IOM's 96th Council gets underway today in Geneva with a particular
focus on some of the key challenges facing migration management and
with IOM Director General William Swing's first report to member
states since taking office on 1st October.

A special panel involving members of the Global Migration Group
(GMG), a collection of 14 international and United Nations (UN)
organizations that promote the wider application of all relevant
international and regional instruments and norms relating to
migration, will hold on 3 December an interactive discussion with
IOM's member states and observers on the impact of the global
financial crisis on migrants and migration.

Panellists include United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakdi who
currently chairs the GMG, Dilip Ratha of the World Bank and
representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), International Labour
Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) and United Nations Institute for Training and
Research (UNITAR).

As part of IOM's International Dialogue on Migration, the
Council will on 4 December further examine the challenges and
opportunities of return migration and discuss developments in the
migration sphere. This includes looking ahead at the third Global
Forum on Migration and Development to take place in Greece next
year and France's setting migration as a priority during its
presidency of the European Union.

The Dialogue will conclude on 5 December with a session on mixed
migration flows addressed by IOM Director General, William Swing,
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, Trygve
Nordby, Chair of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies' Reference Group on Migration and Johan
Ketelers, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration
Committee.

During the three-day gathering, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development and December 18th, a
non-governmental organization that promotes the protection of
migrants rights, will be admitted as Observers to IOM with its
current membership of 125 states.

For a detailed agenda of the 96th Session of the IOM Council,
please go to:  

"http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/2034">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/2034

For further information, please contact:

Jean Philippe Chauzy

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9361/+ 41 79 285 4366

E-mail: "mailto:pchauzy@iom.int">pchauzy@iom.int

or

Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9486/ + 41 79 217 3374

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int