April 2018
Katie Colven, International Organization for Migration, Geneva
The adoption of the New
York Declaration on 19 September 2016 made an historic contribution to
forging consensus on managing the world's movements of migrants and
refugees. It expresses the recognition by world leaders of the need for a
comprehensive approach to human mobility and enhanced cooperation at
the global level to save lives, protect rights and share responsibility
on a global scale. It also provided for the development of two global
compacts to be adopted in 2018: a global compact on refugees and a
global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
The
development of the global compact for migration has dominated the
international migration agenda in the past year. It is expected to
foster deeper collaboration, not only between Member States, but also
with non-state actors, to ensure that migrants benefit from the full
range of the Sustainable Development Goals, including for example,
access to health, education, decent work and gender empowerment. Indeed,
the linkages between migration and development has been an important
area of thematic focus during the consultation phase of the global
compact. Some of the key messages that were heard highlighted the
importance of empowering migrants as agents for development; linking
migration policies and legislation to commitments and objectives from
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and fostering the
development effects of migration at the local level.
The
International Organization for Migration's (IOM) role in the global
compact process is to provide policy and technical expertise to Member
States and others involved in its development, as called for in the
modalities resolution. IOM is drawing on its global footprint, its close
relationships with governments, its extensive partnerships with the UN
and other stakeholders, and its ability to convene different migration
actors to contribute to achieving a principled, practical and balanced
global compact.
Throughout
the consultation phase, IOM's global network of field offices supported
and assisted governments to convene diverse multi-stakeholder
consultations at the national level. Fifty national consultations took
place between April and November last year. These consultations helped
to create awareness among national-level stakeholders about the global
compact and supported them to reflect on their priorities and to
formulate positions.
In
some countries, preparations for these national consultations were
supported through the IOM-led global programme on Mainstreaming
Migration into National Development Strategies, funded by the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). For example, in Morocco
national consultations included a specific focus on migration and
development, and this led to a number of recommendations being put forth
to support the potential for local actors to become agents for
development.
The
importance of engaging at the local level in support of migration and
development objectives was also emphasised in other fora. In November
last year, the Global Conference on Cities and Migration co-organized by
IOM, UN Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments, the City of
Mechelen and the Government of Belgium, adopted the Mechelen
Declaration. This made recommendations to strengthen vertical policy
coherence across government levels to ensure that local and regional
authorities are empowered by national governments in their capacity as
migration first responders and service providers.
If
there is a clear overall message to take away from the rich discussions
during the consultation phase for the global compact for migration it
is this: migration and migrants bring significant benefits to
individuals and societies, but those benefits can only be fully realized
through well-managed migration policies developed and implemented with
the inclusion of all actors and through fundamentally improved
cooperation and solidarity. Now is our collective chance to make this
happen.
Related resources:
https://www.iom.int/global-compact-migration
https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/migration-compact
Cover photo:
https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/migration-compact
