Tuesday, 02 December 2014
Geneva-24 November 2014. The Turkish GFMD Chair convened the 2nd round of preparatory meetings of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2014-2015 on Monday, 24 November, in Geneva.
Both meetings of the GFMD Steering Group (SG) and the Friends of the Forum (FOF) were chaired by Ms. Esen Altug, Deputy Director General for Migration, Asylum and Visa of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The GFMD 2014-2015 Troika comprised of the outgoing 2013-2014 Chair Sweden and the incoming 2016 Chair Bangladesh lent support throughout the meetings.
The meetings focused on the second version of the Turkish GFMD Concept Note. As explained by Ms Altug, the second draft of the concept note clarifies the broad objectives of the GFMD 2014-2015 Chairmanship and the ways in which GFMD intends to interact with the Regional Consultation Processes, the post-2015 development agenda process, and upcoming global meetings such as the G-20 and the World Humanitarian Summit.
The revised note also outlines in much greater detail the plans to continue the work of the Swedish Chair to strengthen the administration, governance and financing of the GFMD. The Chair urged countries and other interested stakeholders to submit additional comments by 10 December 2014, to be considered in further revising the concept note. The Chair intends to circulate the final GFMD 2014-2015 concept note by mid-January 2015.
A number of countries indicated their interest in being part of the GFMD 2014-2015 Government Roundtable Teams that will develop and organize the Istanbul Roundtables. The meetings also discussed the Terms of Reference for the GFMD 2014-2015 Government Teams, the updated provisional calendar of GFMD 2014-2015 activities and some operational recommendations from the outgoing Swedish GFMD 2013-2014 Chair, including the need for an enhanced GFMD Communication Plan.
During the FOF meeting, the Turkish Chair also informed the meeting about the status of the GFMD 2014-2015 budget. Contributions and pledges have been received from the Governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The Chair called upon other countries to also offer financial contributions to ensure the sustainability of the Global Forum.
In addition, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) presented its updated work plan for the GFMD 2014-2015 civil society process.
The next preparatory meetings of the GFMD Steering Group and Friends of the Forum will be held in Geneva on 4 February 2015, followed by the first GFMD 2014-2015 Thematic Meeting on “Updating GFMD Position on Post-2015 Development Agenda” (February 5) and the initial meetings of GFMD 2014-2015 Government Roundtable Teams (February 6). The GFMD 2014-2015 Summit Meeting will be held in Istanbul in October 2015.