The GFMD is a recent initiative of the international community to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways. It was created at the September 2006 General Assembly High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, upon the proposal of the UN Secretary-General and by the majority agreement of UN Member States. It thus marked the culmination of more than a decade (following the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development in Cairo) of international discussion on the growing importance of these linkages, and the progressive acknowledgement of the need to address the policy implications and responses in a multilateral framework.
