Migration Co-Facilitators Circulate Summary of Stocktaking Meeting

22 December 2017: The co-facilitators of the intergovernmental consultations and negotiations on issues related to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration circulated the summary of the preparatory meeting held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from 4-6 December 2017. The summary contains proposals and recommendations made by participants with regard to actionable commitments, means of implementation and partnerships, and elements for follow-up and review.

The stocktaking meeting gathered approximately 136 delegations, with a total of 897 participants from all the regions, including 115 non-governmental stakeholders. Along with the forthcoming report of the UN Secretary-General titled, ‘Making Migration Work for All,’ the summary of the stocktaking meeting will inform the zero draft of the global compact. The co-facilitators are expected to release the zero draft in the beginning of February, with negotiations scheduled to take place between February and July 2018. The intergovernmental conference on international migration will convene in Morocco from 10-11 December 2018.

According to the summary, the global compact represents an opportunity to re-frame migration policies based on the recognition of human mobility as part of human nature and its contribution to sustainable development. The consultation phase of the preparatory process for the compact was framed around six areas of international migration: the human, community, local/sub-national, national, regional and global dimensions. The main purpose of the stocktaking meeting in Puerto Vallarta was to link the consultation phase with the negotiation phase through an in-depth analysis of the substance gathered, as follows:

Human dimension: The consultation phase recognized that migrants should be at the core of the global compact process, which should be people-centered and human rights based.
Community dimension: The role of communities relating to integration, inclusion and promoting social cohesion was recognized as especially important.
Local/sub-national dimension: Local or sub-national level authorities were identified as having the largest role to play in everyday engagement with migration dynamics, forming a crucial component of migration governance.
National dimension: The global compact was considered an opportunity for states to identify and promote effective, concrete ways to enhance safe, orderly and regular migration based on existing principles and frameworks with effective implementation mechanisms.
Regional dimension: The global compact was seen as an opportunity for greater engagement of regional platforms on migration, which could act as link between global standards and their implementation at other levels.
Global dimension: The consultation process revealed the need for the global compact to be anchored in existing frameworks and agreements, such as international human rights instruments and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to serve as opportunity to strengthen cooperation between global institutions regarding migration issues.

Delegations’ “recommendation cards” will form another basis for the zero draft of the global compact.

The consultations – including the informal thematic sessions, regional consultations, and inputs generated by relevant platforms and stakeholders – helped to further identify concrete and actionable commitments at the stocktaking meeting, which the Chairs’ summary groups around these six areas. Further to the actionable commitments, the text notes that delegations submitted a considerable number of “recommendation cards,” which will form another basis for elaborating the zero draft.

According to the document, the stocktaking meeting revealed a shared understanding that a follow-up and review mechanism for the global compact will be “a crucial determinant” of its functioning and implementation. Participants agreed that such a mechanism should be state-driven, multi-disciplinary, and look at the progress made and challenges faced in the short, medium and long term. However, the summary notes, while some delegations called for a robust review mechanism with voluntary but clear goals, targets and indicators at global and at national levels, others emphasized that the follow-up process should focus primarily on mapping progress, sharing best practices and supporting countries in strengthening capacities for implementation rather than monitoring compliance.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will hold an informal meeting on 11 January to hear a briefing from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his forthcoming report on migration. On 21 February, the fourth in a series of six informal interactive multistakeholder hearings will take place in New York, US. The hearings include representatives of civil society organizations, academic institutions, parliaments, diasporas, migrants, migrant organizations and the private sector, and result in input for the intergovernmental negotiations, as part of the mandated preparatory process on the global compact. [Chair’s Summary of Puerto Vallarta Meeting] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Multi-stakeholder Hearing, 18 December] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Puerto Vallarta Meeting]