Press Release: 20 Aug 2018

The GFMD (Global Forum on Migration and Development) 2017-2018 Co-Chairs, Germany and Morocco, are convening a GFMD Dialogue on GCM Implementation on Tuesday, 4 September 2018 from 10h00 to 18h00 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. This dialogue follows a series of initiatives that began since Germany and Morocco assumed the GFMD Co-Chairmanship in 2017. It may be mention that Bangladesh was chair of 2016 GFMD held in Dhaka which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. It is part of the effort of the GFMD to accompany the evolving GCM process and encourage Member States to develop their perspectives on the future of international cooperation on migration.

The September 4 Dialogue on the GCM implementation aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To promote a collective understanding of the implications, challenges and opportunities for the GFMD of the final GCM draft released on 11 July 2018;
• To harness GFMD’s multi-stakeholder space and innovative approaches to support Member States in the implementation, follow up and review of the GCM commitments;
• To discuss how GFMD could foster institutional and thematic linkages with the proposed UN network on migration to be coordinated by IOM.

The outcomes of this day-long dialogue will inform the Future of the Forum session to be held in Marrakesh on 7 December 2018.

The dialogue will be divided in two sessions. The opening session, titled, Setting the Scene – Implications of the Final GCM Draft for the GFMD, will be addressed by Mr. El Habib Nadir, GFMD Co-Chair Morocco, the Ambassador William Lacy Swing, IOM Director-General and by Co-Moderators Gibril Faal and Kathleen Newland.

The 1^st session, titled,  Building upon GFMD’s Modalities to contribute to the UN Capacity-Building Mechanism on Migration (Lessons learned and good practices), will have Mr. Gibril Faal, Director of GK Partners & Founding Director of ADEPT as Moderator. The Panelists will be, the Ambassador Eduard Gnesa (GFMD Review Team Co-Chair; Swiss GFMD Chair 2011), Mr. Omar Rabi, Morocco PM in New York, Mr. Mamadou Goita, Institute for Research and the Promotion of Alternatives in Development /PANDiMRMr (TBC), Mr. Chukwu Chikezie  /Ms. Estrella Lajom (Platform for Partnerships) and Ms. Athanassia Ioannou and Mr. Bikash Chowdhury Barua (Migration Laboratory/BASUG).

The 2^nd session, titled,  Enhancing GFMD’s Institutional Linkages – with the UN and beyond– to support the implementation, as well as follow up and review of the GCM, will be presented by Ms. Kathleen Newland, Senior Fellow and Co-Founder, MPI as Moderator. The other Panelists will be the Ambassador Esteban Conejos Jr. (GFMD Review Team Co-Chair; Philippine GFMD Chair 2008), UAE / Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi Dialogu, Mr. Stephane Jacquemet, Director of Policy, International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and Mr. Roberto Suarez-Santos, IOE Acting Secretary General.

Mr. Gibril Faal and Ms. Kathleen Newland will be the Moderators of the closing session, titled,  The Way Forward After Marrakesh – Prospects and Challenges. It will be addressed by the Ambassador Arturo Cabrera, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UNOG, Ms. Eva Åkerman Börje, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the SRSG and GFMD 2013-2014 Chair, Ms. Michele Klein Solomon, Director, Global Compact for Migration, IOM and Mr. Lars Hartenstein, Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company.

For details program, please see below:

GFMD DIALOGUE ON THE GCM IMPLEMENTATION

• Implications, Challenges and Opportunities for the GFMD

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

10h00 – 10h45  Opening Session: Setting the Scene – Implications of the Final GCM Draft for the GFMD

• Welcome Remarks by Mr. El Habib Nadir, GFMD Co-Chair Morocco
• Opening Keynote by Ambassador William Lacy Swing, IOM Director-General
• Overview of Agenda by Co-Moderators Gibril Faal and Kathleen Newland

10h45 – 13h00   Session I:  Building upon GFMD’s Modalities to contribute to the UN Capacity-Building Mechanism on Migration (Lessons learned and good practices)

Moderator:   Mr. Gibril Faal, Director of GK Partners & Founding Director of ADEPT

Panelists:

• Ambassador Eduard Gnesa (GFMD Review Team Co-Chair; Swiss GFMD Chair 2011)
• Omar Rabi, Morocco PM in New York
• Mamadou Goita, Institute for Research and the Promotion of Alternatives in Development /PANDiMRMr (TBC)
• Chukwu Chikezie /Ms. Estrella Lajom (Platform for Partnerships)
• Athanassia Ioannou and Mr. Bikash Chowdhury Barua (Migration Laboratory)

Guiding Questions

1. How can existing GFMD mechanisms be improved, particularly the GFMD Platform for Partnerships, including the online database of migration and development policies and programmes, to help concretize the envisaged capacity-building mechanism that would support Member States in the implementation of the GCM commitments?

2. How can we better enhance the multi-stakeholder space for dialogue, innovation and partnerships (mini-multilateralism) that the GFMD fosters?

3. What innovative ways for dialogue and cooperation can the GFMD offer to promote the effective implementation, follow up and review of the GCM (e.g., Migration Laboratory, Marketplace, Peer-to-peer review of policies and practices)? What adjustments are required, if any, on GFMD activities (thematic workshop, Roundtables, PfP special session, etc) in this regard?

13h00 – 14h30            Cocktail Lunch to be hosted by the GFMD Co-Chairs, with the participation of IOM-DG and the SRSG.

14h30 – 14h45            Keynote by Mrs. Louise Arbour, the UNSG’s Special Representative for International Migration

14h45 – 16h45   Session II:  Enhancing GFMD’s Institutional Linkages – with the UN and beyond– to support the implementation, as well as follow up and review of the GCM

Moderator:      Ms. Kathleen Newland, Senior Fellow and Co-Founder, MPI

 Panelists:

• Ambassador Esteban Conejos Jr. (GFMD Review Team Co-Chair; Philippine GFMD Chair 2008)
• UAE / Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi Dialogu
• Stephane Jacquemet, Director of Policy, International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
• Roberto Suarez-Santos, IOE Acting Secretary General (TBC)

16h45 –17h00 Coffee break

17h00 – 17h45  Closing Session:   The Way Forward After Marrakesh – Prospects and Challenges

Co-Moderators:  Mr. Gibril Faal and Ms. Kathleen Newland

Panelists:

• Ambassador Arturo Cabrera, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UNOG
• Eva Åkerman Börje, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the SRSG and GFMD 2013-2014 Chair
• Michele Klein Solomon, Director, Global Compact for Migration, IOM
• Lars Hartenstein, Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company (TBC)

17h45 – 18h00 Closing Remarks by Ambassador Götz Schmidt-Bremme, GFMD Co-Chair Germany