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Viewpoints and Advocacy
Themes and Issues |
Migration and Development
Global Forum on Migration and Development
Brussels July 10-11, 2007
Brief report evaluating Civil Society Day 1
* To see the agenda for both days dedicated to Civil Society:
http://www.gfmd-fmmd.org/en/programme/agenda-en
- Civil society was included as one of the 3 official
days of this first Global Forum process. Even though civil society's
participation was restricted to a separate day and only the
opening morning with the States (½ hour rather than the
scheduled full hour because of overruns in the preceding items
on the States agenda), this involvement was still far greater
than the no-involvement that the United States, Australia and
Canada as well as a handful of other States had initially wanted.
- There were 200 representatives of diverse geography, gender
and sectors (NGOs, labour, faith - based and migrant associations)
and for the first time the private sector and academia. Of the
70 NGO representatives, 6 were Catholic (of whom 5 were either
ICMC members or partners) and 2 Christian.
- Civil society (including ICMC) actively participated:
- in the Global Forum's on-line consultation in
May and June, which produced a 48-page report as an official
document of the Global Forum.
- in the editing of thematic background papers prepared
for the 8 sessions of the Civil Society Day, which are also
official documents of the Global Forum. ICMC was one of
20 NGOs so engaged in ICMC's case, working on the paper
for the session regarding the migration - development nexus:
migration out of choice vs. migration out of necessity.
- as a rapporteur for the session on "looking
ahead: strategies and partnerships for the future.
- in the delegation of 12 chosen to represent all
of Civil Society in preparing the written report of Civil
Society and making the related presentation to the States
on their first day Tuesday 10 July.
Brief report evaluating Civil Society Day 2
In the Parallel Civil Society Forum on Migration, Development
and Human Rights, Tuesday and Wednesday 10- 11 July, organized
by Migrant Rights International in close collaboration with December
18 and ICMC.
- There were as many people (200) and NGOs at the parallel
event than were at the official Global Forum Civil Society Day-and
the parallel event was organized with less than $5,000 US, in
only 2 months, without the benefit of the names and contact
information for participants in the official Civil Society day,
and actually charged participants a fee of 25 euros. Participants
included a number of NGO, faith-based and labour groups that
had not been selected to be part of the official Civil Society
day, not only from Brussels and Europe but from other regions
of the world as well.
- The event unanimously passed a resolution proposed by
ICMC to create a Global Platform for Migration, Development
and Human Rights. The first task of the new platform
would be to create communications capacity so that like-minded
NGOs, labour and other groups could communicate regularly. The
second task will be to develop a funding strategy. Key work
would be to support regional and national strategies on migration
and development, both within and outside the process of the
Global Forum.
- ICMC ran a well-received two-part workshop featuring 3
officials from the European Commission - Ralph Genetzke
- EuropeAid Co-operation Office, Marc Rachir - Directorate General
External Affairs and Francesco Luciani - Directorate General
for Freedom, Justice and Security.
- The most popular of the 10 workshops at the parallel event,
with 47 NGO and labour participants attending. The workshop
gave funding officials the opportunity to discuss funding possibilities
with NGOs and NGOs the chance to discuss actual programming
already underway in the area of migration and development. Among
the development actors participating were Cordaid and Oxfam.
- ICMC was invited as one of two panelists asked to report
on both the Civil Society Day and the informal parallel event,
to speak at a roundtable organized by the Transatlantic Institute,
the Brussels affiliate of the American Jewish Committee.
To see the final conclusions and recommendations of the Chair,
Ambassador Regine De Clercq: http://www.gfmd-fmmd.org/en/system/files/Summary+Conclusions+.pdf
To see the programme of the Global Community Forum on Migration,
Development and Human Rights, held July 10 -11 and organized by
Migrants Rights International: http://www.migrantwatch.org/Activities/act1-GlobalComForum.html
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