GFMD

On 21 October 2016, an event focusing on the process to develop a Global Compact on Migration was organized by the government of Bangladesh. Bangladesh and other governments expressed their determination to form and meet as a Geneva branch of the government “Friends of Migration” group that had been launched by Bangladesh, Benin, Mexico and Sweden in New York ahead of the 19 September UNGA High-level Summit for Refugees and Migrants. Speakers were Bangladesh, Mexico, Sweden, Francois Fouinat, representing the UN Special representative for International Migration Peter Sutherland, and representatives of the International Labour Organization, IOM, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

With this GFMD taking place just three months after the UNGA Summit, discussion in the Civil Society Days 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. 

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.  Common Space begins after lunch, immediately following the Opening Ceremony, in which a number of dignitaries will speak, including the civil society Chair of the CSD presenting civil society’s principal recommendations from the prior two days, and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh delivering a keynote speech.