Migrant Forum in Asia

The Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) Experience

Since early 2000, the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) has been engaging the United Nations (UN) bodies on migration and development issues as well as other regional and international organizations that continuously monitor the discourse on migration.

MFA’s engagement with the GFMD dates back to our involvement in the 2006 UN High Level Dialogue (UN HLD). MFA was part of the global steering committee that coordinated the civil society component of the UN HLD where we co-organized a parallel event together with the Migrants Rights International (MRI), the Global Community Dialogue on Migration, Development and Human Rights, which had 80 participants representing 45 organizations from Asia, North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Pacific.

In the process of our engagement in these multilateral meetings, particularly on the GFMD, we saw the need to continuously monitor the process as GFMD has now be become a permanent intergovernmental forum. It has become one of the principal international spaces in which governments discuss migration and development policies.

This report aims to present the various strategies MFA adopted at the national, regional and international levels in relation to the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development. It provides a background to the first two GFMDs, MFA’s activities leading up to the Peoples’ Global Action as well as a critique of the GFMD and recommendations for future CSO engagement at the 2009 GFMD in Athens, Greece.

Through the report, we hope to share our experience in establishing a space for assertion of a rights-based civil society discourse, our good practices, and our lessons learned for future engagement with the GFMD.

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Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), one of the lead organizations working on the issues of migration and development in the Asian region, felt it necessary for the voices of migrant, trade unions and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to be heard in the process of the GFMD. MFA together with its international partner, Migrants Rights International (MRI), was actively engaged in the process of the UNHLD from actual participation in the UN process to engaging grassroots and communities of migrants on the issue. In the lead up to the GFMD, MFA together with its various partners at the international and regional levels adapted the same strategy in terms. MFA and its partners were part of the formal CSO process organized by the GFMD and hosted by the Belgian government at while MFA together with Migrants Rights International organized the Global Community Forum on Migration, Development and Human Rights (GCD-MDHR). The GCDMDHR was an independent event of CSOs parallel to the GFMD in order to reintroduce the voice and concrete contribution of the migrants, non-government organizations(NGOS) and CSOs in the global debate. Aside from organizing a parallel event, MFA also assisted in disseminating information concerning CSO participation in the formal GFMD process and encouraged its partners and members to apply as official CSO delegates to the GFMD.

This report aims to present the various initiatives and strategies of the MFA network and its partners in engaging with the GFMD process. It provides a background of the GFMD and the Day for CSOs, a report from the CSO Global Community Forum on Migration and Development, a summary of the recommendations of the GFMD and recommendations for CSO engagement with the second GFMD forthcoming in Manila, Philippines in 2008.

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In December 2003, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly decided to convene a High Level Dialogue (HLD) on International Migration and Development during its 61 st session. The HLD on migration took place on September 14-15, 2006 at the UN general headquarters in New York City.

This report aims to present the various strategies and initiatives of CSOs in relations to the UNHLD. It will provide an overview of the UNHLD, a summary of CSO activities in the lead up to the HLD and a report of the global community dialogue. The UNHLD led to the creation of a Global Forum to continue the dialogue on migration and development. The Government of Belgium has offered to host the first meeting of the forum, which is likely to be held next year. This report also includes recommendations of civil societies on the next steps following the UNHLD.

Click here to download.