New York – Yesterday (19/09) marked the opening of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly General Debate, a forum for world leaders to engage in diplomatic talks and tackle the most pressing global challenges. Running through 25 September, the theme of this year’s session is Focusing on People – Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet.

The high-level meeting will address issues including extreme poverty, climate change, modern slavery, and the migrant and refugee crisis. Peter Thomson of Fiji, President of the UN General Assembly, said that this is a “year of firsts,” as the UNGA will see the negotiation of the first intergovernmental compact on migration and the signing of the first agreement on the elimination of nuclear weapons.

This year marks the first anniversary of IOM, the UN Migration Agency becoming a related agency of the UN. Shortly after joining the UN last September and following the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, IOM was tasked with spearheading a new Global Compact on Migration that will help member states better manage migration and lead to safer, more regular migration, fostering better national policies and cross-border management.

Today (20/09), IOM’s Director General William Lacy Swing will address high-level officials at a side event, The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants – One Year On convened by the Special Representative to the Secretary General on International Migration and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on progress made over the past year.

IOM will play a highly visible role throughout the week with Director General Swing addressing world leaders on topics including the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, humanitarian issues in South Sudan, Iraq, the Lake Chad Basin, and intersections between migration and violent extremism.

IOM, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Walk Free Foundation and Alliance 87, will launch the Modern Slavery and Child Labour Global Estimates report today to present new data that reveals that the UN Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved unless efforts to fight modern slavery and child labour are dramatically increased.

For more information please contact: Leonard Doyle, Tel: +41792857123, Email: ldoyle@iom.int or media@iom.int Lanna Walsh, Tel: +1929 9201127, Email lwalsh@iom.int