Opening new avenues for global cooperation in international migration

The President of the United Nations General Assembly said the body’s recent session on international migration served to underscore how today’s integrated world can serve a positive engine of change.
The High-level Dialogue on International Migration, held on 14-15 September “revealed the potential and opportunities that globalization presents as a force for improving the lives of millions of people”, Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said at the opening of this year’s general debate.
In her closing remarks, she noted that, nearly all of the 130-plus Governments present expressed the wish to continue an international dialogue on the issue of migration in some form or another. In particular, many “embraced the Secretary-General’s proposal of establishing a Global Forum on Migration and Development and the offer made by the Government of Belgium to host the first meeting of the Forum next year”, she said.
The Dialogue drove home several key points: that international migration is a growing phenomenon and can be a positive force for development in both countries of origin and countries of destination, provided it is supported by the right set of policies; and that it is important to strengthen international cooperation, bilaterally, regionally and globally.
The Secretary-General proposed the establishment of a standing forum which Governments could use to explore and compare policy approaches. Such a Government-led consultative forum on migration and development would not produce negotiated outcomes or recommendations. Rather, it would make new policy ideas more widely known, add value to existing regional consultations, and encourage an integrated approach to migration and development at both the national and international levels.
The High-level Dialogue was the first Assembly meeting to focus directly on migration, with an emphasis on identifying ways to maximize the development benefits of migration and to reduce difficulties.
(Source: UN News Centre, 19 September)