Stakeholders in the UN Global Compact on migration process took part in the fifth and final informal multi-stakeholder hearing in New York to discuss how ‘lessons from the field’ can inform global policymaking.
The hearing took place as intergovernmental negotiations around a global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration enter their final stretch before adoption in late 2018.
Participants in the multi-stakeholder hearing addressed migrants’ healthcare needs, partnerships among government, civil society organizations and the private sector, social integration, and education for migrants.
21 May 2018: Stakeholders took part in the fifth and final informal multi-stakeholder hearing on the global compact on migration, to discuss how “lessons from the field” can inform global policymaking. Participants addressed migrants’ healthcare needs (SDG 3), partnerships among government, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector (SDG 17), social integration (SDG 10) and education for migrants (SDG 4).
The hearing convened on 21 May 2018, in New York, US, ahead of the fifth round of intergovernmental negotiations on a global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration, which is expected to be adopted at an intergovernmental conference in Morocco in December 2018. The half-day hearing was organized on the theme ‘Migration – What’s Really Going On: Lessons from the Field,’ and focused on good practices for policy makers, migrants and host communities.
Speakers included city authorities, NGOs that advocate on migrant rights, and a representative of the ride-sharing service Uber. Louise Arbour, Secretary-General of the Intergovernmental Conference on International Migration, raised concerns about discrimination and exploitation of migrant workers, and recommended that the compact be anchored in human rights. William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), referred stakeholders to the Global Forum on Migration and Development as the international structure for supporting multi-stakeholder partnerships, and highlighted the important role of city authorities in meeting the needs of migrants (SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities).
At the close of the hearing, Miroslav Lajcak, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President, noted that agreement on the global compact will be the start, and not the end, of the work that needs to be done. Quoting Pope Francis, Lajcak called negotiations on the compact “a test for humanity.” [UN Press Release] [Concept Note] [President of the UN General Assembly’s Closing Statement]