IDM Second Session 2024

As recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, regular and well-governed migration can bring significant opportunities for the people who move and the places and communities that they move from, to and through. Regular migration pathways can boost sustainable development outcomes and play a significant role in addressing global challenges – such as green transitions – by shaping where and how people migrate and helping to ensure positive outcomes for migrants and societies.

Safe, orderly and regular migration has emerged as a global strategic asset and is driving human development around the globe. However, in a world grappling with conflicts, disasters and economic fragility, exacerbated by the effects of climate change, while facing fast-paced global transformations, human mobility has become increasingly complex and ever more contentious. The first International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) session this year, held in New York in May 2024, highlighted the urgency of current challenges, while recognizing the wealth of evidence and emerging initiatives around regular pathways and their vast potential.

Four avenues of action were identified as key to success. First, multilateral action and effective partnerships at all levels are paramount to mobilizing joint action to facilitate regular migration pathways. The private sector has a key role to play and should be systematically and meaningfully involved in these partnerships. Second, effective engagement at the local level, with communities and local authorities, is essential to strengthen these pathways and enhance social cohesion and resilience, ensuring positive longer-term impacts of regular migration. Third, migrant and diaspora voices must be heard, as they have transformative potential in advocacy and development. Lastly, the role of innovation and technology is underscored in providing migrants with better access to information, resources, training and skills recognition.

The second IDM session in 2024 will build on the New York event and its take-aways and explore what a comprehensive approach to regular pathways means in practice, particularly for catalyzing sustainable development and global green transition. It will seek to identify building blocks and the mechanisms that need to be in place for success. Against the backdrop of the Global Compact for Migration Regional Reviews, and in the wake of the Summit of the Future and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 29, this IDM session will provide an opportunity to reflect on ways to leverage migration as a force for prosperity and progress for all in the context of the wider global agenda.

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS SESSION?

Taking place back-to-back with IOM Council, this IDM session aims to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including States, United Nations system organizations, civil society, the private sector, foundations and multilateral development banks, diaspora organizations, and migrants and their communities to promote a global, multilateral conversation on how to seize the opportunities and address the challenges of regular migration, while supporting vulnerable populations in an increasingly interdependent and complex world. This event will build on the discussion at the first IDM session held earlier this year, as well as deliberations in other key international forums, and contribute to IOM’s wider commitment to advance the 2030 Agenda and support Global Compact for Migration implementation. It will also inform deliberations during the subsequent IOM Council session.

WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE SESSION?

This session will contribute to:

• An evidence-based understanding of the challenges and opportunities around regular migration today and in the future, including in the context of demographic transitions, geopolitical crises, climate change, as well as ways to address gaps in current knowledge.
• Identifying innovative and cutting-edge solutions that governments and other stakeholders at all levels have already put in place and are ripe for scaling up or that could be adopted elsewhere, to harness the potential of regular pathways as a catalyst of green transition as part of a balanced and comprehensive approach to human mobility and sustainable development.
• Exploring how to create an ecosystem based on multilateral action and broad-based partnerships, including with the private sector and diasporas, at the local, national, regional and global levels to facilitate regular migration and contribute to the response to some of the most distressing crises in the world, supporting integration and the transition to peace and prosperity.
• Understanding how to achieve more people-centred, rights-based, accessible, sustainable and safe regular pathways, including key policy, operational and technical solutions that are needed throughout the migration cycle.

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW 

Geneva, Switzerland | Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG)
Monday 25 November 
_{(Draft agenda September 25/09/2024)}
 

Time

Program

9:00 - 10:00

Opening
 

10:00 - 10:45

Setting the Scene: Regular migration pathways today – opportunities and challenges
Building on the opening session, this panel will set the scene for the rest of the event by bringing out key insights on long-term trends and outlooks globally with respect to regular migration pathways. It will highlight the role of migration as both a development accelerator and outcome and identify key acceleration points for regular pathways to enable transformative change for sustainable development and more just and greener transitions.

10:45 - 12:30

Panel 1: Pathways Solutions – Practical approaches to bolster sustainable development
The evidence is clear: well-managed migration significantly enhances sustainable development outcomes for everyone involved. The success of migration, in terms of where, how and with what outcomes people migrate, is heavily influenced by the options available to them. Currently, these options are inadequate for the complex and ever-changing contexts of today and tomorrow. To transform regular migration pathways into true development pathways, we need an ecosystem of responsive governance arrangements, robust cooperation and meaningful partnerships that can balance the priorities, needs and expectations of a diverse range of stakeholders. This panel will explore practical solutions that span various levels of governance and sectors of society to reinforce sustainable development.

12:30 - 14:00

Lunch Break – Interactive exhibitions

14:00 - 15:30

Panel 2: Pathways Solutions – Practical approaches to catalyze the just transition and support the green economy 
A just and green transition, as part of broader UNFCCC commitments, that is conducted in a fair and inclusive manner and follows a human rights-based approach for the implementation of regular labour pathways, is vital to ensure that no one is left behind in a global move to net zero societies. Labour migration will be a key component of realizing the green transition, as migrant workers of all skill levels will be crucial to respond to the labour demands to meet global climate goals. Strategically utilizing pathways will deliver jobs for the green transition, while providing access to relevant education and skills training to workers. As migrant workers return to their communities and countries of origin, benefits can be harnessed through skill and knowledge transfer, while diaspora members can be agents of change in green transitions.

15:30 - 17:00

Panel 3: Combating disinformation to enable the realization of regular pathways solutions
A balanced narrative about migration must have space for evidence-based assessment of the challenges that are posed, as well as for understanding that migration drives positive outcomes for development as just transitions. However, this is increasingly threatened by anti-migration digital disinformation. Developing effective countermeasures for disinformation is clearly an urgent goal. It is also a challenging one. Private sector partnerships, as well as working with civil society (including migrants and diasporas) and the media, are key to influencing regular migration narratives.

17:00 - 17:30

Closing Remarks

17:30 - 18:30

The IOM Impact Awards Ceremony and Evening Reception The grand finale of the 2024 Knowledge Fair & Impact Awards @ IOM. This global recognition and certification programme will showcase and celebrate the most impactful IOM initiatives and collaborations in the field of migration.