 Under item 6, that will follow from this piece of information, the council will take decision on the admission of new member states and one new observer. Under item 7, the director general will present his report. We will then continue to item 8 draft reports on the 109th session of the council and on the third special session of the council followed by item 9. On matters discussed at the 24th and 25th sessions of the standing committee on programs and finance. Should everything proceed as planned, this afternoon we will resume at 3 o'clock with item 13, the general debate, as I mentioned, starting with ministers. Lastly, I also have the pleasure to remind the council that tonight, immediately after the closure of the afternoon meeting, all participants are invited to a reception hosted by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The reception will take place just outside this conference room. We will now move to item 6. Item 6 on the agenda, admission of new member states and observers, I'm pleased to inform the council that an application for membership has been received from the Lebanese Republic. I therefore invite the council to consider and adopt the draft resolution on the application for membership from the Lebanese Republic. In the absence of any comments, I declare the draft resolution adopted. We look forward to receiving notification of the ratification of the constitution to welcome the Lebanese Republic as a new member state. I now have the pleasure to give the floor to the representative of the Lebanese Republic. Please, floor is yours. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's indeed an honor and a real privilege for me to address this August body today. The outset allow me, Mr. Chairman, to congratulate you on your assumption of your functions and on your able stewardship of this session. We are very grateful to the distinguished members of the council for having voted in favor of our request to become members of the IOM and we really look forward to completing the internal accession process in order to become a full member of the organization. We are confident that once our accession is completed, the already excellent relations between the IOM and Lebanon will certainly be reinvigorated and it will hopefully pave the way for new important projects and activities. Throughout its long history, Lebanon has manifested its attachment to the values of tolerance, diversity, dialogue and peaceful resolutions of conflicts. Therefore, along with the other members of this organization, we are ready to take part in the activities of the IOM, an organization that nurtures these very same values. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I thank the representative of the Lebanese Republic for his statement and now I have the pleasure to give the floor to the Director General. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. On behalf of IOM as a whole and most particularly of our colleagues present in the field in Lebanon, we want to express how happy we are for the decision taken by the Lebanese Republic of joining IOM. I've said since the one that our ambition will be to become an universal organization. We are coming close to that and the decision that the Lebanese Republic has just taken is a proof of confidence in IOM, but it's also the result of a very in-depth cooperation in the past for so many years in such a region of the world that is crucial to migratory flows and to the situation of migrants and people on the move in general terms. So Mr. Chairman, on behalf of IOM, I would like to thank the proof of confidence from the Lebanese Republic. I would like to thank the fact that the Council has just adopted the resolution. We look forward to the completion of the necessary internal proceedings in order to welcome Lebanon as a full member of the organization. Thank you. Thank you so much. I now have the pleasure to inform the Council that an application has been received for representation by an observer from the International Commission on Missing Persons. The Council will now consider the resolution concerning the request made by this organization for representation as an observer. I declare the draft resolution adopted and the new observer admitted. I now have the pleasure to give the floor to the representative of the International Commission on Missing Persons. Please, grab the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Excellencies, Director-General, Distinguished Council members, I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the 110th session of the Council of the International Organization for Migration, on behalf of the Commissioners and Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons, ICMP. Let me begin by conveying ICMP's sincere appreciation to the IOM Director-General and the Council for the positive consideration that has been given to ICMP's application for observer status at the Council. ICMP looks forward to contributing actively to the deliberation of the Council and to the further strengthening of cooperation with IOM. The issue of Missing Persons is particularly important in the context of migration. Addressing the issue of these appearances on migratory routes is a key facet of upholding human dignity and the rule of law globally and for all persons. Migrants often experience conditions in transit countries or host countries that make them vulnerable, not only for instance because of the precarious conditions of irregular migration, but because of their status or lack of status. As non-citizens and without a recognized status, their human rights are often unprotected and unfulfilled. Official investigation of these appearances is a basic and universal human rights guarantee. The guarantee of official investigation is a key measure in preventing persons from going missing and is an essential condition for securing justice when persons have gone missing. ICMP is the only specialized intergovernmental organization mandated to work exclusively on the issue of Missing Persons. As former IOM Director General William Lacy-Swing has noted, IOM's global reach and expertise in human mobility, particularly in post-crisis situations resulting in displacement and in the fields of irregular migration, human trafficking and migration management clearly complement ICMP's recognized expertise. ICMP's expertise complements and reinforces IOM's effort to uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants. In 2013, IOM and ICMP concluded a cooperation agreement to facilitate acting in close cooperation on matters of common interest. Since then, the issue of migrants who have disappeared or gone missing in large numbers has been one of the areas of common interest on which our organizations have consulted closely and extended mutual support. ICMP looks forward to a closer cooperation with IOM and we are confident that the partnership between our two organizations will advance the security and well-being of persons that we are mandated to help. I would like to thank the Director General for providing this opportunity for ICMP to address the council and I thank you all for your attention. I thank the representative of the new observer for her statement and welcome them as you could hear on behalf of the entire council. I now have the pleasure to give the floor to the Director General to welcome the new observer. Please. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want on behalf of IOM to welcome ICMP for joining us. We believe that observers have a key role to play in the organization. Even more in this case where we have so much in common as the representative of ICMP has just mentioned and we definitely look forward to deepen our already existing relationship of cooperation, exchange of information. On behalf of the human dignity of the people in ICMP.