Switzerland - On 20 June 2017, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and the Governments of Australia, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) co-hosted an event exploring good practices on migration governance at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

The discussions were held as a side event of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration’s thematic consultation, which centred on issues of international cooperation and governance of migration in all its dimensions, including at borders, on transit, entry, return, readmission, integration and reintegration. The Global Compact is an inter-governmental process that presents an historical opportunity for achieving a world in which migrants move as a matter of choice rather than necessity, through safe, orderly and regular channels, and in which migration is well governed and able to act as a positive force for individuals, societies and states.

“There are good practices pursued by national governments and inter-state consultation mechanisms that should be replicated at the global level,” said Jill Helke, the UN Migration Agency’s Director for International Cooperation and Partnerships. “This event illustrated examples of useful tools and good practices, which can inform governments’ and international organizations’ preparation of the process leading to the Global Compact.”

Presentations on migration governance at the national level were made at the event, as well as presentations of two examples of inter-regional governance of migration by inter-state consultation mechanisms on migration. 

The Governments of Australia, Mexico and Peru presented their respective migration governance policies highlighting the importance of adopting national whole-of-government approaches, highlighting tools that can assist governments in developing, adapting and assessing their migration policies, in particular IOM’s Migration Governance Framework and the Migration Governance Index (developed jointly by IOM and the Economist Intelligence Unit).

Inter-state consultation mechanisms on migration are state-led, regular information-sharing and policy dialogues on migration among several states and were organized to consider specific migration issues of common interest within a particular region or along a specific migration corridor. Throughout the past 35 years, they have contributed to the emergence of converging policy approaches, and regional and inter-regional governance of migration. 

Both the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC) and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) presented good practices and achievements. They also explored the contribution each can make to the Global Compact.

For further information, please contact IOM HQ:
Nicoletta Giordano, Tel: +41 22 717 9416, Email: ngiordano@iom.int
Maurizio Busatti, Tel: 41227179581, Email: mbusatti@iom.int