Photo credit: OECD
Leveraging the power of migration and the more than 280 million migrants worldwide is an urgent imperative which can benefit all – countries of origin, transit and destination – while also creating opportunities for migrants themselves.
The United Nations Development Program says that concrete, coordinated action on migration is essential to reduce risks and vulnerabilities faced by migrants, especially as they move between countries in search of safety and opportunity.
For the first time since the establishment of the landmark Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), adopted four years ago in Marrakech, governments will convene at the first-ever International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in New York, to report on progress made in delivering on the Compact. The Forum presents a chance to improve policies on migration, including making it safer a nd more regular, and address the harmful factors forcing people from their homes.
Migrants can make a vast contribution to the shaping of stronger, more resilient communities. However, a significant share of international migration takes place outside regular “pathways”. Irregular migration poses multiple challenges not only to migrants themselves, but also to countries of origin, transit and destination. It can also increase xenophobia, stigmatization and discrimination.
“Enhancing regular pathways is the best way to prevent the needless deaths of migrants and reduce the negative repercussions of irregular migration. That includes supporting labour migration, academic mobility, as well as family reunification,” says UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in a speech on the first day of the IMRF.
Advocating for regular migration is one of the commitments UNDP is making at IMRF. Other pledges include scaling up its work to better understand and address the negative factors that compel people to migrate, and to assess how targeted interventions can affect people’s decision to migrate through new data collection and analysis tools.
Other areas of work outlined in the UNDP Pledge include fostering migrants’ integration, promoting social cohesion, and strengthening the positive interaction between migration and sustainable development.
Source: UNDP
