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Welcome to the MADE Global Newsletter!
News sections:
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1. News from the MADE Network
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MADE Africa regional meeting, Dakar, Senegal
From 3-4 October, a MADE Africa regional meeting was organized by Caritas Senegal in Dakar, on the theme "No mobility without protection: migration and mobility intra and inter-African ". This meeting brought together stakeholders from regional civil society, researchers, government representatives and journalists. The main objective was to reflect on improving opportunities and tackling challenges for mobility in intra and inter-regional frameworks, as well as the role of civil society in the protection of migrants' rights in a context of rights restrictions and violations. More information here (French only). |
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MADE Americas report: Migration and Citizenship at the Service of People: Advances and Setbacks in the Americas
“The most important immigration policy to protect the rights of migrants is citizenship in a nation, conferred upon a person either at birth or through naturalization, in often lengthy legal processes.”
This paper, prepared by MADE Americas partner Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), with assistance from Fundación Scalabrini in Chile, reflects on the impact of citizenship policies on access to benefits and the responsibilities of a given country. The report examines advances and setbacks in the Americas, in particular approaches to citizenship, naturalization and free movement in the US, South America and the Dominican Republic, and how they take forward - or not - the human rights of the individual. The report concludes by recommending policies to best protect the rights and dignity of the human person.
Find this report (English and Spanish) and all reports from MADE partners here. |
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Global Diaspora Day participant will attend GFMD Civil Society Days
23 June was the first ever Global Diaspora Day, which MADE partner AFFORD (the African Foundation for Development) launched, together with the MADE Working Group on Diaspora and Migrants in Development. One remarkable story from the over 80 submissions focused on a group of Syrian refugees residing in the United Kingdom, who had volunteered in flood prevention and clean-up efforts in the areas affected by heavy rains and flooding in December 2015. The group was organized by Yasser Al-Jassem, a Syrian refugee who had fled both war and ISIS. He told media: “We saw the pictures on TV and wanted to help. As Syrian refugees, we were honoured to take part in community service initiatives to give back to the communities that have so warmly taken us in.”
The story was submitted by Yasmine Nahlawi of the UK grassroots organization Rethink Rebuild Society. Global Diaspora Day organizers then invited the organization to send a representative to the GFMD Civil Society Days, to share this inspiring story of action with a global civil society audience.
Read Nahlawi’s submission and other stories from Global Diaspora Day. |
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3rd Global Mayoral Forum on Human Mobility, Migration and Development, 29-30 September, Quezon City, Philippines
Are diaspora and migrants obliged to make contributions to their countries of origin, and is it fair to see diaspora and migrants as dollar bills? MADE partner Stella Opoku-Owusu of the African Foundation for development (AFFORD) opened her intervention with these questions for the participants of the dialogue between mayors and civil society representatives during the 3rd Global Mayoral Forum on Human Mobility, Migration and Development in the Philippines in September. Along with AFFORD, another MADE partner, Migrant Forum Asia (MFA) participated actively in the event. Read AFFORDs full intervention here. |
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Movement Report II
In 2016, MADE published an independent assessment of progress on civil society’s “5-year 8-point Action Plan” through the end of 2015—year 2 of the plan. As 2016—year 3—of the Action Plan comes to a close, a second edition of the Movement report is being developed, which will introduce 10 scorecards to measure progress on each of the eight goals in the Action Plan. Xenophobia/discrimination will be added to the scorecards, which will also disaggregate women and children. ICMC has contracted Elaine McGregor of Maastricht University School of Governance to elaborate this new edition, and also to create a tool for years 4 and 5 ahead. Read more information here. |
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Civil society, academia and trade unions meet in Nouakchott, Mauritania
As reported in the recent MADE Africa newsletter, civil society and partners met from 26-27 September 2016 in Nouakchott, Mauritania to conduct a review of the various problems facing the free movement of African citizens. During the meeting, which was attended by MADE Africa coordinator CARITAS Senegal, participants welcomed the initiative to establish a biometric ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) identity card and African passport, but called on governments to expedite the process to increase free movement in the region. They also identified the need for more dynamic coordination between civil society and African networks, to ensure the effective voice of African citizens in negotiations and international conferences on migration which impact African mobility and development, peace and security. |
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2. High-Level Summit on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, 19 September
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193 UN Member States unanimously adopt New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants
As reported extensively in MADE newsletters, in particular the 10 issues of the special “Summit 2016” series of MADE newsletters published since May, the UN General Assembly organized its first-ever High-level Summit focussed on refugees and migrants. The formal, negotiated outcome was the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, a 25-page set of commitments that all 193 UN Member States adopted unanimously in the opening plenary of the Summit 19 September.
Shortly ahead of the Summit, some 100 civil society organizations came together in a joint statement entitled ActNow, with a Scorecard measuring the commitments in the New York Declaration compared to priorities that civil society groups had advocated to states from the beginning of the Summit outcome negotiating process in May. |
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Civil society pre-Summit strategy meeting
In a meeting convened by the global civil society Action Committee for the Summit, 150 civil society organisations gathered in New York on 18 September, the day before the Summit, to organize collective advocacy and strategies for concrete follow-up on Summit commitments. During the meeting, there was strong consensus that while the New York Declaration clearly advanced on some important matters, it lacked adequate urgency, commitment and certainty on many of the major challenges in large movements of refugees and migrants today. Among other things, proposals by MADE for civil society to consider coming together to write its own two Compacts were discussed positively.
Read more information and find a comprehensive resource-bank on the Summit process on the dedicated civil society website, which is updated regularly. |
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Two Geneva meetings on the Global Compact on Migration, 14 + 21 October 2016
On 14 October, the International Organization on Migration (IOM) organized a briefing in Geneva, entitled "Follow-up to the 19 September New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, including Preliminary Thinking on IOM’s role in the Development of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the International Conference in 2018".
During the briefing, IOM elaborated on how it sees the Compact process will develop and its own leading role within that process, while a number of governments also spoke about what they expect from the UN organizations and the process. Among interventions were:
- IOM must have leadership in the formulation of the migration Compact
- The process of intergovernmental negotiations leading to the adoption of the Compact has to be state-led, lean, and participatory
- The Global Compact on refugees and the Global Compact on migration need to be coherent and cooperate together.
Read more in ICMC’s notes from the meeting here.
On 21 October, a second event focused on the Migration Compact, this time organized by the government of Bangladesh. Notable in the presentations:
- Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary and current Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, suggested the new Global Compact on Migration take the same approach as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: that is, provide a set of goals and targets specifically on migration to which UN member states, in a UN General Assembly vote in 2018, would commit to achieving over the next 15 years. (the following Monday 24 October, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Chair of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families jointly issued a news release in the same direction.)
- Francois Fouinat confirmed that the “Sutherland Report” on global governance of international migration will be published “by the end of the year”, with chapters focussing on the range of migration, rights, protection and development issues, and with concrete recommendations.
See more, and read ICMC’s notes from the meeting here. |
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UN announces Mexico and Switzerland will be co-facilitators of the Global Compact on Migration
The two New-York based permanent representatives of Mexico and Switzerland, namely Mexican Ambassador Juan José Gómez Camacho and Swiss Ambassador Jürg Lauber, are now charged with leading "open, transparent and inclusive negotiations with States" to determine:
- by 31 January, modalities for the Global Compact on Migration process [reportedly, negotiations on the modalities will begin among UN Member States in New York in early November];
- "possible holding of preparatory conferences" and other practicalities relating to the intergovernmental negotiations, including the integration of Geneva-based migration expertise"; and
- a timeline for it all.
According to the announcement, the office of the President of the UN General Assembly will:
- support the co-facilitators; and
- "coordinate the contribution and engagement of all relevant stakeholders as well as the UN system"
Read the announcement from the President of the UN General Assembly. |
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3. News on the GFMD - Global Forum on Migration and Development
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GFMD Civil Society Days (CSD) 8 + 9 December
Final organisation for the GFMD Civil Society Days 2016 is underway, with the MADE Global Coordinating Office and the International Steering Committee (ISC) working hard to shape the CSD programme and related activities. 750 applications were received and, as in prior years, have undergone a grading process by the ISC. In addition, for the first time and at the strong recommendation of the ISC, half of the delegates have been directly identified by some 20 civil society networks known and active in migration and development work around the world —primarily networks of human rights and development NGOs, migrant and diaspora groups, and workers organizations (often mixed), practitioners and advocates that are active at local, national, regional and global levels. This has resulted in roughly 300 civil society delegates being invited to attend. For information about the application process please contact contact@gfmdcivilsociety.org.
With this GFMD taking place just three months after the UNGA Summit, discussion in CSDs and Common Space will connect directly to the Summit’s New York Declaration, very much including the process to develop a Global Compact on Migration. Read more about the various ways they will be connected here
For a detailed information note, including advice on hotels, visa, health and security, and more, see here.
Also, check out and share the newly designed GFMD Civil Society brochure, which presents a brief background and up-to-date information about the CSDs in French, Spanish and English. |
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CSD Satellite meetings
This year, a number of pilot ‘satellite meetings’ for the CSDs have been organized by civil society organizations, dedicating at least half a day to preparatory conversations on specific GFMD themes. These meetings aim to contribute to global agenda setting and positioning by creating synergies; they are not substitutes for but complementary to existing movements and initiatives by civil society.
Read more on these satellite meetings:
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GFMD Common Space 10 December
The Common Space of the GFMD that convenes all of the civil society delegates with all of the state participants for direct interaction is this year scheduled for Saturday, 10 December—International Human Rights Day. The overall theme for Common Space, still under consideration, is “Time to Act – Compact for Governance of Migration”, with an opening plenary of a keynote and high-level discussants, including a civil society representative, Davos-style, followed by plenary discussion, three parallel breakout sessions, and a re-convening in plenary for reports-back and conclusions. Read more details |
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GFMD Government days 10-12 December
The Chair of the government programme has just released an updated draft programme of the GFMD Government Days (dated 7 October).
The final GFMD 2016 organizing meeting of the governments’ Friends of the Forum took place in Geneva on 20-21 October. During these two days, the Bangladesh Chair and other governments considered the implications of the UNGA Summit outcome, and final preparations were made for the structure of the Roundtables during the Forum in Bangladesh. As usual, the MADE Global Coordinating Office reported on civil society’s own activities and preparation for the GFMD in December. William Gois of Migrant Forum in Asia gave a brief presentation on the preparation of the Peoples’ Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights, which will take place on the two days immediately prior to the Civil Society Days. Here is the agenda and updated list of states and others organizing each of the government Roundtable breakout sessions. |
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4. News on MICIC (Migrants in Countries in Crisis)
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Responding to Migrants Stranded by Conflict and Natural Disaster: Roll-out of new Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Guidelines and Practices
Organized as a side-event to the UN General Assembly’s High-level Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants 19 September, a panel of experts and leaders discussed with participants how the results of the two-year MICIC Initiative, and in particular the resulting Guidelines, can serve as a model for governments and civil society, including refugees, migrants and diaspora groups. Also discussed was how they can help move forward commitments made at the Summit to respond more fully and regularly to migrants in distress. See the recording of the full event.
Representing civil society and speaking at the event were Colin Rajah and John Bingham, who worked on MICIC the past two years in the Global Coalition on Migration (GCM) and ICMC-MADE respectively, during which time their two organizations co-facilitated six regional civil society consultations.
Read more about the civil society regional consultations for the MICIC Initiative, including summary observations presented at the launch of the MICIC Guidelines by Colin Rajah in New York and John Bingham in Geneva, plus a practitioner’s “view from the field” perspective on implementing MICIC, by Thibault Chapoy of ICMC. |
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