Tatendrang at the Global Forum for Migration and Development

Wies Maas, Civil Society Chair of the 10th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), delivered an urgent message and plea for action from civil society and governments alike at the opening of the GFMD Government Days. 

“Implementation cannot wait. Families must be reunited, urgently; children need to be taken out of detention, now; the hard labour and clear rights of migrant workers must be respected, today; solidarity funding is needed without delay. What we need is, - to use a great German word - a sense of Tatendrang: a zest for action.“

Starting for the first time ever ahead of the Civil Society Days, the Government Days of the GFMD took place in Berlin, Germany from 28-29 June. In her address to some 400 government delegates present, Maas challenged the participants to think beyond words, to ask “how will our work change the realities on the ground faced by refugees, migrants and societies? And what will I do when I go home after Berlin, this city of new beginnings?

The Civil Society Days of the GFMD take place on 29 June and 1 July and will focus in large part on the process to develop a Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration. On 30 June a Common Space Day will take place where governments, civil society and other stakeholders come together - hopefully to work on collective Tatendrang together.

Read the full intervention of Maas at the Opening of the Government Days here.
And don't forgot to follow the GFMD CSD on Facebook and Twitter and view our plenaries via livestreaming!