Date Posted:
Geneva–23 October 2014. On behalf of Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the GFMD 2015 meeting in Istanbul, Ambassador Mehmet Samsar, Director General for Consular Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened the first round of preparatory meetings of the GFMD Steering Group and the Friends of the Forum in Geneva on 21 and 22 October respectively.
The first GFMD pledging meeting was also held on 22 October.
Amb. Samsar welcomed 29 out of the existing 30 members of the Steering Group. He was assisted at the podium by Ms. Esen Altug, Deputy Director General for Migration, Asylum and Visa, Ambassador Eva Akerman Borje, GFMD 2013-2014 Chair, and Mr. Peter Sutherland, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for International Migration.
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24 Sept 2014 – Around 120 participants, including Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Representatives of UN Member States, and representatives of various UN Agencies gathered on 22 Sept 2014 at the Turkish Center in New York to mark the launch of the Turkish Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) for the period 1 July 2014 to 31 December 2015.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Chair of the 8th GFMD meeting to be held in Istanbul in 2015, welcomed representatives from governments, international organizations and the civil society during the event. Deputy UN Secretary General, H.E., Jan Eliasson, delivered supporting remarks on behalf of His Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and the UN family. H.E., Mr. Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), current Chair of the Global Migration Group (GMG), also spoke on behalf of the 18 member agencies comprising the GMG. Also present were high level Turkish Government officials including H.E., Ambassador Mehmet Samsar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director General for Consular Affairs and Ms. Esen Altuğ, MFA Deputy Director General for Migration, Asylum and Visa.
Date Posted:
The Republic of Turkey is the Chair-in-Office of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) as of 1 July 2014 from the Sweden, for a period of 18 months, until end December 2015. During its Chairmanship, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey will lead the Chair's Taskforce and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will chair the GFMD Summit Meeting in 2015.
Turkey has volunteered to take up this challenging task, not only because of its increasing engagement in the area of migration, but also because of its growing commitment to sustainable development. Turkey has a wealth of experiences to share in the area of migration and development. Traditionally known as a migrant sending country, Turkey has become an attractive destination due to its economic growth and social development.
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On 14 to 16 May 2014, Sweden hosted the 7th GFMD Forum Meeting in Stockholm with the overarching theme “Unlocking the potential of migration for inclusive development.” The meeting which gathered some 900 delegates from 140 countries and 30 international organizations kicked off on 14 May with a grand opening ceremony. Swedish Minister for Migration Tobias Billström and Swedish Minister from International Development Cooperation Hillevi Engström, gave welcome remarks while H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt delivered inspiring opening speeches.
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On 11 March 2014, Ambassador Eva Åkerman Börje, representing GFMD 2013-2014 Chair-in-Office Sweden, convened the last round of preparatory meetings of the GFMD Steering Group (SG) and the Friends of the Forum (FOF) in the final stretch to the GFMD 2014 Forum Meeting to be held in Stockholm on 14-16 May 2014.
The SG meeting focused on three key issues -- enhancing the working methods of the Steering Group, the Long-term financing framework for the GFMD, and the Multi-Annual Work Program (MWP) which are aimed at promoting a more efficient, more durable and more sustainable process.
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2013 proved to be an event-packed year for the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), even in the absence of the annual summit meeting for the first time since its inception in 2007.
With the overarching theme, “Unlocking the Potential of Migration for Inclusive Development”, Sweden as GFMD Chair-in-Office spearheads the 18-month preparatory process that engages all UN Member States, GFMD Observers, the civil society and other non-government stakeholders, culminating in a final meeting in Stockholm on 14-16 May 2014.
Date Posted:
Geneva – 14 October 2013. On 11 September 2013, the Government of Sweden, current GFMD 2013-2014 Chair-in-Office, joined by the Governments of Morocco and Netherlands, convened a thematic meeting on “Labour Migration and Diaspora: Improving Labour Market....
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Geneva – 30 May 2013. At the 2nd meeting this year of the GFMD Steering Group held in the morning of 21 May, Amb. Åkerman Börje consulted with over 50 delegates from 26 Steering Group member countries on strategic and policy matters. The Chair presented an updated GFMD Budget for 2013-2014, highlighting a 3% overall reduction in costs.
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Swedish Chair Convenes 1st Thematic Meeting on Policy Coherence for Development
Geneva – 28 May 2013. On 22 May 2013, the Government of Sweden, current GFMD 2013-2014 Chair-in-Office, joined by the Governments of Switzerland and Bangladesh, convened a thematic meeting on “Operationalizing Mainstreaming of Migration in Development Policy and Integrating Migration in the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda.”
Date Posted:
Geneva – 28 February 2013. Ambassador Eva Åkerman Börje, GFMD 2013-2014 Chair, rallied the GFMD Steering Group and the Friends of the Forum to meet the challenge of “Unlocking the Potential of Migration for Inclusive Development” when she convened the first successive meetings of the two GFMD bodies on Wednesday, 13 February 2013 in Geneva.