Switzerland - IOM Director General William Lacy Swing is this week taking part in the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The IOM chief will attend on Tuesday 17 and Thursday 19 January. He will deliver a keynote address today, Tuesday. 

The WEF meeting in Davos remains a major creative force for engaging world leaders in collaborative activities to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each year. It brings together leaders from across business, government, international organizations, academia and civil society in peer-to-peer working sessions.

For over four decades, the WEF’s mission – improving the state of the world – has informed the programme of the annual meeting. Responsive and Responsible Leadership is the theme driving the design of the programme, initiatives and projects of the WEF Annual Meeting 2017.

Today Ambassador Swing will take part in a session where he will discuss the implications of a study prepared by the McKinsey Global Institute. The report, People on the Move: Global Migration’s Impact and Opportunity, was launched at the IOM Council session in December 2016.

He will discuss the current migration emergency in Europe and emphasize that this new era for migration presents new opportunities, where timely and accurate data and analysis will be essential if states are to manage migration effectively. He will also discuss IOM’s recent efforts to improve data on migration and development.

Over the two days he will be in Davos, Ambassador Swing will meet with global leaders to discuss human mobility and take part in sessions on combatting racism, displacement tracking technology (highlighting IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix) and the role of migration in sustainable development.

Ambassador Swing and IOM Spokesperson Leonard Doyle will be available for interviews from Davos between 17-19 January. For further information, please contact Leonard Doyle, Tel: +41 79 285 71 23, Email: ldoyle@iom.int