Youth and migration: Engaging youth as key partners in migration governance

There are currently more young people in the world than ever, 1.8 billion, the largest generation in history. Of the 258 million international migrants, around 11 percent of them were below 24 years old in 2017. Young people have a key role in policy discussions, rising up worldwide for their rights and better opportunities and demanding a seat at the table in decision-making processes.

Against this background, the International Dialogue on Migration 2019 was dedicated to discussing how to engage youth as a key partner in global processes on migration. The 2019 IDM responds to the calls for greater engagement with youth made by participants at IDM and it is aligned with the United Nations Youth Strategy which recognizes the potential of the youth to advance progress in many policy areas, considering young people’s first-hand experience.

Overview

The first of two IDM sessions planned in 2019 discussed global strategies and partnerships in the area of youth mobility as well as best practices for youth engagement in policy and decision-making processes. Adaptation, integration, and empowerment of young migrants were explored through an exchange of good practices, lessons learned and recommendations with representatives from all relevant sectors, including young migrants themselves.

Please note that the recording of the event is available on UN Web TV: Morning session I Afternoon session

Agenda

28 February 2019

10:00-10:30 Opening Session

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (Keynote remarks) (Video)

António Vitorino, Director General, International Organization for Migration (Opening Remarks) (Video)

Jayathma Wickramanayake, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth (Keynote remarks) (Video)

 

17:50-18:00 Closing Session

Laura Thompson, Deputy Director General of IOM (Closing remarks) (Video)

End of Session

16:30-17:50 Session 4: Mainstreaming youth migration into development policies: recommendations for the way forward

Moderator: Laura Thompson, Deputy Director General of IOM

Speakers:

Mr. José Vicente Santini, Deputy Chief, Chief of Staff´s Office at the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil (Presentation) (Video)

Mr. Leo Johnson, Executive Director, Empowerment Squared, Member of the Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council, Canada (Remarks) (Video) (Additional information)

Ms. Alexandra Délano Alonso, Associate Professor and Chair of Global Studies, New School (Video)

Ms. Chrisann Jarrett, Founder of Let Us Learn, UK (Video)

Speakers:

Santiago Javier Chavez Pareja, Vice Minister for Human Mobility of Ecuador, Chair of the GFMD 2019 (Video)

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Member of the Parliament, Canada (Video)

Aya Chebbi, African Union Youth Envoy (Remarks) (Video)

Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics and Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India (Remarks) (Presentation) (Video)

13:00-15:00 Break

15:00-16:30 Session 3: Empowering youth to become actors of change

Moderator: Tolu O. Olubunmi, Communications Advisor, Department of Global Communications, United Nations

11:30-13:00 Session 2: Addressing specific challenges and vulnerabilities of young people: what role, which partners?

Moderator: Julia Blocher, President of the International Youth Federation, Migration Researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Speakers:

Mohamed Bangura, Minister of Youth Affairs, Sierra Leone (Video)

Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary, Bangladesh (Video)

Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (Video)

Alexis Nadine Bautista, Programme Officer at Migrant Forum in Asia (Remarks) (Video)

10:30-11:30 Session 1: Understanding youth migration: beyond facts and figures

Moderator: Roxanne Tajbakhsh, Global Focal Point on migration, United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth

Speakers:

Daniela Bas, Director, Division for Inclusive Social Development, UN DESA (Video)

Ted Chaiban, Director, Programmes, UNICEF (Video)

Iliana G. Perez, Director of Research and Entrepreneurship at Immigrant Rising (Remarks) (Video)

Event documents and photos

• Final report 2019 IDM
• Summary of conclusions
• Concept note IDM 2019
• Provisional agenda
• Photos of the event
• Photos of the side event
• List of participants

Check also:

• The new thematic page on child and young migrants
• The new migration indicator on young migrants