 Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues. Delighted to be welcoming you at this last panel of this year at IDM. Very happy not to be alone on the panel and to shortly introduce my co-panelist. And obviously, it's the end of the panel. I hope that we will be able to compensate the fatigue of a long session with a very lively and interactive discussion. I was just being mentioned that the current pandemic has brought about a completely different dimension in our work. All of us are to really start working, especially us, working on migration, looking at this situation from a different perspective, and the United Nations make no exception. And as we know as well, and it's been echoing several times, the pandemic is anything but equalitarian. We know that there are these proportions and diversity in the way it's been basically affecting communities at all levels and exacerbating conflict, contrast, disproportionately affecting certain groups, including migrants. And this actually might also bring about a serious setback in our aspiration and prospect of seeing the global compact of migration, safe orderly and regular migration actually becoming reality being implemented by states and international community and partners. As the United Nations, all of you know, has actually come together under the call of the Secretary General in 2018 and has established a network of migration bringing together 34 entities of the UN. And this work has actually been taking several aspects and one of obviously important facets that I want to mention today obviously is the champion initiative. Champion initiative is a group of actually like-minded countries that actually decided to come together to take forward the implementation of the global compact. I'm delighted to have obviously the ambassador of Portugal and also the ambassador of Mexico that have been both very active in the various phases. But we saw that obviously this, as I mentioned, could be really a serious setback for the implementation of the global compact if we don't try to see this new situation in two different perspectives. Obviously the first important one is to consider how vulnerable and how badly a migrant group, individual and community are actually being affected by the pandemic. But also to see on the reverse, and as we mentioned in the time and again, what is the big potential and the big potential benefits Canada just mentioned one that migrant actually can bring about to the communities in the time of a health emergency. The United Nations is very, a network is very aware of this situation and as re-adjusted is responded to the COVID-19 in this crisis to basically revamp its approach to support member states actually to see really the, broadly the mobility issue in time of the COVID. One of the experiment, one of the activity that will be soon being presented is the policy brief that we have actually as a network developed that analyze the impact of COVID on human mobility and suggest also how the global compact can be leveraged to effectively respond and help the recovery by offering policy recommendation to partner. Obviously the UN are not alone in this effort and very important and I would say essential role is being played obviously by the civil society. We will be hearing obviously here the important contribution and experience and I would like also to mention obviously the local dimension of mobility today in the panel will be hearing the experience and the work of two prominent city Accra and Rabat. But since obviously we have no much time I would like really not to linger any longer on that I would like to ask my two colleagues working obviously on the UN network for migration Cecilia Lant of the the head of the sustainable development unit of the IUM and David Kodur the senior regional advisor of UNDP to give us a quick illustration just to set the stage and then actually I will try to navigate among the members of the panel to try to have as a comprehensive and inclusive discussion as as possible. Cecilia David you have the floor. Thank you so much Mauricio so we are we're going to be using a PowerPoint that is now projected on your screen so if you could move on to the first slide please. So indeed my role and one of David from from UNDP today is to present you some of the main messages that are coming out of this really important policy brief from the UN network on migration. I'm really stressing how well governed migration is and should be an essential element of effective COVID-19 response. I think as it has been said quite eloquently by by a number of speakers before us really we can see that the pandemic has exposed a reliance on migration for our health our food and our economy with many migrants in the front lines of the response and yet the pandemic has disproportionately impacted people on the move which have really found themselves caught in the middle of three interlocking crisis a health crisis a social economic crisis and a protection crisis and all of that has just reinforced existing and prevailing vulnerabilities. So as you get used to you have here on the on the screen an important message from our secretary general that is really you know said that COVID-19 crisis could actually present us with an opportunity to reimagine human mobility for the benefit of all but we have really first to overcome the fact that the disjointed mobility restrictions and forced around the world to control the transmission of the virus have led led us a little bit to lose sight of essential elements of effective migration governance so we need to bring back the recognition of the centrality of migration for joint prosperity if we could go to the next slide please. So and this is where of course the global compact of migration takes you know central stage as it is really anchored in the 2030 agenda the GCN provides us really with an important framework through which governments but also other stakeholders can strengthen migration governance so through its 23 objectives we can address migration from a 360 degree perspective and the scoring the relevance of the GCN to help us deal with numerous areas of sustainable development so this is really through the GCN an opportunity to reaffirm these commitments and really to take action to enact effective responses to COVID-19. Indeed with this we can the GCN can help us mitigate in the negative impact of COVID-19 it can help us to build stronger more inclusive and resilient communities and also to stimulate strong socioeconomic recovery so I'm now handing over to David to really walk us through how the GCN can guide the member states the UN and other stakeholders for inclusive COVID-19 preparedness prevention response and recovery measures so over to you David. Thanks a lot colleagues I mean we fully agree with the fact that the gates the gates cannot stay closed forever and that we need a more human mobility to help economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis the contribution of migrants to many economies around the world has been even more obvious than ever during the the COVID crisis and in this respect meeting the objectives of the global contact on migration can only help for development in countries of origin transit and destination. So what does this imply concretely? First it's key and if you can please move the slide thank you it's key to promote regular pathways we have seen during the crisis that many migrants stayed stranded in different parts and we have a real big issue so we need we need to return to normality in terms of regular pathways and more than normality to have more of these legal pathways. We also need to facilitate fair and ethical recruitment to ensure decent work. We have good examples and at some point the COVID-19 crisis has been also a good opportunity to develop good policies we have in Asian countries the migrant worker resource centers which have been very very active in helping migrants and protect their rights during the lockdowns and the social distancing measures and to have access to decent jobs. It's also important to invest in skills development and facilitate the mutual recognition of skills. In this respect in in South America the examples of Argentina and Peru are very interesting because they decided that to face the crisis they recognized the skills of the Venezuelan health workers so that they could support the health response in times of crisis and something that was blocked for many years was accelerated in this time of crisis. It's also important to rely on the contribution for migrants to possibility for migrants to contribute to the development in their countries of origin not just in countries of destination. How we can better engage the as far as into the development initiative in the origin communities and also the crisis has shown that the importance of remittances has decreased significantly in many countries so how can we lower this cost and facilitate remittance transfers. So all that is obviously in line with the different GCM objectives and we see even more than ever the relevance of these GCM objectives. In addition what COVID-19 has demonstrated and if you can change slide please is also the cost of new integration. We have seen that when migrants are not integrated that means more exclusion for them, more vulnerability and also at the end more fragility for the economies. So it's very important to promote migrants integration, economic integration, social integration to promote legal identity and adequate documentation is really key. At the end we have also learned during this pandemic that nobody should be excluded from basic services. This is true in general and this is even true in cases of in times of pandemic. We have the good example of Canada in particular in Quebec with the implementation of free clinics where people including migrants without documents could be tested and have information about the disease so that was very important. We also have very good practices in terms of access to education. It's important to have inclusive education systems. Children around the world have been particularly hit by the social distancing measures, the lockdowns and migrant children even more. So this is important to provide access to everybody. In Greece for instance they developed an online learning platform with guidelines in 10 languages in a way that all migrants can understand how to connect and how to benefit from these learning platforms. Access to social protection I think there is nothing to explain why it's important. We have shown how so many thousands of migrants have been excluded around the world of access to social safety nets because they didn't benefit from social protection so we need to provide access to that and also to facilitate the portability of rights. And finally social cohesion is key. We have also seen during the COVID-19 that there is a lack of trust across communities so we need really to strengthen social cohesion to promote cultural activities, involve the different stakeholders, different sectors and build this trust across migrants and host communities. And finally, so the point is that the global compact on migration is not just a theoretical framework. It has really concrete applications and we have seen them during the COVID-19 crisis and we have to strengthen that after the COVID-19 crisis. Hopefully it will be soon after the COVID-19 crisis. This response is in line with the UN social economic response in terms of health, in terms of social protection, in terms of access to jobs, the macroeconomic response and the social cohesion pillars are really connected with what we have in the GCN and at the end all that is going to contribute to reaching or fulfilling the sustainable development goals. We have a decade for action to reach 2030. The decade for action really started very badly but now it is time to speed up and to have all countries working in that direction. Thank you. Thank you very much Cecilia and David and bringing some concrete example of the GCN is really not far from being an endurance actually could be really an accelerator of recovery and response to the current pandemics for many countries and as we know one of the the the aviast burden has been borne by cities and local communities at both sending and receiving level and I would like to invite now the honorable Mohammed Saddiqi, the president of the communal council of the city of Rabat to illustrate what actually is the experience of Rabat in particular on how to the experience including international and horizontal cooperation that can actually be effective in the current context. Mr. Lemer, you have the floor. I hope you can hear me. Yes, we can hear you very well. Yes, thank you for having brought us into this very important meeting so that we can share the experience of the city of Rabat in how we have dealt with migration. Immigration is a significant place in public policy now both on an international national and local level and it requires adequate strategies to ensure it is treated efficiently and humanely. This strategy must look at coexisting well together for all the populations and we have to consider them all having the same level of dignity. Therefore, municipalities are more than ever called on to play a major role in the implementation of these strategies. Within Rabat, we have worked on five programs. The first program is action and it's the project recommend which is carried out in partnership with the Ministry for Moroccans Abroad and Migration Matters and the Ministry of the Interior and financed by the German Federal Ministry. It looks at the national strategy for my immigration and asylum with an approach on a territorial level that aims to create at a local level a favorable context for the social, cultural and economic integration of migrants to ensure that we have good social cohesion. This was set up through the implementation of training for actors in the city of Rabat and then we worked on another project which is the Drekosan project where we look at building capacity of territorial collectivities to improve the structures for hosting and welcoming the migrants. So within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and looking at international affairs in particular taking care of Moroccans Abroad, the community of Rabat is involved with the German corporation GIZ to build capacities for territorial collectivities to ensure that we improve the hosting structures. The pilot project aims to integrate migrants, refugees and returning Moroccans through the use of sport as a tool and vector for integration. The third project is NCDSM and this is for migration between cities and looking at the migratory flows of we've been working with SCNPD, the European Union and the Swiss Corporation Agency and we looked at the factual data on migration and aims to set up the African Observatory for Migration in Rabat in partnership with UN Habitat. The fourth project is the Council of Mayors for Migration, MMC and then we're also looking at the framework of social economic integration of migrants in partnership with the Council of Mayors for Migration, MMC and the International Conference of Rabat with the Council of Europe, Local Powers, CPNR where the city of Rabat was one of the first communities to take on this issue and to help migrants to integrate the labour market and to achieve dignified and suitable living conditions and the conference organized by the city of Rabat and the local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe. We worked under the theme of building an inclusive community where we wanted to integrate migrants and fight against extremism and in November 2017 we worked on strengthening local and regional democracy through this and the last project is the project of action which was started by the city of Rabat with bilateral cooperation city to city. The project mainly concerns cooperation, decentralized cooperation between the city and the capital Rabat and it's based on strengthening the in a sustainable manner the capacities in Rabat with our policies for neighbourhood cohesion. We have a lot of areas with many migrants and we're working there and the aim of the project is to strengthen the efficiency of municipal action within Rabat in terms of looking at the social potential through better coordination of actions and the centralization of data in the area, the professionalization of human resources and coordination of actions. So finally we'd like to thank the organizers for having allowed us to join this important meeting and we are most attentive to this meeting. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much Mayor, we'd like to thank you for your information on the strategies that municipalities in the city of Rabat have put together and the description of the importance of the horizontal coherence across governmental and non-governmental organizations and also the vertical integration between municipalities and central government including the importance of international partnerships. Thank you very much. I'm now very very pleased to introduce the ambassador of Mexico, the Madame Socorro Flores Liera, the permanent representative of Mexico to the United Nation in Geneva. And ambassador, the Mexico has obviously been one of the countries that has been supporting the global compact from the outset through obviously your role as co-facilitator and during the state taking, sorry, in the negotiation process. So and now as one of the champion countries as I mentioned, so we would be very very interested in hearing from you about the approach of Mexico in particular in this difficult phase, facing the impact of the COVID on the population and also on the migrant, particularly if you also be able to frame what are actually the measures that the government and the community and the other stakeholders have been taken and any useful framework or experience that you would like to share with the rest of the community. Thank you very much. Thank you and good afternoon. At the outset I'd like to thank the IOM for their invitation to participate in this panel discussion, which is taking place in the very peculiar times and in extraordinary circumstances. And we're also facing the challenge of taking the floor on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. So that's quite a challenge. We all know that amongst those who are most affected by this pandemic will find migrants. Migrants that were already a vulnerable group before this crisis. These migrants work and live in precarious conditions, which facilitate the spread of the virus. And we've seen outbreaks that have occurred in places where there are many migrants throughout the world. Some of them need to face challenges to access health care and other basic services. Migrants are also those who are most affected by economic consequences and they are not provided with proper social protection measures. They are also victims of violence, discrimination, xenophobia and all of this is a source of great concern. All these challenges require inclusive public policy responses, especially when it comes to health matters, that guarantee the inclusion of all migrants in national response plans to the pandemic, recognizing that the health of migrants cannot be distinguished between the population's health in general. This includes timely access to preventative tools and palliative care as well as vaccines. We cannot ignore the fact that current migratory flows are made up mostly of women and girls as well as LGCB people that require different health care services to reduce their specific vulnerabilities. Similarly, we need measures to make sure that migrants, especially those that are in most precarious situations, be included in national and worldwide socioeconomic response and in recovery efforts. Throughout history, the contribution of migrants has been a crucial engine for development and we know that it will continue to be an essential source of energy for the economic rebirth of our planet. Without a doubt, in this current situation, emergency situation, states are facing huge challenges to define the public policies that will allow us to overcome the pandemic and its effects with a human rights focus. To guide us, we see a global compact for regularized migration as a really valuable tool. It's a framework based on cooperation, setting up international human rights standards and basing itself on it. That draws the lines for better migratory policies, increased cooperation and promote greater cooperation with UN agencies as well as other actors to get stronger and better governance for migratory matters, which is why Mexico, starting in June 2019, set up a national follow-up mechanism of the Covenants and Pacts goals in which the different departments that cover migration participate. This mechanism monitors 177 programs and actions that are in line with the guidelines of the Pact and its 23 goals, which include activities to promote health and well-being of migrants during the pandemic. And I would like to share with you a few examples of these activities. In line with Article 15 of the Pact, which talks about migrant access to services, we have taken steps to make sure that all migrants, regardless of their condition, be able to exercise their right to health and have access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests, sexual and reproductive health services, and psychosocial support. Another example is that we've given greater priority to the emergence from migratory centers of vulnerable people, such as pregnant women and the elderly. These were relocated in accommodation where they would be provided with proper care. In accordance with the principle of the greater interest of the child, we have referred all minor issues to specialized civil society organizations. This is in accordance with Goal 13, which promotes alternatives to compulsory detention to address the vulnerable position of migrants. And in accordance with Goal 7, we have set up refugees that can host migrants that would otherwise be on the street and that might have contracted the virus. These temporary centers allow them to keep quarantine and remain in isolation. With a view to spreading timely and useful information throughout the stages of migration, and in line with Goal 3, we have strengthened our teams, we call them beta teams in our country, which are people who work on borders and that are charged with providing preventative information, support, and help to migrants with a human rights focus. In line with Goal 17, which is the eradication of all forms of discrimination against migrants, we have deployed campaigns to raise awareness in society on the situation of migrants in the context of the pandemic and how they can exercise their rights. We are also committed with the empowerment of migrants and in accordance with Goal 16, we have set up in our public health system not only migrants but also professionals. This has been possible thanks to speeded up access to recognition for their degrees, which is also in line with Goal 18 of the pact. We all know full well that the pandemic has changed our collective realities. It has increased inequalities, depressed economies, and has laid bare the importance of multilateralism and international cooperation based on solidarity. The situation that we are currently facing is also an opportunity to build a better future and the pact, just like the 2030 agenda, are roadmaps that can guide us in our way forward. I want to thank once again the IOM for its support as well as those of other UN agencies, especially when it comes to implementing the pact's goals and that will be paying close attention to all experiences that can be shared from other states in this discussion. And once again, thank you all. Thank you very much, Ambassador. You pointed out really the lesson learned, how the precariousness and vulnerability of migrants mean obviously precariousness of the old community and also this emphasis of the importance of really conjugating our national policies with other important social sectorial policies, really that is one of the tenets of the 360 degree approach of the global compact. Important also, and the Mexico could actually ensure access to primary reproductive health assistance, particularly for vulnerable women, and importance once again, the emphasis of awareness raising in the communities and among obviously the migrants. Thank you very much. Now I'm very happy to turn to the Ambassador of Portugal, Ambassador Rui Maciera. Portugal has, Mexico has been a country that has been more active on the old phases of the approval and now implementation of the global compact. Your government is also one of the first that has volunteered to come forward as a GCM champion. And so we would like to hear of your experience in dealing with the impact of the COVID and how is Portugal actually making use of the global compact in this regard. Ambassador Flores, thank you. Thank you very much, Chairman, and I'm very happy to follow on this panel our colleagues with a wealth of experience and knowledge on this matter and of course the mayor of Rava city where I was posted many, many years ago. First I'd like to welcome this year's thematic international dialogue on migration which takes place under the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic highlights the important part migrants play in our communities. It also shows the many challenges they face. The need for a more effective migration governance became even more crucial to shape inclusive actions in all phases of the pandemic. This has been demonstrated by the policy brief presented today. After nine months living, working and socializing in different ways and adapting to a new pandemic normal, there are good examples from all over the world ready to be debated and shared on migrants rights protections and migrants positive contributions to sustainable development. Let me share with you the Portuguese experience. From the very beginning, Portugal engaged actively with a global compact for safe orderly and regular migration. We believe this is an unprecedented opportunity for a comprehensive integrated approach to international migration, minimizing factors that exacerbate vulnerability at different stages of migration. Portugal planned and implemented its own practical framework. We were the first to establish a national plan for the implementation of the GCN. In line with its 23 objectives, the national plan encompasses 97 actions under a ministerial coordination committee chaired by the minister of state for the presidency. Based on an intercultural model of diversity management, we joined and concerted work of state and non-government actors. The national plan and its coordination committee reflect our whole of government and whole of society approach to migration. The willingness and the capacity to implement the GCN seeking better management of the international migration phenomena translated in our recognition as a champion country. We're very proud of this recognition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Portugal used its governance model for migration that had just been put into place to mitigate the negative impacts of the crisis. In doing so, we aimed to protect human rights and shape a more inclusive and organized method to address future crisis. COVID-19's response and recovery efforts meant implementing several measures aligned with the GCN, ensuring a dignified and human rights approach on preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery of this international public health emergency. First, Portugal secured access to health care for SARS-CoV-2 infections to all irrespective of migration status. Migrants were exempt of charges for the diagnosis and treatment. COVID-19 information materials were translated into several languages. Mediation and translation services were put in place to facilitate migrants' interaction with the National Health Service. Since the first case was diagnosed on the 2nd of March, 265 translation services have been provided. These actions strengthened the access to basic services and created conditions for migrants to fully contribute to sustainable development as stated in Objectives 5 and 19 of the GCN. Second, aiming at facilitating regular migration, support vulnerable families, and maintain jobs and labor market, Portugal decided to grant temporary residence rights to all migrants and asylum seekers with pending applications. This measure became valid when a state of national emergency came into force and was first extended until 30 of October. Given the mobility constraints posed by the pandemic, visa arrangements for seasonal workers were also adjusted. Since July 2020, a new e-platform allowed for the renewable of 50,000 residence permits, allowing migrants to access social support and medical care. These measures align with Objectives 4 and 5 of the GCN as they guarantee that migrants have adequate documentation and they improve the availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration. In line with Objectives 16 of the GCN, which aims to empower migrants and communities for full inclusion and social cohesion, Portugal has worked with children and young people in a vulnerable situation. This is under the umbrella of a program called Programme Escolhas, which aims to reduce dropout rates and promote responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship. The program continued during the confinement period, focusing mainly on promoting continued access to education. Portugal has continued to deliver on the GCN Objective 5, promoting negotiations on labour mobility agreements. In September, in collaboration with IOM, the Portuguese government organized a technical webinar on labour mobility, emphasizing the mutual gains of concerted routes, not only for states, but also for migrants. Throughout the pandemic, the Portuguese government continued to support the return of Portuguese citizens through its consular network, as well as to increase partnerships for development with countries of origin and transit. With these, we aim to build on GCN Objective 14. Ladies and gentlemen, as human beings, we are all vulnerable to disease. It is our duty to ensure that we do not add other layers of vulnerability that undermine our efforts to minimize the impact of the disease. The examples shared with you demonstrate that Portugal attaches the utmost importance to applying the GCN values and commitments to the COVID-19 preparedness, response and recovery efforts. In addition, and looking ahead to the Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2021, Portugal reaffirms the goal of making Europe more inclusive and equitable, respecting the humanitarian principles. In these challenging times, solidarity and debate on international migration and COVID-19 will shed light on ways to provide a more efficient response, while also advising on how to move forward further towards social cohesion, inclusion and community resilience. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Ambassador, for highlighting the positive contribution of migrants, obviously to sustainable development. It was very interesting to hear about the National Implementation Plan established in the 97 major, in particular the importance, obviously, of this interministerial coordination mechanism that actually is foundation for and all of the government and all of society approach that you also rightly mentioned. Concretely, obviously, and not working the importance, obviously, of ensuring the continuity of the status of migrants and asylum seekers that Portugal has ensured through the emergency extension of the renewal of the permit to prevent the migrant from falling in the regularity, obviously, as you mentioned, becoming a societal problem. And also thank you for highlighting the holistic nature of the global compact and also once again stressing the value that I've actually brought together in the international community and have actually inspired us for this approval and now implementation. Thank you very much. I understand the mayor of Acra is not available, so since actually the principle and also the the the expression of all of society has been equating time and again and obviously there could not be really a full of holistic approach without the contribution of the civil society. One of the more active stakeholders and partners of the UN in the United Nations migration network is the ACT Alliance and here with us is Christian Wolf, he's not only the project manager of the ACT Alliance and also the co-leader of the working group on regular pathways that has actually been developing his plan of action and it's also the one of the most advanced plan of action that we have actually been working on as part of the network. So I would like to ask Christian obviously as a representative of the ACT Alliance but also partner in the network what are your views and perspective and what the GCM actually can offer in as a framework to coordinate a effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Christian, the floor you have the floor. Thank you. Yes, thank you very much. Thank you for the invitation to speak here today. We're also grateful for the support from civil society colleagues including members of ACT Alliance, the Global Coalition on Migration and the Civil Society Action Committee as well as as you mentioned the many civil society stakeholders that have been active in the various working groups of the UN network on migration. I'd like to recall again briefly the Secretary General's remarks about COVID-19 being an opportunity to reimagine human mobility and really reflect on how timely and significant those were. He makes four points in his brief which were to one build on the recognition of the vital role played by migrants to redouble our efforts to combat discrimination against them, secondly to ensure that those in need of protection are able to safely and promptly access it, thirdly to health-proof human mobility systems and finally to strengthen global migration governance and responsibility sharing for refugees. I include that here because he I think very consciously used the term people on the move as the IMDG has also done and the High Commissioner for Refugees have also done over the last few months which we think is a move in a good direction to be this inclusive. Now these steps had already been envisaged by the Global Compact for Refugees and the Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration, both of which of course have their foundations in relevant international human rights and refugee instruments. Therefore the steps to be taken in response to COVID-19 including and in particular those necessary to protect people on the move do not require acts of charity or new sets of concessions by states they simply require sticking to what we've already agreed to but in a way and that's the point that reimagines mobility not as a threat or a burden but as an integral part of all of our lives and migrants and refugees themselves not as a drain on but an enrichment of these lives. We tend to agree I think with the overall argument of the paper that was presented earlier that the GCM can be an important tool for furthering international cooperation on migration especially in the context of COVID-19 and would be good to have a have a quick look here at how we've fared in that regard in recent months and I won't repeat everything that's been said over the last couple of days already but just to say that again the pandemic has highlighted a number of crucial issues in the way in which it has affected populations on the move raising health socioeconomic protection and inclusion issues among others and looking therefore at actual state responses over the last few months we've noticed a few things one we've we've heard several positive examples also here on the panel today to to the pandemic in in relation to migration which have included the release of migrants from detention, regularization of undocumented migrants under certain conditions as well as facilitation of access to health care unemployment and other subsistence support and other services regardless of status. Nevertheless in many cases these measures have sort of had a character of a time-bound emergency response to an extraordinary situation that we're all facing rather than a due recognition of the role and contribution of migrants in our societies that should come with this role thereby somewhat until now at least limiting their transformative potential and I'll return to that in a minute. In this sense and just by way of example the pandemic has served to illustrate the extent to which current forms of regular migration programs have failed migrant workers by setting up separate systems in many destination countries that exclude them from social safety nets including stimulus unemployment benefits health care and other social protections. Unfortunately we also continue to see examples of negative COVID-19 responses with people on the move either being denied access to territory including the right to seek asylum having their employment prematurely and irregularly terminated being forced to return to their countries of origin sometimes into high-risk areas in times of COVID and becoming targets of xenophobic attacks and hate all in the guise of a protective quote-unquote intend in the context of a public health crisis. Turning back to the GCM as a tool we could spend a lot of time of course dissecting each objective in the GCM with a view toward what it yields in terms of COVID-related guidance but allow me to just focus on two objectives in particular here one being objective seven with regard to its usefulness in guiding responses to the pandemic and objective five with a view towards recovery. Objective seven as you know is intended to address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration for example by facilitating status transition to avoid irregularity enabling individual status assessments and avoiding arbitrary expulsions and supporting referral and assistance from migrants in such situations and in developing comprehensive policies at national level that take account of migrants. Imagine how much easier it could have been for states to respond to the needs of migrants during the pandemic if these measures had already been in place instead of having to scramble for humanitarian responses in the moment. That's not to deny the positive aspects of measures that states have taken but just to underline how important it is to do advanced planning for this and to continue to develop this together. Objective five then looking at recovery calls on states to enhance the availability and flexibility of pathways in a manner that responds to the needs of migrants in a situation of vulnerability and then goes on to list several categories and this really gets to the heart of what needs to be done I think to transform migration governance systems in a way that takes the rights of migrants seriously and comprehensively addresses the situation that is so vividly illustrated by COVID-19 by developing a variety of practices for admission and stay that respond to a very broad set of precarious situations with an honest reimagining of what regular pathways should look like. Objective five therefore you could argue in many ways as a keystone of GCM implementation and solutions in many related areas would cascade quite logically from focusing on this objective. Now if we pull the lens back a bit further still we could then take a look to take the next step and invoke objective two to more holistically address the various drivers behind migration in situations of vulnerability including and I bring this up because it's particularly the relevant also in the context of recovery the impacts of climate change. I'd like to again quote the secretary general here he's been on a role this year who in a separate statement commented on the need for sustainable COVID-19 recovery plans that tackle climate change that keep us in line with what the science tells us and that also prioritized the most vulnerable people and communities. Applying this perspective would then also include recognizing pathways for labour migration for livelihood support as part of adaptation and building resilience as part of addressing adverse drivers and averting and minimizing displacement. Regular pathways have always been crucial to safe orderly and regular migration. Civil society stakeholders as you know have insisted on this throughout the negotiations and the the resulting commitments to expand pathways were perhaps not as strong as they might have been. Nevertheless we are now in a situation where the stakes are much much higher. It's essential to find ways to operationalize shared responsibility between countries of origin and destination for protecting migrants, labour and human rights including through concrete work on who's responsible for what aspects of social protection including access to healthcare and to earn benefits and how to hold private actors accountable who are obliged to provide benefits. As we know guidance on how to implement related GCM commitments is currently being drafted by the network's thematic working groups in addition to the work being done in the core working groups which was presented earlier. To be followed by pilot testing which will have to include an honest discussion of promising as well as worrying practices guided by the experience of migrants themselves and we really hope that you know as this guidance gets rolled out we we will be able to use that as a platform to really experiment with more more participatory models of policy implementation there. I think it was very illuminating yesterday to see in the presentation from Bangladesh how all the critical issues affecting migrant workers are still with us and have been brought into even sharper focus by the pandemic which has perhaps led to renewed urgency and expanded the cycle of awareness among stakeholders if you will. It also highlights I think the importance of international collaboration which is an aspect that is perhaps too often missing from reflections on COVID-19 responses also here we've heard a lot of talk about what individual countries are doing I think we need to think about in the next step what we can do to enhance joint discussion of what that means and perhaps the upcoming regional reviews of the GCM may provide a useful space for furthering multilateral and multistakeholder discussions on this. So in closing the degree to which the GCM can serve as a blueprint for successful and inclusive COVID-19 response depends largely on government's willingness to not only reverse what are overtly discriminatory policies and practices but also on their readiness to transcend emergency mode and enter transformation mode when it comes to their GCM commitments in this context. Thank you. Thank you very much Christian let me start from this very last point really important obviously you are highlighting the importance of political willingness goes beyond resources obviously and as you mentioned as a possibility of reimagining mobility what actually be left at the end of the tunnel and what outlook actually we will be working on obviously there are another number of important actors that have been mentioned and with whom it is fundamental to work obviously member of the diaspora the private sector faith-based institution union and the migrants community themselves in the way also found very very important and useful you are outlining the complementarity between the global compact for migration and the global compact for refugees and to the regard obviously within the network the importance of the secretary general initiative to all the return and read mission and spartans during the COVID emergency that is being heated and implemented and as we heard earlier in the previous panel what will be left possibly a much nimble practice of communication flexible and more connected platform once again to make sure the two services are actually provided in a cost effective and time effective way and you mentioned at the end the importance of really making this variety of practice available the UN network to that regard is actually is an important platform and repository through the work that is being now conducting for the development of the knowledge based platform that will be really enabling the international community the partner actually to share and when possible mutual practices and with that I would like to thank the panelists for their input and contribution I think you haven't left anyone behind and that we have a I mean a generous half an hour for intervention although my list is quite lengthy and if you agree I would like to start really opening the space for intervention and questions and comments by giving the floor to the deputy foreign minister of Armenia that probably joined us from Yerevan his excellency recognizes the need for a comprehensive approach in order to maximize the overall benefits of migration while addressing the risks and challenges in countries of origin transit and destination this is why sweden voted for the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration as a non-legally binding 360-degree vision multilateral cooperative framework uniting most of the UN and IOM member states the implementation of the GCM is already in progress but has been stalled to some extent by the COVID-19 pandemic migrants are often vulnerable both in terms of working on the frontline in health care and hospitality risking their own health and as they are more prone to lose their jobs as a result of the ensuing economic crisis there's also been a substantial dent in the flow of remittances due to the pandemic the introduction of travel bans and reinforced border controls have presented migrants with additional challenges so while acknowledging the need for decisive measures aimed at curbing the global global the current global health crisis we emphasize that safe orderly and regular migration is a positive phenomenon that should be promoted not curtailed in order to strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe orderly and regular migration sweden has recently made a number of financial contributions that address both short-term needs tied to the pandemic as well as more long-term strategic goals in both 2019 and 2020 sweden provided IOM with around 10 million dollars annually in core funding a part of this funding was lightly earmarked to strengthen IOM's internal capacity to coordinate the UN network on migration thus contributing to the UN system support to member states implementation of the GCM sweden has also provided around $340,000 to the UN migration multi-partner trust fund for implementation of GCM related projects in developing countries thus further strengthening migration management and cooperation in third countries in this context we are glad to note that the migration fund has taken steps to allow for changes to concept notes for projects receiving funding in order to take into account the effects of the ongoing pandemic furthermore the swedish government offices will use the compact as a frame of reference when evaluating potential beneficiaries of grants for migration projects provided by the ministry of justice an example of where this has already been achieved is the grant of around $44,000 to IOM for the establishment and launch of the global policy network on ethical recruitment once up and running the network is expected to provide member states with tools that will assist in the delivery of GCM objectives 7 19 and 23 I am grateful to IOM for providing this opportunity to discuss key issues for global regional and bilateral cooperation thank you thank you very much madame for the pivotal role that sweden has been aving and obviously in the in plain all the constraints also that your country is facing the implementation and indeed obviously for the support to the contribution to a IOM role as the coordinator and secretarial of the network which is highly appreciated thank you I would now like to give the floor to miss taniel real or real or save the children I don't know if she's in the whole in the room or online she left right so we move on quickly along okay miss miss real please you have the floor thank you very much thank you thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to speak Mr chairman this statement is actually on behalf of the initiative for child rights in the global compacts which is a network of over 30 agencies united to ensure that the global compacts will work for children in practice that is co-chair of the children and by terrorism and three years since the adoption of the global compact for migration the initiative continues to support its child centered approach and child sensitive guiding principle if the GCM really if the GCM is implemented with children at its heart it has the potential of enhancing the protection and support for children in migrations now the pandemic is hitting people on the move particularly hard and it has actually increased the urgency for multilateral cooperation which is embedded in the GCM implementation we have heard today some positive examples but some COVID-19 response measures have been harmful for people in migration have exacerbated their existing vulnerabilities and violated their rights in some cases and increased discrimination the GCM we believe outlines alternative measures that can be helpful in responding to COVID-19 and today we would like to highlight three areas where the pandemic has exacerbated the risk for children on the move phase and for which the GCM can be useful firstly um access to the unprecedented disruption that we're seeing on access to education it has made more difficult for children in migration to access learning opportunities and possibly their return to school altogether school closures also further exacerbates the GBV risks and gender based inequalities and making making children girls more vulnerable so we recommend investing in school reopening plans that are inclusive about children in respect of the status gender of disability and include the specific needs of migrant children and the GCM provides policy options for improved cooperation on access to education for children in the context of migration secondly children are facing increased risks of violence um of exploitation of abuse and separation from their caregivers um just as these risks have increased access to child protection and psychosocial services have decreased following COVID so we recommend that child protection GBV and psychosocial services be prioritized and resourced and the need for all children including migrant children are responded to their social workers be classed as essential workers and unable to reach all children and the social protection and child benefit programs be accessible to displace children again the GCM outlines how to provide child protection support for vulnerable migrant children including unaccompanied children and to name just two objects is seven and twelve key such um such um indications thirdly um with border closures we're seeing greater restriction on accessing countries and services and family reunification options are being reduced detention and forced returns um are being used in some cases and increasingly so now we reduce options for safe and regular pathways we see we risk seeing children really be pushed to embark on more dangerous journeys and the GCM outlines options for increasing regular pathways and ending the immigration detention of children and implementing alternatives um finally we would like to um to say that if we want to succeed in implementing the GCM and responding to COVID-19 we must treat children and young people as partners in identifying the concrete needs and finding sustainable solutions so meaningful participation should be at the core of everything we do um the initiative will be uh planning some round tables um in the lead up to the regional the regional reviews and um and that will be a contribution that we aim to to make and involve young people and children and raise children voices thank you very much giving us the floor it is us to thank you miss Reale for obviously zooming in the situation of children you know child sensitive is one of the the guiding principle of the the global compact and also thank you for your engagement in the process and in particular the process of review of the uh the current uh implementation stage thank you very much I am now in a on my list uh mr uh Barham um Idari of the Islamic Republic of Iran the counselor of the permanent mission uh in Geneva mr Idari you have the floor thank you uh mr moderator uh first of all I would like to thank IOM for convening this international dialogue on migration and also my thanks go to the goes to the panelists for their reach and valuable discussion and deliberation during these two days the people on the move including refugees and displaced person and other foreign nationals are among most vulnerable people their situation has further worsened amid COVID-19 pandemic since outbreak of COVID-19 which has hit my country worse Iran has taken wide range of measures to ensure our foreign nationals have access to adequate health care services so they can are that they are fully included in the national COVID-19 response foreign national like Iranian enjoy universal health coverage and many of them receive free of charge health care services such as COVID-19 related tests treatment and hospitalization during the these two days meeting it has been emphasized that the impact of the pandemic has demonstrated that no one can be saved until we are saved and only through an inclusive approach truly leaving no one behind can the safety and the well-being of all be achieved mr moderator regrettably the U.S. government has tightened its illegal and human sanction in spite of the numerous calls by the secretary general of the united nations united nation high commissioner for human rights and some other prominent international figures for lifting unilateral sanction in the in the midst of the global pandemic the U.S. brutal sanction contradicting the principle and concept of leave no one behind as they push everyone behind sanction have also narrowed the space for humanitarian operation by politicizing humanitarian assistance to the people on the move and jeopardizing the activities of the humanitarian community we propose one recommendation for this meeting to this effect as following recalling the appeal of the united nation secret general for lifting of sanctions amid pandemic and expressing grave concern at negative consequences of the unilateral coercive measures on humanitarian operation and on the health and living condition of one of the people we recommend the IOM to address the negative impact of the sanctions on humanitarian operation and then people under its mandate thank you mr moderator many thanks the representative of the islamic republic of iran i now would like to give the floor to miss chiara shisa representative of a un mayor group of four children and youth miss shisa you have the floor thank you thank you moderator and thanks to the panelists for the insightful presentations on behalf of the united nation's mayor group for children and youth I would like to deepen the discussion started by save the children on COVID-19 and its impact on my girl children and minors irregular children and minors are in fact particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation something that COVID-19 may exacerbate migrant children are indeed uniquely vulnerable to dangers and traumas that could jeopardize their well-being and development and therefore should be provided with child specific and child centered care however this is often not not the case for instance as noted by the un network on migration policy brief some unaccompanied children have been removed during the pandemic without due process or individual assessment thus violating not only their human rights but also potentially compromising their health so my question for the panelists therefore is how can the global compact for migration be leveraged to protect the best interest of the child and the children's fundamental rights how to integrate a truly child-centered approach into international migration governance thank you very much for your attention many thanks mr shisa we will put through the question to the panel at the end of the interventions may I now ask the deputy permanent representative of Ecuador mr Davos to take the floor thank you oh thank you Mauricio unfortunately my dpr is not here in the room area social economic and the protection that affects in a particular way the human mobility simultaneously the principles and the objectives of the world pact for an immigration have covered even more relevance for the pandemic several commitments focus on strengthening consular services providing the migrant access to basic services such as medical attention and reducing the vulnerabilities during the migration as an integral and coordinated border management igualmente son relevantes los compromisos para promover que la remesa sea más rápida seguras de económicas así como para fomentar la inclusión financiera de los migrantes de particular relevancia es el objetivo para fortalecer y mejorar la cooperación internacional todos estos objetivos del pacto son la guía para que los migrantes estén en el centro de las acciones para combatir la pandemia y para la recuperación de la misma el ecuador otorga gran importancia en implementación del pacto lo cual se evidencia en la agenda nacional para la igualdad de movilidad humana 2017 2021 en la que el pacto es uno de los instrumentos rectores esta agenda nacional es la base para el desarrollo de políticas migratorias para todos los actores y el mismo tiempo para generar mecanismos de coordinación y acciones conjuntas en todas las funciones y entidades del estado el propósito de esta agenda es promover procesos migratorios seguros ordenados y regulares en línea con los compromisos internacionales y los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible el pacto mundial no debe ser sólo un documento de aspiraciones pues se deriva de la declaración de nueva york que surgió para enfrentar una crisis en precedentes de refugiados y migrantes por lo que el pacto es una hoja de ruta esencial para la gobernanza de la migración internacional y coady uva a la creación de un sistema solidario responsable y predecible la realidad es que la migración continuará y se incrementará por lo que corresponde a todos estados de autoridades locales sociedad civil organizaciones no gubernamentales y sector privado de mostrar de manera conjunta el valor agregado del pacto como un marco de coordinación y cooperación que abarca todas las dimensiones de la migración para defender y proteger los derechos humanos reducir vulnerabilidades y fomentar la contribución de los migrantes sus comunidades y así asegurar sus ciudades más resilientes y que nadie quede atrás muchas gracias thank you very much marta I regret that the deputy permanent representative could not be with us thank you I have now in my list the representative of Bangladesh in the room or online video conference Bangladesh you have the floor thank you Mr. moderator I'm actually in the room sorry about that please go ahead thank you Mr. moderator I also thank the distinguished panelists for their thoughtful presentations as all previous speakers have mentioned the COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the migrants they have been facing multiple challenges including the denial of access to health services thousands of migrants are reportedly facing grim reality of losing jobs as well as forced return this situation has arisen as there had not been significant efforts to address the global migration to address the problems the global migration had been facing since long the global compact on migration underlined a global call to build an inclusive society that recognizes the challenges of the migrants and makes an effort to address them the plight of the migrants surface during the COVID-19 has once again reminded us of the urgent necessity of the implementation of the GCM at the national regional and the global levels the GCM through its 360 degree vision 10 cross cutting guiding principles and 23 stand alone but integrated objectives provides a practical framework to help governments and stakeholders to leverage migration for a comprehensive and resilient recovery from the pandemic our recovery measures must emphasize on building resilience of the vulnerable people including all migrants irrespective of their status in this context a collective effort synergizing the regional and the international processes for accelerating the greater implementation of the GCM is important we stress that the UN network on migration as mandated to support implementation of the GCM step up its efforts in both origin and destination countries scaling up the multi-partner trust fund is also crucial mr. moderator bangladesh has consistently advocated for harnessing the development potentials of migration promoting the rights of migrants and fostering meaningful international cooperation for migration governance we significantly contributed to the discourse of the GCM likewise Bangladesh stands ready to render full cooperation to the collective efforts to combat migrants vulnerabilities through implementation of the GCM I thank you sir thank you very much Bangladesh I've just been told that that the Honorable Mayor of Accra is online if you don't mind if you have still some stamina left and you would allow me to actually give the mayor the floor the Honorable Mohammed Ajay Soa the Mayor of Accra said you have the floor there is a proper communication we have to let the interpreter service actually close at 6 15 so we need to hurry up and we will not be able to take yes okay other intervention thank you Mr. Soa Mr. Soa sorry please go ahead thank you I'm afraid we can't hear you hello can you hear us there is there is a problem with the sound and the mics I'm afraid still we can't connect anybody would like to any way to help I would sincere apologies we won't be able actually to hold on much longer because obviously the interpreter have been extremely taxed during the the whole today so please bear with us and hopefully we'll be able actually to include your intervention in the minutes of of the meeting can you hear us yes we can hear you apparently so please go ahead you have the floor thank you very much and let me say very good evening from we've been asked to join in the discussion of this very important subject um on on migration during this period of COVID-19 um let me say that Accra remains at the the most transit point for the people of West Africa and also for people traveling outside Africa because of the air and we have um almost everybody in West Africa and within our city center and therefore um taking care of their interests and their safety it's paramount because Accra um and even the nation tout at the city of receiving visitors and welcoming visitors and let visitors and feeling safe however it's also important to say that because Accra remains at the business hub all manner of trading activities brings people also to Accra and it is in that regard that working closely with migrants and keeping themselves it's very very important fortunately uh in Accra a lot of migrants lives in communities where they can be more identifiable so for instance the people from Niger you have a community where you can find a lot of Nigerians in the city part of the city like Lima same as the Bokina Bids and Ivorians and all you know and librarians you know we used to have a whole city a whole community full of librarians so working closely with these migrants it's very important because they are part of the city and they have also contributed to the development of the city but more importantly as we go through these COVID-19 pandemics and our activities are not discriminating for us anybody who is within the city it's it's been taken care of like again and we hardly in our part of the world try to find out who you are and where you are coming from whether you are a canyon before you receive benefit or support from the city or not it is not part of our standard practice so discrimination is not a common feature in the things that we do in Accra but we also take note that if there are communities or individual migrants who have peculiar issues they are also being taken care of and we want to commend your your team for the work that you are doing and we believe that as we move on we will further integrate the migrants into our city culture in the case that we do but the platform is open for all of us and we are happy that we are working with the migrants within our city in this period of pandemic where we provided free meals we provided cash to people who needed money to so that they can start their business all these efforts are being made so that we can live peacefully and happily within the city centre. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Mr Emelio for sharing the experience of the city of Accra in promoting self and coordinated migration especially towards a vulnerable group during the pandemic and so as Accra is one of the city participating in the local migration governance indicator there are some interesting clues coming out of the work that we have been doing together we thank you once again for the patience and despite these little glitches for being with us until now thank you once again. Right I'm afraid we have really they need to close quickly I have two more interventions on my list I would like to give the phone out to the representative of Turkey there is no time no no we need to we need to close they will publish them they can send it I'm afraid apparently so the interpreter services is actually 15 minutes over time and we will not be able to provide services so I would like to invite the representative of Turkey and Armenia requested reply to present their contribution and they will actually be included in the meeting minutes of the proceedings of the meeting and we thank you very much for your patience and understanding with that I would like to once again to thank you all the panelists that have actually been giving their valuable contribution and also to the panel but more important beyond that also to the support of the implementation of the GCM at this trying time and to be with us until it is a very late time of the day and I would like now to hand over to the chief of staff of IUM Eugenio Ambrosio for a few closing remarks of the day thank you very much