Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has released a new guide for government actors involved in implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as they relate to migration. Migration and the 2030 Agenda: A Guide for Practitioners, published on 09 October, aims to help policymakers integrate migration into local and national development planning.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes migration as a core development consideration – marking the first time that migration is explicitly integrated into the global development agenda. Implementation of the SDGs provides an opportunity to protect and empower mobile populations to fulfil their development potential and benefit individuals, communities and countries around the world. But the migration-SDG connections reach far beyond just implementing migration policies, and entail integrating migration across governance sectors.

“This guide is a breakthrough as it enables [policymakers] to seize the tremendous opportunity brought by the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to systematically connect migration and development policies moving forward,” said Cécile Riallant, IOM Senior Migration and Development Specialist.

“Effective migration governance is a key success factor for the achievement of the SDGs. Many SDG targets can only be achieved if migration and migrants are considered. This guide equips states and development actors with relevant guidance and tools to better understand the migration-SDG connections and to take practical action to integrate migration into SDG implementation,” she added.

The publication was commissioned by IOM with support received from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The full guide is available here.

For more information please contact Katie Colven at IOM HQ; Tel: +41 717 93 65, Email: kcolven@iom.int