known about the nature of migrant women's remittances and their impact on the households that receive them, nor about the changing patterns of male and female migration¿over the past decade. ¿SAMP devised the Migration and Remittances Surveys (MARS) to provide nationally-representative data on remittance flows and usage at the household level for five SADC countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. SAMP-led research teams in each country conducted the survey using a standardized questionnaire and sampling strategy. Households were randomly selected and included in the survey only if they had members who were cross-border migrants working outside the country.

Aids and Local Government in South Africa studies the impact of HIV/AIDS on the political system of 12 local municipalities in South Africa. This exploratory study by democracy institute Idasa investigates the epidemic's effect on accountability, effectiveness and legitimacy amongst directly elected councillors, against a back-drop of extreme dissatisfaction with local government performance by historically disadvantaged South Africans.

One of the critical challenges facing Africa is how to harness the potential of internal and international migration in the interests of development. The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) is an international network of organizations founded in 1996 to promote awareness of migration-development linkages in SADC. SAMP conducts applied research on migration and development issues, provides policy advice and expertise, offers training in migration policy and management, and conducts public education campaigns on migration-related issues. Noting that "competing for talent" is recognised as an essential element of international competitiveness in the current world economy, Medical Recruiting: The Case of South African Health Care Professionals, SAMP policy paper no. 45, says a central role is played by private and public sector recruitment agencies in shaping the international mobility of talented or skilled individuals. There has recently been an important and welcome policy shift away from the early reactive ad hoc policy responses to the development of a more comprehensive strategic response that seeks to manage the mobility of health professionals.

One of the critical challenges facing Africa is how to harness the potential of internal and international migration in the interests of development. The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) is an international network of organizations founded in 1996 to promote awareness of migration-development linkages in SADC. SAMP conducts applied research on migration and development issues, provides policy advice and expertise, offers training in migration policy and management, and conducts public education campaigns on migration-related issues.Voices from the Margins: Migrant Women's Experiences in Southern Africa, the Southern African Migration Project's policy paper 46, draws conclusions from women's descriptions of their experiences as migrants and provides a forum for the voices of women themselves to be heard.

The Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) aims to facilitate regional dialogue and cooperation on migration policy issues amongst the governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The overall objective is to facilitate regional co-operation in migration management by fostering greater understanding of migration and strengthening regional institutional and personnel capacities. A Migration Audit of Poverty Reduction Strategies in Southern Africa, MIDSA report No. 3, examines the extent to which recent poverty reduction strategies and policy in Southern Africa reflect the current understanding of migration and its dynamics. The analysis also provides some insight into the prevailing assumptions about migration and development of regional organisations, governments and donors that have shaped poverty reduction strategies in the sub-region.

One of the critical challenges facing Africa is how to harness the potential of internal and international migration in the interests of development. The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) is an international network of organizations founded in 1996 to promote awareness of migration-development linkages in SADC. SAMP conducts applied research on migration and development issues, provides policy advice and expertise, offers training in migration policy and management, and conducts public education campaigns on migration-related issues.The Brain Drain of Health Professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa to Canada, No 2 in the African Migration and Development Series, attempts to answer the question "how" the brain drain can be reduced, acknowledging that it can best be done through concerted efforts from both sides -Sub-Saharan African countries and Canada.

This report comprises the findings of a study led by the Institute of Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), in collaboration with civil society organisations in five countries - Argentina, Bulgaria, Mexico, Slovakia and South Africa, to monitor public access to information held by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). The study was commissioned by the Global Transparency Initiative, a network of civil society organisations promoting openness in the IFIs, such as the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Namibia, like many other countries in the SADC region, is experiencing a major shift in internal and international migration patterns to and from the country. The management of these movements is posing particular challenges and problems. The government ministry responsible for management (the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration (MHAI)) has sole responsibility for implementing and managing migration policy and legislation. The Ministry also manages visa and permanent and temporary residence applications and approves work permits.At the same time, the Ministry provides a range of services for Namibian citizens and other legal residents: the registration of births, deaths and marriages; and the issuing of identity documents, passports and emergency travel documents The MHAI has the unfortunate reputation in Namibia of being one of the most inefficient ministries in the country. a Parliamentary Standing Committee was appointed in 2005 to look into the operation of the Ministry. The investigation has led to numerous actions by the Ministry to try and improve services. These included enhancing accessibility to services by creating mobile teams that were sent throughout the country to rural communities. Waiting times for ID and passport issue were also improved. Other efforts included full implementation of the Immigration Control Act, a fully computerized passport system and the computerization of other services. The MHAI committed itself to constantly reviewing delivery processes and adopting necessary changes, to a policy promoting zero tolerance of corruption and to achieving a reliable and effective human resource management system.The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), at the request of the Ministry, conducted a systematic survey of the quality of services offered to citizens and non-citizens (the Services Quality Survey or SQS). The main objectives of the SQS were to compare the opinions of officials about the level and quality of services with those of the clients receiving these services; to identify the type of problems and delays that occur in the delivery of services in Namibia and why they occur; to determine the extent to which the level and quality of services provided meet the expectations of clients; and to develop a set of recommendations to improve the level and quality of service delivery. The project itself was an independently-funded and objective survey, and its findings are presented in this volume.

The Southern African Migration Project is a collaborative project and this paper is published jointly by IDASA in Cape Town and Queen's University, Canada. It seeks to establish a background for understanding the complex and dynamic linkages between urbanisation, migration, HIV/Aids and urban food security in Southern and Eastern Africa. It documents the key dimensions of the connections. The linkages between HIV/Aids and urban food security are particularly less well-established, and in documenting them here, the authors simultaneously link them with migration, the first to examine these dynamics at a regional level. Jonathan Crush is the Director of the Southern African Migration Project, the Director of the Southern African Research Centre at Queen's University, Canada, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town.Miriam Grant is a Professor at the University of Calgary.Bruce Frayne is a Research Fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Coordinator of the Regional Network on Aids, Livelihoods and Food Security.

This overview publication on governance in Africa is the outcome of the collaborative Centre for Governance in Africa, a partnership between IDASA and the Norwegian Fredskorpset (Volunteer Service). Together, the two organisations facilitate an exchange programme for researchers in Africa, and expose professionals working in governance to political processes in different countries on the continent. They are developing a collaboration framework for African-based democracy and governance centres.

The 'brain drain', or skills emigration, is a major policy and research issues at national, regional and continental levels in Africa, trends having intensified in the 1980s and 1990s. The prevailing message is that only fundamental economic reform and improved quality of live will stem the search for employment overseas. To date however, the debate has been couched in binary terms: the South loses; the North gains. Brain drain within the South receives much less attention. To redress the balance, this study considers internal migration within the southern African sub-region, particularly in light of South African immigration policies. The report presents the results of a baseline study of potential skills in six SADC countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It illustrates how the poorest countries - Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland - are the likely losers. South Africa gains regionally, but is losing skilled citizens to the North. The study highlights the contradiction between tight national immigration policies and the wider political pressures for stronger regional integration, arguing thismay yet present the most promising contingency.

The Southern Africa Migration Project (SAPM) launches its new series on migration and development. Migration has been an integral aspect of the labour markets across much of Africa for at least the last century, cutting across class and skill boundaries. It represents an important livelihood strategy for poor households, but is also characteristic of the better off, including many African elites. Understanding is slowly emerging of the potentially positive role that migration can play in reducing poverty and 'mobilising' the African diaspora in development. This first title in this series provides an overview of the complex political, economic and human development issues at stake around the migration phenomenon in the twenty-first century. It gives valuable factual and statistical data to inform debates on this contentious political topic. This publication is the product of collaboration between the Southern African Migration Project and the Centre for Globalization, Poverty and Migration at Sussex University. Subsequent editions are planned on HIV/AIDS, health, the brain-drain, and food security in Africa.

This publication presents the results of the three principal, and complimentary, research projects: the findings of the pilot project in Zambia in 2003; the key findings of the South African study (2005); and the preliminary findings of the multi-country study of six African countries - Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana and Senegal. The study emphasises that HIV/AIDS is - beyond a health crisis - a pandemic that encompasses all spheres of life, with devastating implications for political legitimacy, stability and development in the new democracies in Africa today.

Substantial financial and human resources from donors, governments, civil society organisations and the private sector have been committed to fighting HIV/AIDS since it was first discovered in Africa. As more resources are allocated, there is a growing need for countries to properly account for these funds. HIV/AIDS Financing and Spending in Eastern and Southern Africa measures the financial response to the pandemic in five selected countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania (mainland), Malawi Zambia and Zanzibar). This publication emerges out of an extensive multi-country resource tracking project conducted by the AIDS Budget Unit of Idasa's Governance and AIDS Programme (GAP).