Thematic Meetings

Thematic meeting I: Migration in the Post-2015 United Nations Development Agenda
5 February 2015, La Salle V, R3 Level, ILO Building, Geneva

Because of the timeline of the post-2015 negotiations, the first thematic meeting under the Turkish Chairmanship was held early in the GFMD process. It discussed the treatment and placement of migration in the post-2015 development agenda. It also highlighted ongoing national examples of initiatives that serve two of the migration-related targets proposed in the UN Open Working Group (OWG) report: targets number 8.8 on protecting labor rights of all workers, including migrant workers; and 10.7 on facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility. Although the thematic meeting was structured around these two targets, other important migration-related targets in the OWG report were also discussed. This meeting also considered how to incorporate migration into states’ implementation of the SDGs that do not mention migration but that nonetheless will be strongly affected by trends in international mobility.

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Thematic meeting 2: The role of communications in promoting widespread recognition of the benefits of migration, improving public perceptions of migrants, combating discrimination, and promoting integration
29 April 2015, Salle II (R3 Level), ILO Building, Geneva

The well-being of migrants is facilitated when the benefits of migration are widely recognized and communicated, and so a thematic meeting will be devoted to the role of communications tools in improving public perceptions of migrants and migration, and promoting better integration. The public should be exposed to information about the importance of migrants’ contributions to economic, social and cultural development in countries of destination as well as origin. Sophisticated uses of social media, traditional media, and face-to face exposure to migrants have been shown in some settings to be effective in preventing the consolidation of xenophobic attitudes, and promoting respect for migrants’ human rights. Successful integration not only contributes to the well-being of migrants, but also enhances their ability to contribute to their origin and destination countries. This, in turn, has a positive impact on the perception of migrants.

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Thematic meeting 3: Recognizing the contributions of women migrants to economic and social development in countries of origin and destination and addressing their specific needs, particularly concerning respect for their human rights
8 September 2015, Salle II (R3 Level), ILO Building, Geneva

Although women make up about 48 percent of the world’s international migrants, their particular needs and potential contributions are often ignored, especially in areas such as support for diaspora and migrant business development. Similarly, women are often treated purely as victims rather than capable agents when they are forced to migrate. A thematic meeting will explore policy that affects women differentially. The particular needs and contributions to development of women migrants is a cross-cutting and often neglected theme running across all the roundtable themes of the GFMD, and will be the subject of the third thematic meeting of the GFMD in 2015.

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