The 2013-2014 Swedish Chairmanship

Sweden was Chair-in-Office of the GFMD from 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2014. Focusing the Forum’s activities around the central theme, “Unlocking the Potential of Migration for Inclusive Development,” the Swedish Chair aimed to launch a new, second phase of the GFMD by having a more development-focused, dynamic and durable Forum.

Following a two-year assessment of the GFMD, the Swedish Chair acted on concrete recommendations to improve the functioning of the process. The GFMD 2013-2014 aimed to achieve three inward-looking objectives:

• Firstly, to strengthen the development perspective in the GFMD, endeavoring to give fresh impetus to the development part of the migration and development nexus, to focus more on identifying the concrete synergies between development and migration, and to encourage the engagement of more development practitioners.
• Secondly, to re-energize the involvement and ownership by states and seek better outreach to other stakeholders by making dialogue broad and inclusive, encouraging stronger involvement of states and other stakeholders (including amplifying the role of the GFMD focal points), and further vitalizing dialogue with civil society.
• Thirdly, to ensure more stable and predictable funding for the GFMD and working to achieve the sharing and implementation of the accumulated knowledge gathered by the GFMD.

Seventh Summit Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development

14-16 May 2014, Stockholm, Sweden

Opened by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the Seventh GFMD Summit was held in the Münchenbryggeriet Conference Centre at the heart of the Swedish capital. The meeting was attended by some 800 participants from 140 countries, 30 international organizations and included roughly 250 representatives from civil society organizations.

The Swedish Chair chose to focus roundtable discussions on the integration of migration in global, regional and national development agendas, on migration as an enabler for inclusive economic development and on migration as an enabler for inclusive social development.

The Launch of the Policy and Practice Database (PPD)

Among the highlights of the Stockholm GFMD Summit was the launch of the ‘Policy and Practice Database (PPD)”, an online database of migration and development policies and practices created to improve the evidence base and the delivery power of the GFMD process. It provides a dynamic and searchable tool that showcases the wide range of migration and development practices shared throughout the GFMD’s activities since 2007.

The GFMD thematic review

Also in 2013-2014, the Swedish GFMD Chair commissioned a thematic survey with the objective of bringing the Forum process forward. The Thematic Recollection which came from this survey was presented at the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development on the 3 October 2013 in New York.