IOM has welcomed the inclusion of migration in the final text
adopted by the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable
Development. 

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing, speaking in Rio, noted
that migration is a mega-trend of the 21st century, with one in
seven on the planet in a migratory state. 

“Migrant remittances are double that of official
development assistance and equal to foreign direct investment.
Migration, therefore, is an effective instrument to promote
sustainable development, if managed well,” he said.

“Environmental and climate change will be a game-changer
for migratory patterns as we know them and climate-induced
migration is already one of the major challenges that States
increasingly need to address,” he added.

“Rio has been an opportunity for us to focus and ask
ourselves if we are allocating the necessary resources to cope with
this vast challenge. I am especially pleased that States recognized
the important link between upholding the rights of migrants and
decent work and social protection,” he said. 

The Rio+20 document calls on signatory States “to promote
and protect effectively the human rights and fundamental freedom of
all migrants regardless of the migration status, especially those
of women and children, and to address international migration
through international, regional or bilateral cooperation and
dialogue and for a comprehensive and balanced approach, recognizing
the roles and responsibilities of countries of origin, transit and
destination in promoting and protecting the human rights of all
migrants, and avoiding approaches that might aggravate their
vulnerability.”

It also commits signatories “to systematically consider
population trends and projections in national, rural and urban
development strategies and policies,” noting that
“through forward-looking planning, we can seize the
opportunities and address the challenges associated with
demographic change, including migration.” And it recognizes
the role of migrants as important stakeholders in sustainable
development.

For more information please contact

Lars Lonnback

Tel. +41.797427490

Email: "mailto:llonnback@iom.int">llonnback@iom.int