Belgium - IOM Deputy Director General Laura Thompson will join a high-level panel on migration and forced displacement Wednesday (15/6) at the two-day “European Development Days” (EDD) event in Brussels.  The panel will headline a series of debates and workshops with IOM involvement at the EDD drawing attention to the role of migration in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ambassador Thompson and panelists at this high level event – “Harnessing the Potential of Migration and Forced Displacement for Development” – are set to discuss opportunities and challenges in sustainable development for migrants, forcibly displaced persons, their hosts, and communities.

“Migration is a recognized part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and this gives new impetus to international and regional partners to promote orderly and safe human mobility that benefits the migrants and the communities of origin and destination,” said Ambassador Thompson ahead of the event. “Making this a reality will help to draw out the opportunities that people on the move offer, and can also minimize potential negative development impacts of disorderly migration,” she added.   

This global recognition coincides with a prioritization of migration and forced displacement in three major global fora in 2016: the World Humanitarian Summit in May, the UN General Assembly Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in September, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development in December.

The high-level panel on migration, forced displacement and development will look at how the EU and its partners can build on these global initiatives to spur innovation and measure progress toward well-managed migration policies and better development outcomes, ultimately ensuring that no one is left behind.

The panel, co-organized by the European Commission, and IOM and UNHCR, will feature opening remarks by Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, and will include Lotte Knudsen, Managing Director Human Rights, Global and Multilateral Issues, European External Action Service (EEAS); Steven Corliss, Director of Programme Support and Management Division, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and Faith Tendai Munyati, a Young Leader from South Africa. Discussions will be moderated by Elizabeth Collett, Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe.

At EDD, IOM is also contributing to a “debate lab” and a “project lab” dealing with the benefits of migration for development and the role of local authorities. IOM’s regional director for the European Economic Area, the EU and NATO, Eugenio Ambrosi, will take part in the Thursday (16/06) debate lab focused on "Win-win Solutions for Migration: How to Leverage the Benefits of Migration for Development.” IOM also will showcase the migration-related SDGs as co-organizer of the United Nation's stand on the sustainable development goals under the theme “leaving no-one behind”.

The EDD is the EU’s flagship development event, and this year marks its 10th edition. The annual forum has attracted 42,000 participants – including 7 Nobel Prize laureates and 100 world leaders – from over 154 countries, representing 4,500 organizations in the fields of development cooperation, human rights and humanitarian aid over its ten years.

For more information on the High Level Panel go to: https://eudevdays.eu/sessions/harnessing-potential-migration-and-forced-displacement-development

For more information on the "Win-win Solutions for Migration” debate lab: https://eudevdays.eu/sessions/win-win-solutions-migration

For more information on the “Migration, Cities and the SDGs” project lab co-organized by IOM and the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI), go to: https://eudevdays.eu/sessions/migration-cities-and-sdgs

For further information, please contact Jennifer Hollings, Email: jhollings@iom.int, Tel. +32 2 287 7114 or Ryan Schroeder, Email: rschroeder@iom.int, Tel. +32 2 287 7116 at IOM’s European Regional Office in Brussels.