This year’s 180 civil society delegates—a majority of them migrants themselves, and coming from more than 60 countries and every continent—were selected from a record pool of over 600 applicants. “These delegates will bring a wide mix of personal and practical experience to the table,” remarked John Bingham, the Head of Policy of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), appointed by the Swiss government to coordinate this year’s civil society activities within the GFMD process. Delegates were selected by an international advisory committee of migration and development actors on the basis of the delegates’ engagement in the issues, with careful attention to achieving regional, sectoral and gender diversity among them. “The largest number of delegates come from the diaspora and migrant-led organizations,” Mr. Bingham observed, “followed by representatives of rights and development organizations, trade unions, academia and the private sector. While headquarters offices of the delegates’ organizations are split about 60% in countries of the global north and 40% the global south, more than half of the total work in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and about a third in the Middle East.” And “somehow,” Mr. Bingham added, “there is perfect gender balance among the delegates.”

The concerted thought, debate and follow-up of the delegates will deepen civil society’s role in global partnership and action on migration and development. As highlighted by Ms. Beata Godenzi, representing the Swiss chair of the Global Forum, civil society actors “are (…) the conscience of societies and governments; the advocates of migrants' rights, protection of children, families, vulnerable groups and of the equal place that migrants should have at the negotiating table on migration and development programmes.”

Under the overarching theme “Taking Action on Labour Migration, Development and the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families”, civil society delegates will work towards a number of recommendations for governments. Recommendations will address issues including the protection of all migrant workers, both in regular and irregular circumstances; the dignity of labour within globalized markets; mechanisms of safe and legal migration, including temporary and circular migration and “labour matching”; forging development that is human and not just economic; and addressing root causes of migration so that migration can be by choice, not necessity. These recommendations will be widely distributed and presented directly to governments during the opening session of the states’ meeting of the GFMD on 1 and 2 of December 2011, also in Geneva. At the same time, delegates will gear discussions towards a set of follow up actions and strategies for civil society organizations themselves in 2012 and beyond.

The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a state-led, voluntary process dedicated to informal, non-binding and outcomes-oriented dialogue. Although state-led, the GFMD offers a space to civil society partners to provide input and make recommendations and concrete proposals. As in previous years, civil society delegates will meet in the two days preceding the state-led meetings and then come together with states during a “common space” to generate action-oriented solutions.

###

For more information, see: www.gfmdcivilsociety.org or contact:

Andrés MORALES
Programme Officer
Global Forum on Migration and Development Civil Society Programme 2011
E: contact@gfmdcivilsociety.org
T: +41 22 919 10 26