Antananarivo — Representatives of the Malagasy Government, civil society, the private sector, and United Nations (UN) agencies, gathered this week (23-24/10) in Antananarivo for the first two-day multi-stakeholder consultation on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.

Through the two-day consultation, which was co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IOM,  the UN Migration Agency, Malagasy stakeholders with different perspectives and experiences of migration management had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the content of the Global Compact; to reflect on the priority topics and Global Compact objectives of relevance to the country; and to brainstorm on some of the mechanisms to be put in place to support the Global Compact’s implementation.

In his opening remarks Eric Ratsimbazafy, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlined that “this consultation is a crucial step ahead of the upcoming Intergovernmental Conference in Marrakesh. This provides an opportunity for us as stakeholders, to consider the new global governance architecture around migration, and to take stock of the benefits and challenges that migration may have in the country and on society.”

The finalization of the Global Compact on 13 July 2018 was the culmination of six rounds of inter-governmental negotiations at the UN Headquarters in New York between February and July 2018, which followed the consultation and stocktaking phases that took place between April 2017 and January 2018. The text will be presented at the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Marrakesh on 10-11 December.

The Global Compact is the result of a process that began in September 2016 when the United Nations General Assembly addressed, for the first time at such a high level, the issue of human mobility and its many dimensions.

The Global Compact sets out a range of principles, commitments and understandings among Member States, affecting nearly 260 million international migrants and the communities that host them, including considerations relating to human rights, humanitarian, economic, social, development, climate change and security issues. It provides a blueprint states to better manage migration and cooperate more effectively with one another. It also gives states the space and flexibility to do so on the basis of their own migration realities and capacities.

This consultation was made possible with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO).

For more information please contact Daniel Silva y Poveda at IOM Madagascar, Tel: +261.32 56 54 954, Email: dsilva@iom.int