Now in its 9th year of activity, the GFMD is regarded as a well established global consultative process. At the GFMD Concluding Debate in Geneva in December 2011, which was the culmination of the fifth GFMD under the Chairmanship of Switzerland, governments reaffirmed the value-added of the process. In doing so, they confirmed the principal findings of a comprehensive survey conducted in 2011 under phase 1 of the GFMD Assessment.
The results of phase 1 of the GFMD assessment exercise showed the general appreciation of responding governments about how the GFMD has helped promote the sharing of best practices and capacity-building among governments and other relevant stakeholders in managing international migration; harnessing its beneficial effects on development while addressing its attendant challenges; and building partnerships and informal governance systems for migration at the national, regional and global levels.
The consolidated assessment report (2011-2012) outlined the vision of Global Forum and identified areas for further improvement in order to ensure the sustainability of the GFMD and to enhance its delivery power. Also in line with the GFMD 2012 report, a thematic recollection highlighting the achievements of the GFMD summit meetings from 2007 until 2012 was submitted as an input to the October 2013 High Level Dialogue (UN HLD).
The GFMD received resounding support at the 2013 UN HLD, with the Declaration adopted at the meeting acknowledging that the GFMD has proved to be a valuable forum for holding frank and open discussions, and that it has helped to build trust among participating stakeholders through the exchange of experiences and good practices, and by virtue of its voluntary, informal State-led character. The Declaration further acknowledged that the United Nations system can benefit from the discussions and outcomes of the GFMD in order to maximize the benefits of international migration for development.