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31 August 2018

IOM Holds Regional Workshop on Migration and the Sustainable Development Goals in Panama

The event brought together migration and foreign relations authorities, and institutions leading the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, from countries in Central America, North America and the Caribbean. Photo: RCM/2018

"The 2030 Agenda makes explicit the need for migration policies based on human rights and good governance of migration dynamics” - Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. Photo: RCM/2018

Panama City – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, held a regional workshop in Panama this week (28-29/08) on the importance of migration as a cross-cutting issue for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event was organized together with the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) and with the collaboration of UN system partners such as UNDP, UNHCR, UNFPA, ILO, and ECLAC.

It brought together migration and foreign relations authorities, and institutions leading the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, from countries in Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. Thematic experts from agencies of the United Nations System made presentations to sensitize officials about the Agenda and its relationship with migration. Also, the participants worked on some lines of action to be proposed soon to high-level officials of the RCM countries.

The Vice Minister of Foreign Relations of Panama, Nicole Wong, mentioned that one of the main findings of this workshop was “the importance of prioritizing the issue of migration in the national development plans so that the statistics respond to the needs of migration governance.”

Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean, stressed: “The 2030 Agenda makes explicit the need for migration policies based on human rights and good governance of migration dynamics. It also recognizes the direct and positive impact that migration has on the economic and social development of communities.”

Pisani also added that projects developed by IOM are aligned with the 2030 Agenda, to help governments achieve the objectives to which they have committed.

The workshop was held within the framework of the project: Support to Countries in the Implementation of the SDGs Related to Migration Governance which is implemented by the IOM office in Panama and financed by the IOM Development Fund.

For more information please contact Jorge Gallo at IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: +506 2212-5352, Email: jgallo@iom.int