Government officials from the 22 Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking
countries members of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB)
are meeting this week in San Salvador to discuss the financial
crisis and its impact on migrants and their families.

Participants at the two-day event, which opens on 22 July in San
Salvador, will exchange ideas and best practices that will lead to
concrete programmes and projects aimed at mitigating the negative
effects of the financial crisis on migration and development. They
will also discuss strategies to harness the development potential
of migration and to promote and uphold the human rights of migrants
regardless of their immigration status.

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Link alt="" border="0" height="12" hspace="0" src=
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"> "http://www.gfmd.org/en.html" target="_blank" title="">IV Global
Forum on Migration and Development

As a keynote speaker, IOM Deputy Director General, Ambassador
Laura Thompson will point out: "It is vital that countries create
clear public policies to address economic downturns and their
impact on migration; taking into account the human capital of
migrants and responding to current development needs. 
Migration can be a positive force to alleviate certain aspects of
the economic downturn.  The need for migrant labour in many
host countries is a reality today and in decades to come."

The event, which is co-sponsored by the Salvadorian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, IOM and the UN's Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), will bring together government
officials, international organizations, academia, and civil society
at four roundtables on the impact of the economic crisis on
remittances, on labour needs, on the human rights of migrants and
on the development potential of migration.

According to Ambassador Thompson, "The current financial crisis
has served to bring to the fore the need to rekindle the debate on
the direct link between migration and development.  Today the
question is not whether we should or should not have migration,
which is here to stay, but about finding ways to better manage it.
IOM remains committed to contribute to all political and technical
dialogues at the regional, interregional and international level,
where the needs of all States and of migrants are taken into
account."

Outcomes from this week's event will presented at the IV Global
Forum on Migration and Development ( "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.gfmd.org/en.html"
target="_blank" title="">http://www.gfmd.org/en.html) scheduled
to take place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8-11 November 2010.

For more information, please contact:

Ana Beatriz Fernández

IOM San José

Tel. +506.2221.5348, Ext. 136

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