Tuesday, 07 February 2017
Geneva – 7 February: Under the overarching theme, "Towards a Global Social Contract on Migration and Development", six government-led Roundtable teams met in Geneva on 2 February to prepare the GFMD roundtables to be held in Berlin on 28 to 30 June 2017. The RT teams, currently comprised of 54 governments, 14 international organizations and representatives of civil society and private sector held an initial exchange of views on the substance and format of the planned RT sessions in Berlin. Members of the German and Moroccan GFMD Co-Chairs’ Task Force and the GFMD Support Unit lent overall assistance to the RT teams.
As outlined in the GFMD 2017-2018 Co-Chairmanship concept paper, the Berlin GFMD Summit will have three roundtables focusing on national strategies, bilateral and multilateral partnerships and strategies beyond the state in addressing issues of common interest and concern, in an attempt to develop a global social contract on migration and development. Each roundtable has two sub-themes, the discussion and outcomes of which will be linked to the thematic clusters in the Modalities Resolution of the Global Compact.
Roundtable 1: ‘Migration and Development through National Strategies: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Domestic Policies’
The Governments of the Republic of Moldova, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom volunteered to co-chair the RT Session 1.1 on “Tools and Safeguards for Policy Coherence – Finding the right policy mix to balance different interests and objectives.” They will lead GFMD discussions aimed at combining different tools in a multiple-actor approach towards shaping adequate legal migration framework both at national and international levels.
Meanwhile, the Governments of Bangladesh and Norway will co-chair the RT Session 1.2, ‘From Global Agreement to Implementation– National Action Plans for migration-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This roundtable will examine ongoing efforts and best practices regarding the implementation and monitoring of migration-related SDGs at national, regional and international levels, and attempt to promote a common understanding of the inclusion of migration-related SDGs in the development of a global compact on migration.
Roundtable 2: ‘Migration and Development through Multilateral and Bilateral Partnerships: Creating Perspectives for Inclusive Development’
As co-chairs of RT Session 2.1 on “Moving beyond emergencies – Creating development solutions to the mutual benefit of host communities and displaced persons,” the Governments of Egypt and Denmark will steer GFMD debates towards highlighting best practices on facilitating displaced persons’ entrepreneurship, self-organization and self-reliance, and harnessing their potential and initiative to make positive contributions to their communities.
The Governments of Nigeria and Switzerland, on the other hand, will co-chair RT session 2.2 on “Fostering the development impact of return migrants.” This session aims to have a clearer understanding of the multifaceted role of return migration within the migration cycle and a coherent use of policy tools for its potential development impact on the countries of origin and destination, as well as for the migrants.
Roundtable 3: ‘Migration and Development: Finding strategies beyond the State’
The Governments of Australia and the Philippines will co-chair RT Session 3.1, “Raising the Global Talent Pool – Harnessing the Potential of the Private Sector for Global Skills Partnerships,” which is geared towards the sharing of positive examples and experiences of skills creation and mobility, as well as identifying initiatives that may be suitable for global skill partnerships.
Finally, the Governments of Canada and Mexico will serve as co-chairs of RT Session 3.2 on “Strengthening Cooperation – Enabling Civil Society Contributions in Migrant and Refugee Assistance and Integration.” This session will look at existing political and legal frameworks that could strengthen the cooperation of all stakeholders in promoting civic engagement and fostering the exchange between peoples with and without an immigrant background and, ultimately, contributing to finding comprehensive solutions for migrant integration.
RT Preparatory Meetings mark a successful start of the Tenth GFMD
The RT preparatory meetings on 2 February marked a successful start of the Tenth GFMD Summit. It was preceded by the first meeting of the Friends of the Forum on 1 February. In the course of these two days, many participants acknowledged the challenges posed by the time constraint in preparing the Berlin Summit Roundtables which will already be held in June of this year, and also in crafting the GFMD’s reflections and contribution to the global compact on migration process. Nonetheless, there was general appreciation and affirmation of support for the GFMD 2017-2018 Co-chairmanship – i.e., representatives of governments, international organizations, civil society and business all expressed their readiness to work with the German and Moroccan Co-Chairs in achieving the ambitious goals set for the GFMD in 2017 and 2018.