FINAL CONFERENCE REPORT
INTRODUCTION
On March 16-17, 2009, the Suitland Working Group held its first meeting entitled Using
Household Surveys to Measure Migration and the Size, Distribution, and Characteristics of
Migrant Populations at the U.S. Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, outside of
Washington, D.C. This meeting was coordinated by representatives from the U.S. Census
Bureau, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Eurostat, the United
Nations Population Division, and the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). It
represents an outgrowth of two earlier conferences: the Expert Group Meeting on the
Contribution of Household Surveys to Measuring Remittances, held in January 2008; and the
joint UNECE/Eurostat Work Session on Migration Statistics, organized in collaboration with
UNFPA, held in March 2008.
BACKGROUND
On January 15-16, 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau, UNECE, and the World Bank convened an
expert group meeting to discuss the contributions household surveys can make to the
measurement of migration and remittances. The U.S. Census Bureau hosted this meeting at its
headquarters, located in Suitland, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. The meeting was
organized under the framework of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) Work Plan on
Improving International Migration Statistics, promoted by the CES Steering Group on Migration,
which is chaired by the United States.
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Based on the presentations and discussions during the meeting in Suitland, participants agreed
that further work was needed in a more formalized institutional setting at the international level
to improve the quality and availability of data on remittances and migration and to better
harmonize current international, regional, and national initiatives for household surveys in this
area. Participants proposed to create a task force to be chaired by the United States that would
operate under the auspices and guidance of CES.
In response to a presentation given by the United States at the joint UNECE/Eurostat Work
Session on Migration Statistics held on March 3-5, 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland, participants
expressed support for the establishment of a task force on migration and remittances. However,
they encouraged the organizers to broaden its scope and place greater emphasis on the use of
household surveys to measure a wider range of migration-related topics, not just remittances.
These discussions led to a change in focus for the task force and the creation of the Suitland
Working Group. During these meetings, it was decided that the Suitland Working Group would
operate under the umbrella of the CES Work Plan to Improve International Migration Statistics
and that the United States would act as chair and host the first meeting.
OBJECTIVES OF THE SUITLAND WORKING GROUP
The primary objective of the Suitland Working Group is to improve the use of household surveys
to measure migration. To achieve this objective, the Working Group will produce a series of
products that provide various agencies (e.g., national statistical agencies, international
organizations, NGOs, universities, etc.) in both developed and developing countries with
practical guidance on how to best use household surveys – possibly combined with other sources
– to measure levels and outcomes of international migration and the characteristics of migrant
populations. The Working Group will focus its efforts on:
· facilitating international collaboration and the consolidation of existing knowledge,
through forums such as conferences and the coordination and monitoring of research
projects;
· developing a research agenda focusing on methodological issues where no clear guidance
exists; and
· creating products (e.g., handbooks on best practices, questionnaire modules, white
papers, technical reports, literature reviews, guidelines/standards, web sites, etc.)
accessible to the widest audience possible.
ORGANIZATION OF THE MEETING
The goals of the first Suitland Working Group meeting included:
· reviewing the most relevant uses of and the methodological issues associated with using
household surveys and possibly other sources to measure migration and its impacts as
well as the size, distribution, and characteristics of migrant populations;
· defining topics to be addressed by the group and setting research priorities; and
· completing a work plan outlining various projects in several key areas, including
goals/objectives, outputs, timelines, and resources.
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Participation in the Suitland Working Group was by invitation only. Participants included
experts from national statistical offices and related institutions, representatives of international
and supranational organizations, and academics and other experts invited by the meeting
organizers. See Appendix A for the names and organizational affiliations of the participants.
The meeting was structured around four “break outâ€