Event description:

The New York Declaration by the UN General Assembly, issued in September 2016, proposed a Global Compact for (safe, orderly and regular) Migration (GCM) and a separate Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). Unlike the GCR which has a relatively clear normative framework (Geneva Convention) and a lead implementing agency (UNHCR), the proposed GCM lacks such a framework and governance architecture.

As a contribution to the negotiations leading up to the intergovernmental conference to be held in 2018, the meeting brought together selected global migration experts in an attempt to provide a concrete vision for the GCM from a global development perspective.

Definition

For the purpose of this meeting, the following working definition of the GCM was proposed:

"An internationally negotiated framework of actionable commitments to guide member states and international organizations, to harness the benefits of migration and address the challenges."

Objectives

1. Clarify thematic elements of a normative framework for global governance of migration. Experts will summarize and cluster key themes that need to be addressed by the normative framework in order to enable migration as a driver for development, suggest policy priorities, examine existing conventions, guidelines, practices and data bases, and identify gaps.

2. Based on the above, develop guidance on the operationalization of migration-related programs in development. This component will elaborate on concrete, operational aspects of migration as a topic for development actors:

• Which actors must be strengthened to take responsibility for safe, orderly, regular and responsible migration and mobility and at which levels (global, regional, national and subnational)?
• What kind of administrative structure is needed (linked to the question of leadership and lead organization)?
• What kind of technical capacity building might be needed to achieve safe, orderly and regular migration and mobility?
• How can/should institutions and activities be financed?
• How should commitments in the GCM be monitored
• How are these commitments related to Agenda 2030?

3. Explore any overlap between the GCM and the GCR, especially in the case of mixed flows of refugees and migrants.