Informal Interactive Hearing on Migration and Development with NGOs, CSOs and the Private Sector
12 July 2006, New York, USA
“I attach great importance to the Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly with Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations and the Private Sector on International Migration and Development, which will take place on 12 July 2006 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It is critical that Member States have an exchange of views with a wide range of constituencies, including migrants themselves, when they are preparing for the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in September.”
Kofi Annan
United Nations Secretary-General
As part of the preparatory activities leading to the meeting in September, the General Assembly will hold informal interactive hearings with representatives of NGOs, civil society organizations and the private sector on 12 July 2006 in New York. The objective of the informal interactive hearings is to provide an opportunity for NGOs, civil society organizations and private sector to interact with Member States and offer input for the High-level Dialogue.
The outcome of the informal interactive hearings will be a summary prepared by the President of the General Assembly prior to the High-level Dialogue.
The General Assembly also decided, in its resolution 60/227, that representatives of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations and the private sector, one from each grouping being selected during the informal interactive hearings, may also participate in each of the round tables of the High-level Dialogue, and that the President of the General Assembly will determine the list of such representatives, taking into account the principle of equitable geographical representation, in consultation with Member States.
To ensure an open, transparent and participatory process, the President of the General Assembly has established a Task Force to assist in the planning of the Hearings. The Task Force includes representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and relevant parts of the United Nations system. The functions of the Task Force will be to assist the President in the decisions relating to the organizational rrangements of the Hearings.
The Hearings will then be divided into four segments focusing on the following topics:
(a) Promoting a comprehensive rights-based approach to international migration, and ensuring respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants and their families;
(b) International migration and development - challenges for social and economic policies in sending and receiving countries;
(c) Policy responses - Promoting the building of partnerships and capacitybuilding and the sharing of best practices at all levels, including the bilateral and regional levels, for the benefit of countries and migrants alike.
The segments will be chaired by the President of the General Assembly and ensure interactive discussions between delegates of Member States and representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Provisional Programme
List of Speakers
CSO Hearing on International Migration and Development, Orientation Meeting, 11 July 2006
Deputy Secretary-General on Civil Society's Role in Migration Debate (), 12 July 2006
