Excellencies,

Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps; 

Distinguished representatives of civil society;

Members of the Press:

It is my great honour to participate in this special event and
to have this opportunity to say a few words about migrants and the
International Organization for Migration on the eve of
International Migrants' Day. 

We live in an era of the greatest human mobility in recorded
history.

Besides some 214 million international migrants, there are an
estimated 740 million internal migrants, many of these Internally
Displaced Persons -- in other words, a total of nearly 1 billion
persons on the move, that is roughly one out of every six or seven
persons in the world in a migrant.

Current global demographics, labour market requirements,
economic trends, climate change and North-South disparities, will
ensure continuing large-scale flows of people throughout the 21st
Century.  And yet, in the globalization debate, the emphasis
is on the free movement of capital, goods and services --- with
hardly any mention of the free movement of people. 

Growing migration pressures resulting from the effects of
climate change add to the urgency of tacking existing challenges of
migration management.

No single organization or government can manage migration
alone.

Working together, we must continue to evolve and expand our
capacities through partnership – to bring to bear our
collective strengths and resources to think ahead, to plan for
change; to mitigate challenges and to devise adaptation measures
– thereby seizing the opportunities migration provides for
economic and social growth and prosperity.

The signing of a Framework Agreement today reinforces that
recognition.  It further pays tribute to the 50-year
relationship between the Kingdom of Spain and the International
Organization for Migration.

Like other European countries, Spain has experienced a sea
change in migration dynamics during this period – a
transformation whereby European countries are a major region of
destination and asylum; Europe has for example, resettled within
its territory more than 45,000 persons since 2000 alone.

As the traditional gateway to Europe, Spain has addressed first
hand the exponential growth in global migration; and remains at the
forefront of the European migration debate.  I am encouraged
that Spain will make migration one of its priorities when it
assumes the rotating Presidency of the European Union two weeks
from tomorrow. IOM has also pledged its full support to Spain
during its Chairmanship of the Global Forum for Migration and
Development (GFMD) in 2011.

IOM is grateful to the Spanish Government for the support,
cooperation, and generous financing we receive for our many
migration management projects.

Together, with the Spanish Government and civil society, we are
working to maximize the benefits of migration.  Today's
demographic, labour market and economic trends, as well as climate
change – mean that migrants constitute part of the solution
to overcome the current global economic crisis and to secure the
market growth and prosperity of tomorrow.

With the signing of this Framework Agreement, I hereby reiterate
the full and active support of IOM and its 7000 dedicated
professionals in 450 locations around the globe, to build on the
50-years of fruitful cooperation we have had with the Kingdom of
Spain – a partnership we cherish and accord great pride.