 Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I hope everybody had a really good lunch break. We will now continue our council meeting and start with agenda item 10, the general debate. And I will invite statements first from member states beginning with ministers. And indeed we do have ministers and not so few joining us this afternoon, which is really great, followed by regional groups and then observers. I would like to remind speakers of the time allocated for statements under this agenda item, which is five minutes for ministers and regional groups, three minutes for member states and one and a half minute for observers. And to ensure the smooth running of this meeting, I, as I have said this morning, would like to request to all those taking the floor speak at a reasonable pace to allow accurate interpretation, in particular if delegates are participating online. And in all cases to ensure accurate and clear interpretation copies of all statements should be submitted in advance by all delegations to the meeting secretariat before opening of the relevant morning or afternoon session. Please also note that the full text of statements given to the secretariat will then also be published on the IOM website unless the meeting secretariat is advised otherwise. And I will now start with our list of speakers. And I have the honor to give the floor to her Excellency, Ms. Anna Maria Moghetti, the Minister of Labor and Home Affairs of Botswana. She's joining us online. Excellency, you have the floor. I've just been informed that there's been some technical challenges, so we will continue to work on them. And this means we will move to the second speaker on my list, which is Ms. Elizabeth Campbell, the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States. You have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chairperson. As we gather today as governing body members of UN humanitarian agency, let me begin by recognizing the UN's essential role in the humanitarian response effort in Gaza and expressing our deepest condolences to the families of civilians and of the 109 UN staff who have lost their lives in this conflict. It has been nearly two months since Hamas carried out a barbaric terrorist attack against Israel, an attack we unequivocally condemn. As a result of Hamas' actions, many innocent people have suffered in both Israel and Gaza. Many families are grieving. The United States remains committed to ensuring civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected in this conflict in accordance with international humanitarian law. We are intensifying our collective efforts to deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance to those impacted by this conflict. We are pleased to see more aid is reaching the people of Gaza who are in dire need of assistance, but much more aid, especially fuel, is needed urgently. The United States continues to believe the most viable path, indeed, the only path to peace is through the creation of a Palestinian state. That is the only guarantee of a secure and democratic Israel, the only guarantee of Palestinians realizing their legitimate aspirations to live in a state of their own, enjoying equal measures of security and prosperity, and the only way to end this violence once and for all. Madam Chairperson, at a time when the world is bearing witness to unprecedented migration and forced displacement, the work of this body here to support IOM has never been more important. The United States believes a range of regular migration pathways represent an important opportunity for vulnerable migrants and host countries. We are pleased to have launched the Safe Mobility Initiative earlier this year, expanding lawful pathways to the United States and helping refugees and migrants avoid the risks associated with onward movement. This initiative facilitates expedited refugee processing and access to complementary pathways, including humanitarian parole, family reunification, community-based sponsorship, and labor pathways. Nearly 5,000 individuals have been referred for potential resettlement to the United States, and nearly 8,000 individuals have been screened for other lawful pathways. The United States recognizes the impact of climate change to migrants and appreciates IOM's leadership in this area. With IOM, we co-hosted a call to action event on climate mobility and development at this year's Africa Climate Summit in Kenya, where we announced $4 million for IOM to improve data on the impact of climate change on human mobility and provide support to displaced persons in Kenya adversely affected by climate change. President Biden recently hosted the U.S. Pacific Islands Forum Summit in Washington, D.C., building upon our commitment to help Pacific Islands adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change. We are also one of the largest contributors to the multi-partner trust fund, supporting climate change initiatives in line with the global compact on migration. These and other significant climate initiatives represent our shared belief that adaptation and resilience are critical to addressing the effects of climate change. Director General Pope, the United States proudly supports your thoughtful leadership with special appreciation for your strategic vision and transparent direction. In 2023, we increased our on-earmarked funding to over $10 million as a testament to our shared vision around data capacity building, program oversight, and climate mobility. Finally, as IOM develops comprehensive solutions for vulnerable people on the move, we value you as an essential operating partner and commend IOM staff globally in providing life-saving humanitarian assistance. The United States remains committed to promoting strong internal justice mechanisms and management controls, prioritizing reform so IOM is well-funded and efficiently managed, and encouraging IOM's recruitment of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Beatrice Atim Otwang, the Minister of Water Environment of Uganda. Your Excellency, you have the floor. Ex-team Chair, Director General, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, we extend our warm congratulations to Ambassador Katharina Stach of Germany on assuming the chairmanship of the Council and to the Vice Chairperson's permanent representatives from the Republic of Korea and Peru. We will also welcome permanent representatives of Tunisia as the rapporteur. We would like to extend a warm welcome and congratulations to Ms. Amy Popp for taking up the role of Director General. We look forward to working with her and are confident that under her leadership, the IOM will continue to make significant strikes in addressing the complex challenges of migration. Distinguished delegates, Uganda is a nation deeply impacted by the critical intersection of climate change and human mobility in our region. The East and the Horn of Africa, to which we belong, couples with undeniable reality that climate change is a primary catalyst for human displacement. Uganda, as affirmed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, currently stands as the third largest refugee hosting country globally and the largest in Africa, sheltering over 1.5 million refugees. This influx is in part attributed to environmental challenges in the East and the Horn of Africa, including prolonged droughts, desertification, flash floods, and land degradation challenges that are poised to intensify with the looming threat of climate change. In navigating this crisis, Uganda's open-door approach to refugee and migrant settlement transits viewing refugees and migrants merely as humanitarian obligations. Instead, we recognize the potential of these settlements to bring about improved services and infrastructure that benefits both the refugees and our resident communities. These and migrants in Uganda have been integrated into the host communities where they fully participate in the economy and benefit from our social services. Addressing these much-faceted challenges demands substantial budgets and the establishment of a coherent regulatory framework. In expressing our gratitude, we commend the International Organization for Migration for its pivotal role in responding swiftly to global crisis, providing life-saving aid, protection and movement support to those in transit. The operational strength of IOM is in addressing certain disasters and contributing to broader humanitarian effort is truly recommendable. We appreciate IOM's support for the compiler declaration on climate and migration, emphasizing the critical importance of recognizing the nexus between climate change and human mobility. As we engage in discussion on climate change, we must inherently include consideration of human displacement. We salute the IOM for its pivotal role in addressing diverse challenges and implementing impactful interventions within my country, Uganda. The collaboration with IOM has significantly contributed to the well-being and resilience of Ugandan communities. IOM has done commendable work in refugee settlements, ensuring self-relocation, particularly for refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Furthermore, tailored emergency preparedness and response initiatives under IOM's commitment to mitigating displacement impacts. Uganda applauds the IOMs dedicated to migration health, labor migration and human development fostering sustainable well-being. Migrant protection and assistance, including counter-trafficking, showcase paramount efforts, transition and recovery alongside immigration and border management, demonstrates holistic commitment. Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, Uganda affirms its commitment to working with IOM and other member states to address the manifested challenges of migration. We believe that through collective action and shared irresponsibility, we can ensure safe, orderly and regular migration that respects the rights and dignity for all, for God and my country. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to her Excellency, Ms. Ana Maria Mochiti, the Minister of Labor and Home Affairs of Botswana. Your Excellency, you have the floor. She's muted. Excellency, we cannot hear you. There seems to be still a technical problem. We saw that your microphone was unmuted. Let's, I just have a look at the technical colleagues. Shall we try again or let's move on? I can't see you. Okay. We will wait and try to solve it. Otherwise, we will move on. Okay, so we will continue with the next speaker on the list, which is His Excellency, Mr. Vujal Hoseynov, the Chief State Migration Service of Azerbaijan. Excellency, you have the floor. And Excellency is also joining us online. Dear Madam Director-General, Distinguished Delegates, I am pleased to join this session of the IOM Council, which serves as a comprehensive platform to share our views and concerns related to issues of migration, as well as highlight our activities in migration governance at the national level. First I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the members of the Bureau on assuming their positions. I would like also to congratulate Ms. Amy Popp on her election as the Director-General of the organization, and wish her every success in this important and challenging mission. Today, displacement dimensions of human mobility caused by various factors pose multiple challenges in protecting the human rights of migrants, facilitating their integration, and maximizing the benefits of migration for development. Despite the measures taken to address these challenges, there is still much work to be done to achieve our common goals. Unfortunately, forced displacement resulting from conflicts and inequalities continues to be a major factor in worsening the human rights situation and limiting migrants access to basic services necessary for their livelihoods. Azerbaijan is one of the countries which face these challenges and has been addressing the issues related to the protection of human rights of over a million IDPs and refugees for more than 30 years. Starting from 2020, with the liberation of its occupied territories and restoration of its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan restored rights of IDPs to return their homelands, which also opened a new page in terms of internal migration dynamics. The restoration, reintegration, and sustainable settlement processes have already begun in these territories. But the process of ensuring safe and dignified return as well as sustainable settlement also has enormous challenges. Among these challenges, the most important one is the extensive contamination of these territories with landmines, which hampers mobility within those areas. Recognizing the importance of this issue also at the global level, the government of Azerbaijan has made mine action one of its national priorities and is also setting a specific national sustainable development goal on demining. We're actively advocating for mine action to be adopted as the 18th SDG and calling for support from the member states for this endeavor with the view to address one of the impeding factors negatively affecting free mobility. Regretfully, the global situation regarding integration also doesn't differ much from the human rights situation of migrants. False narratives surrounding migration, often fooled by discrimination, xenophobia, and anti-migrant sentiments, overshadowed the economic and cultural contributions of migrants to their host societies. In this regard, I am pleased to note that Azerbaijan sets a positive example with its commitment to the values of multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion, which are also contributing factors for migrants to choose our country at their new home. It's very unfortunate that migration is often perceived as a matter of security, which clearly undermines the development potential of this phenomenon. Therefore, in order to unlock the development potential of migration, we should focus on extending safe and legal pathways, simplifying administrative procedures for facilitated mobility, as well as promoting partnership, which are crucial for growth and prosperity. In this regard, Azerbaijan also attached great importance to strengthening links between migration and development, improves its national policies in this direction, and takes active part in global discussions such as global forum on migration and development. We are a member of forum steering group and engaged in preparatory consultations ahead of its summit as one of the roundtable co-chairs. Using the opportunity, I would also like to thank IOM for facilitating global discussions in migration governments for the purpose of harnessing migration as a driving force for development. When talking about addressing challenges and finding solutions, now we don't have to look far as existing global compact for migration provides solid basis for us to take necessary actions. However, if we want to attain tangible outcomes, we should not just be satisfied with formally joining the GCM. We should focus on continuous implementation of its principles and objectives. In this sense, I am proud to note that Azerbaijan is a GCM champion country and actively advocates for the implementation of these documents through targeted actions at all levels. We have redoubled our efforts in realizing GCM principles and objectives nationally, organized several capacity building and awareness-raising activities involving various stakeholders at regional and global levels. We are also privileged to chair the Almaty process until the end of next year with technical support from IOM, where we have identified the promotion of the GCM as one of our priorities and have already organized a GCM talk with the end network on migration. As in previous years, we are committed to actively contributing to the upcoming regional review process on the implementation of the GCM. Finally, I would like to reiterate that Azerbaijan will continue mobilizing all its efforts to contribute to the global discussions around migration with the will to find better solutions and stands ready to support efforts and initiatives that will help us to reach our common goals. Thank you. Thank you very much. And our next speaker is his Excellency, Mr. Abdullah Mubini-Dekroti, the Deputy Minister of the Interior and Head of the National Organization for Migration of Iran. Excellency, you have the floor. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a meeting of the National Organization for Migration for the future of the region. From this opportunity, I would like to express my congratulations to the first female representative of the National Organization for the implementation of the GCM. In the first place, I would like to point out that the problem of the Palestinian occupation is one of the basic and old rules of migration and migration in the world. During the colonial period, the murder of innocent people and the fight against the migration and migration of the Palestinian migrants to the UN in the context of the international community. Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are aware, the recent protests have led to the emergence of a variety of political and cultural changes in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is increasingly affecting the country. More than 4 decades ago, Iran was the center of a few millions of refugees and refugees who, due to the internal interference of the different countries in Afghanistan and Iraq, left their homes and homes, due to which the country was destroyed. The problems of security, economy, and the restrictions, as well as me, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Ladies, from the establishment of the Association for Migration in Afghanistan in the countries of who were in the best condition in their life and livelihoods. In other stories, there was a clash of awareness in Harat in the Far East in October 2022 and during the successful lunar disaster, a number of Afghan refugees who were seriously injured due to the in the field of foreign immigrants to the high education system and the development of healthcare for 100,000 people from Asi Pazir in 2023. The development of immigrants from the field of arts and culture and in the field of independent and poor families is a small part of the services that I am taking to the immigrants. Iran has even been suffering from poverty in the field of education and the protection of the poor. The level of the service of the international community is the highest level of the service of the international community. Ladies and gentlemen, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been looking for international organizations and the development of international organizations and the development of international organizations for the rest of the world. Especially in Afghanistan, the country that is based on the reports of the organizations has become more than 10,000 people. The national level is a few tens of thousands due to the destruction of these economic, social, cultural, and even national security. And the spread of a lot of money has been determined by the international community. As a result, the top level of the international community is the level of the service of the immigrants. Other than that, the services of the international community in Iran have been very low and are less than 1% of the people of Iran's population. As a result, the presence of immigrants on the other side of the normal level of the population of the immigrants and the immigrants is the level of the service of the international community. Now, for the rest of the world, the international community has been looking for international organizations for the rest of the world, not only for the services of the international community but also for the services of the international community in Iran, in the form of a safe and effective environment that has been determined by the international community by the international community. From this day on, the international community of Iran has no new immigrants and in the form of a responsibility of the international community to protect the immigrants and the immigrants in the country, the part of their promise to the European countries will not be a hindrance. This is the end of this report. And the opportunity to speak and to think about international relations with the international community is at its peak. I thank you for your attention. Thank you. Thank you. And I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Djaboulou Nsousa, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs of South Africa. Excellency, you have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chairperson. South Africa congratulates the permanent representative of Germany, Ambassador Dr. Katrina Stetsch on her election as Chairperson of the 114th session of the IOM Council and wishes her well in facilitating the work of the Council. We further wish to congratulate Ambassador Dr. Talanzana for her, for his leadership in facilitating the work of the Council for the past year. On behalf of South African government, I wish to congratulate you, Ms. Amy Pope, on your appointment as the new Director General and becoming the first woman to occupy this position since establishment of the IOM 74 years ago. We reassure you of South Africa's continued support. South Africa aligns itself with the statement to be delivered on behalf of the Africa Group. My delegation welcomes and supports the Director General's report as it clearly outlines her vision and priorities for the IOM during her tenure, particularly its efforts to align with the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. We further welcome all discussions aimed at addressing the adverse driving forces of migration, including protracted and intensified conflicts, the adverse effects of climate change and food insecurity as underscored within the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As such, we agree that migration requires not only a comprehensive state-led approach as supported by the relevant UN-related organizations, but must also be considered by academia, the private sector, and civil society. We support the Director General's proposal to increase legal pathways given its alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Compact for Migration. South Africa has over the years created regular pathways for different nationalities within our country. Notwithstanding, we maintain that responsibility sharing should be equally carried by sending, transiting, and receiving states. In this regard, South Africa emphasizes the need to address fundamental causes of migration by addressing challenges at local, national, regional, and international levels. This can be achieved through international cooperation. Our principal position is that collectively we should urgently address adverse drivers of forced migration and displacements. This includes climate-induced migration and stability, inequality, poverty, and other related structural deficiencies that compel people to live their countries of origin. As part of developing adoption and resilience strategies and in order to give effect to the Disaster Management Act of 2002, South Africa has developed the Disaster Management Plan for implementation at the local government level that assess priority disaster areas. Through these assessment measures to prevent, prepare, and mitigate disaster risks, inclusive of climate changes are identified. Madam Chair Fesin, it is therefore the resolve of my delegation that if these and similar measures are to be consolidated, aligned, and resourced across regions, will make a significant impact in supporting states to develop stand-by capabilities to respond to these emerging forms of disasters. The IOM together with the UN bodies and agencies as well as other relevant stakeholders should play a significant role in supporting states to ensure purpose-built stand-by capacities to minimize the impact of displacement, damages to infrastructure, and loss of life. Similar partnerships with private sector who are the main beneficiaries of migration through critical skills, schemes, amongst others should be encouraged to play a more meaningful role that should include contributions to the organizations. With this site, it will be appropriate to encourage Director-General to establish a platform for dialogue with business on critical issues that will assist member states to efficiently attend to migration challenges. My country has taken a step to harmonize the various legislations on citizenship, immigration, and refugee protection into one policy framework called the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration, and Refuge Protection as an attempt to strengthen the protection of those within and those seeking to recite within the borders of our country. In this regard, the White Paper has been published for public comments, and we encourage the IOM to consider and where necessary provide their comments. As part of our comprehensive efforts to regularize migration, we launched the Border Management Authority in October 2023. Without any doubt, evidence has proven that regular migration can contribute to the development and prosperity of both sending and hosting nations. Lastly, Chairperson, my delegation believes that member states have the responsibility to ensure that nationals let dignified lives by ensuring access to basic needs such as health, education, clean safe drinking water, and sanitation as well as employment. The element of push factors that force people to take unsafe and dangerous pathways in search of better livelihoods should be a priority for the IOM. This can be realized amongst others by encouraging dialogue on issues of promotion, protection, and fulfillment of human rights to nationals so that we address challenges associated with irregular migration. I thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, and I now give the floor to Excellency Hon. Dr. Vinidia Persaud, the Minister of Human Services and Social Security of Guyana. Esteemed colleagues, Madam Chair, Director-General. Thank you, Madam Chair, for giving me the floor, and I congratulate you on your election to this new role. I also wish to extend my congratulations to Miss Amy Pope on her election as the first female Director-General. I commend the Council for this historic decision, and I'm pleased to recognize the number of women seated at the head table. This 114th session occurs against a world in crisis, wars in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, disproportionately impacting civilians and compounding the migration challenge at both the global and regional levels. Closer to the Caribbean region, the situation within Haiti, which has left the people of Haiti with migration being the most viable option, which has been a challenge for many Caribbean countries. Similarly, the ongoing situation within Venezuela has also put pressure on many countries within our hemisphere, including Guyana, which shares a border with Venezuela. In this respect, I wish to personally and on behalf of the government of Guyana commend the IOM for its continued collaboration with Guyana and other international partners as we continue to provide humanitarian assistance, comfort, and relief to the migrants. The government of Guyana places high priority on the work of the IOM, and I note that Guyana has historically been a country of origin, destination, and transit for migrants. Our commitment is to address holistically the issues associated with migration, and in that regard, we participated in the ninth summit of the Americas held in 2022 and endorsed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. It is our view that this document complements the 2018 UN Global Compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration, which Guyana and other UN member states adopted. Madam Chair, we note the increasing impact climate change and climate-related issues has and can have on migration issues. My own country, Guyana, has felt the impact of weather-related disasters unprecedented flooding in several areas in 2021 and 2022 has caused severe damages estimated at more than US 465 million, 60% of our GDP. This has meant internal displacement for several hinterland communities. Guyana has been described as particularly vulnerable to climate change because of high levels of exposure and sensitivity to climate risks. It is against this backdrop and others that Guyana has pioneered an overarching framework for planning and implementing climate resilience actions in several areas, including human mobility and low-carbon development strategy, LCDS 2030. Since its membership with IOM in 2011, Guyana and IOM have collaborated on the engagement within the Guyanese diaspora, strengthening of the security mechanisms for the enhancement of migration management in Guyana, migration and health promotion, and in the assisted voluntary return and reintegration programs. We look forward to building on this partnership and developing new areas for collaboration with the IOM, particularly as it relates to addressing the plight of women and children. Madam Chair, in closing, I wish us a successful 114th Council. I thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to her Excellency Ms. Anna Maria Moghetti, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs of Botswana. Chairperson, Honourable Ministers, Director-General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegate. At the onset, I wish to express my delegation's heartfelt congratulations to you, Madam Chair, on your election as Chairperson of the Council Bureau and assure you of the groundless support during your tenure. We also commend the previous Chairperson, Minister Geberi of Sierra Leone, for his dedication to the Bureau's work. We further take this opportunity to once again congratulate Ms. Amy E Poe as she attends her first Council session as Director-General of the IMO following assumption of the post on the 1st of October 2023. We wish her a very successful tenure in driving forward the mandate of the organisation. Chairperson Botswana comments the IMO for its focus on climate change and human mobility issues, particularly at a time when the frequency and intensity of climate-induced hazards are increasing. Deliberations on these concerns in the high-level segment of this Council are timely and relevant, and we hope this will result in our collective commitment to urgently work towards bold, coordinated actions to address the impact of climate change on human mobility. Climate change has created a new normal of unpredictable rainfall patterns in Botswana, exacerbating the unreliability of rain-fed agriculture. Drought is another persistent problem Botswana faces, mitigation of which leads to the erosion of resources available for socio-economic growth. However, we have entered into strategic partnerships with local and international stakeholders to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and implement appropriate adaptation strategies. In 2024 Botswana is scheduled to receive assistance from the IMO in respect to the climate change and human mobility strategy. The strategy will support government efforts to address gaps in the national climate change policy and the national disaster risk reduction strategy. Chairperson, at the regional level, Botswana hopes to positively contribute to the discourse of migration governance through our chair of the Pan-African Forum on Migration, TAFOM, which we recently hosted in Havaroni from 31st October to 2nd November 2023. One notable outcome of the meeting was the agreement by member states that greater efforts should be made towards improvement of the migration regulatory framework. This will facilitate free movement in its entirety, particularly the right of entry, right of residence and right of establishment, as well as the need to align trade and migration strategies with the African continent to enter free trade area and reduce barriers between business on the continent in order to attract investors. I wish to express my sincere gratitude for all the support Botswana has received and continues to receive from the IOM. In that regard, we note the following events that took place this year. In August 2023 with the support of the IOM Development Fund, the government of Botswana undertook the MGI assessment and the report was launched. The MGI assessment assisted in finalizing the national migration policy and its accompanying action plan that commenced in 2016. The Trafficking in Persons project was launched by the Minister of Justice on 17th October 2023. The project aims to strengthen efforts to address trafficking in persons in Botswana in line with relevant national, regional and international frameworks. Before I conclude, Madam Chair, allow me to put forward two points which Botswana deems very important for consolidation of existing efforts to advance the migration discourse in the country. The first is our desire to have the IOM country office in Botswana upgraded from a satellite of the regional office in Pretoria, South Africa to a fully fledged IOM mission. The other is to see more Botswana citizens employed especially in professional ranks. Botswana is on the list of 36 non-represented member states. Countries that according to the IOM has no staff members working in professional and international roles. It is our sincere hope and expectation that these points will receive your very active consideration. I thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to Ms. Isabel Castro Fernandez, the State Secretary for Migration of Spain. Madam, you have the floor. Thank you President, General Director, Excellencies, Dear Colleagues and Authorities. First of all, the commitment of the Government of Spain to face the global phenomenon of migrations from a multilateral perspective and with a both right and protection approach. Therefore, we reaffirmed our commitment as a country in the IOM to face the challenges and opportunities that human mobility presents. The Migration Model of Spain has been reforming in recent decades and accommodating the best practices developed by the experience both national and compared. The result is a regulatory framework that revolves around three fundamental axes. The first is the existence of various ways of regular migration that is coordinated and secure. The second is the principle of equality of rights for foreigners with respect to the Spanish. And the third is the design and development of social integration policies aimed at migrants. These three pillars are reflected in a series of well-known practices among other relevant actors by the IOM. Among them, it can be mentioned in line with the last reforms introduced in the years 2021 and 2022 the creation of a specific regime to strengthen the documental regularity of the young non-accompanied and ex-settled young people. The reinforcement of my regular migration of a labor character and the improvement of the management system by means of tools such as digitalization. Other outstanding examples of well-known practices are the Spanish migration programs to contribute in close collaboration with companies the protection of foreign workers or the creation of a specific office and 100% telematics to transmit the authorizations of residence and work of certain strategic collectives investors entrepreneurs highly qualified workers or inter-employment employees digital nomads, etc. in the priceless place of 20 natural days. We support the efforts that both the IOM and the ACNUR are doing in the scope of complementarity to guarantee a response to the mixed flow of mobility. In this way we need a perspective that analyzes the causes of mobility the specificity of certain vulnerable groups and the good practices of integration. Conscious of the need of a major cooperation and collaboration between countries and regions and because of the current situation we have set out a pilot project of complementary routes to the settlement. A agreement that the United States and Canada prefers to settle up to 5,000 people from Central America based on some new legal and secure routes for people with international protection needs. These routes allow the transfer and legal distance of people with the support of a work contract to a third country where their international protection needs and the labor contract are satisfied. I want to highlight the advance of our country in the achievement of rights that has been done through a development that guarantees them the momentum of the state of well-being that it makes effective. Among these measures the second plan of human rights has been approved in June of this year. This plan consists of four major action plans. The first one establishes the international obligations and cooperation of Spain. The second one contains measures to advance the protection and promotion of human rights. The third one refers to equality between men and women with measures that go from the fight against gender violence to the breaks in employment, care and reconciliation. And the fourth one has the goal of guaranteeing equality of treatment, non-discrimination and the protection of specific groups among which the migrant population stands out. In this way, the objective of this plan is dedicated exclusively to the protection of migrant people to guarantee their social inclusion, such as financial support and technical support for the projects of coexistence and social cohesion. The analysis of xenophobia, racism or the speech of hatred, the development of formative actions and the desensitization of all people involved. In addition, from the government of Spain, different measures have been approved that impose the objectives contemplated in this plan, such as the protocol of vulnerability between people arriving to our territory, both by sea and by land. The protocol of prevention and response to violence against migrant women in collaboration with the GNUL. Participation in different mechanisms of control and follow-up of these measures with the preliminary exam carried out by the United Nations Torture Committee. In short, for the government of Spain, solidarity, respect for human rights and multilateral action to tackle the challenges and opportunities of the regulatory phenomenon. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland, Mr. Vincenzo Maschiolo, of the State Secretary for Migration. So you have the floor. Thank you, Madam President, Madam Director General, excellent dear colleagues. We meet today in a global context marked by a number of migrations. Switzerland understands as a partner of a lot of original peace and of transit in their reinforcement of their immigration management framework. Although the efforts of the governments remain central, the UN agencies in particular, the OEM must also play a key role. Only a strong international cooperation can have an impact significant on the management of immigration and on the release of migrant people. Therefore, it is a priority for Switzerland that the OEM is solid and well equipped to meet its objectives. We consider that the main force of the OEM and its personnel are very committed. They all deserve our gratitude and work in a multitude of contexts, often extremely difficult. Thank you for supporting the most vulnerable and supporting the state in their tasks. The reforms of the OEM in the management and personnel have already been important and are crucial for the development of the organization. As a payout, Switzerland is also particularly sensitive to the quality and to the well-being of the OEM personnel. For this reason and to continue to support the reform process, Switzerland has decided to obtain a voluntary contribution of 1 million Swiss francs dedicated to the management and personnel. Such volunteer contributions are important in the immediate. They are also inscribed in the continuity of the budgetary reform in the idea of giving the organization the means to be solid and efficient. We are also confident, however, that the reforms committed by the OEM will reduce its dependence on voluntary contributions and allow it to adopt a more and more strategic approach in connection with its world. We would also like to thank the OEM for the publication of the OEM personnel data report. The published data allow the State to have a clear and transparent image of the personnel who compose the OEM. This report will be a very useful tool in the future to lead the organization towards more equality of genres and a better geographical distribution. We will therefore encourage the OEM to continue on this path by regularly updating its data and possibly even to refine them. To conclude, I would like to wish you, Madam Director General, a fruitful world to salute the excellent quality of the dialogue between the OEM and the Swiss, both at the institutional level and to reiterate the commitment of the Swiss to work together and support you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to our Director General to answer to your questions and comments. Thank you very much. And I will go in response to the order in which governments spoke. So starting with the United States, just an enormous thank you to the United States of America which has played a key role in supporting this organization as our biggest donor but increasingly as a donor in providing more flexible funding which is absolutely critical to the work we do and to recognizing the importance of providing funding to support both our internal management procedures but also to build out in areas such as climate resilience and communities that are extremely vulnerable. I also want to commend the United States for leading some new work on regular pathways whether they are humanitarian family reunification or labor mobility pathways and we at IOM see the work that you're doing on the Safe Mobility Initiative in particular with partners in Canada and Spain as innovative, well aligned with our own strategic priorities and we are very, very proud to work with you to achieve those goals including with our partners at UNHCR. So thank you very much. On Uganda I would like to first of all commend the government of Uganda for their tremendous leadership and the minister who has been a true champion to draw attention but also build better pathways for communities that are impacted by climate change. The government of Uganda has been absolutely critical in advancing the Kampala declaration on migration environment and climate change which is a groundbreaking agreement now with 33 signatures from member states across the African continent acknowledging how climate will impact communities at risk. So tremendous thank you for your key leadership on that and we look forward to working with you at COP 28 to get that number from 33 to 54 and then ultimately to the whole world. So we stand with you and appreciate your tremendous work and note by the way that that work is happening even with Uganda's hosting of significant numbers of migrants and refugees from around the world so your leadership is extremely commendable. I'd like to thank the government of Azerbaijan for its efforts really as a regional leader in a number of different levels. First of all Azerbaijan is leading as a GCM champion country and we celebrated that fact very much this last week. It has been supporting the global compact on migration regional review. It played a key role in the international migration review forum just over a year ago and the global climate on migration talks. Additionally Azerbaijan as a government is to be commended for establishing the regional training center on migration which is creating migration best practices that are available across the region and then of course Azerbaijan is leading in its role as chairing the Almaty process for this year encouraging governments to promote regular pathways to recognize the impact of climate induced mobility among the Almaty process countries and we're grateful for all the work that you are doing there. I'd like to acknowledge and express appreciation to the Islamic Republic of Iran. We know that you as a government as a country have provided tremendous hospitality to millions of Afghan refugees and migrants that in doing so you have generously provided access to schools, access to healthcare access to livelihood. We recognize that the impact on your country has been significant and that it's important to encourage members of the international community to support your people in order to continue to play that role so we want to recognize the work that you've done recognize the impact that it has had on your government and on your communities more broadly. Now looking to South Africa South Africa is playing a tremendous role in hosting migrants and refugees from around the world the highest number of migrants in the African continent are hosted by South Africa I want to recognize your government in doing so and commend you for reviewing the frameworks used for managing international migration your white paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection establishes a whole of government approach a whole of society approach that is truly a model for others and what we see is that it improves it will improve migration governance in the country that brings together various pieces of legislation and demonstrates a very good practice that could be modeled by other I recognize the establishment of your border management authority which is meant to improve coordination and cooperation amongst the various governments that work on border issues and we are able to provide technical support to your government to strengthen those efforts recognizing how valuable they are to the management of migration more broadly we look forward to continuing our cooperation with you in the Republic of South Africa not just through technical support but also through our best practices that we have learned by engaging with your government by ensuring that we are creating legal pathways for skilled migrants enhancing your data management capacity and building support across the static region to ensure better movements for people across the region but also so that is both enhances your economic development as well as that of migrants across the region so thank you very much for your work to the government of South Africa I'd next like to acknowledge the government of Guyana first of all your commitment to the needs of migrants through your multi-agency coordinating committee it exemplifies a whole of government approach it's extremely collaborative it's noted by the global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration and importantly it allows for the contribution of the UN partners working in migration including IOM we've also noted that you have taken a leadership role in combating the trafficking persons through your development of a new bill and that has led to a number of significant enhancements including a counter trafficking in persons unit in the Guyana police force Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and these efforts have now been recognized by Guyana's tier one placement in the United States annual TIP report but it is evident to us through your tremendous leadership efforts I'd also like to commend your involvement in engaging Guyana's Diaspora of which my grandmother was one so I have a special place in my heart for you but you've established a Diaspora Affairs Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation we know that will facilitate the establishment of a mechanism by which we can engage the Guyani's Diaspora around the world and then provide assistance to Diaspora members who want to re-migrate to Guyana and finally I'd like to recognize your leadership on the impact of climate change particularly on vulnerable communities and your efforts to improve the resilience of those communities in the face of the significant, significant impact I'd now like to turn to Botswana I'd like to note the real leadership that we've seen from Botswana particularly on the issue of climate change as well as their use of data to build resilience to climate impact on human mobility we look forward to working with the government of Botswana both to further develop the strategy on climate change and human mobility we look to close to work with the government to close the gaps on the national climate change policy and national disaster risk reduction strategy as well as the Diaspora engagement policy framework and the list of work does suggest the importance of increasing IOM's presence in Botswana we also take note of Botswana's request that we improve the representation of Botswana an important member state to IOM in our professional workforce and I personally want to note that this is a priority for me one in which we are developing a range of strategies including setting up a pathways program for nationals of Botswana as a non-represented country in our organization to build greater representation within the IOM we recognize that we are stronger when we have the voices and the input of all of our member states and ensuring that we have non-represented members become represented members is something that will be an issue we continue to push with regard to Spain first I'd like to thank you to the government of Spain for hosting me just a little over a week ago as part of your leadership as the president of the European Union and commend really the whole of government approach that Spain is bringing to the issue of migration it is evident across all of your ministries it was evident in every way in which you're engaging whether or not it's to support the integration of migrants into your communities to create more regular pathways for migrants or to work with the private sector to ensure that migrants can be part of the solution in your country and not perceived as a problem Spain is really taking a tremendous leadership role and it was evident in every interaction that I've had every interaction that we've had with your government partners IOM stands ready to support you in every aspect of the work you're doing I'd like to commend you in particular for your role in engaging with the United States and Canada to provide regular pathways for persons who are displaced in the Americas recognizing that that's a particularly innovative and unusual approach to migration but one that does appear to be working and we stand ready to engage the private sector to provide capacity support or whatever else might be needed in order to enable you to successfully make that program work and I'd also like to note the role that you continue to play at least for another month or so as the European Union addresses the issue of migration across the member states and recognize its importance to what we're trying to do within the international organization for migration to create more safe and regular pathways and finally Switzerland dear Switzerland we are very grateful first of all for hosting us as privileged migrants within your country but also to recognize the work that you do to host migrants and asylees from around the world you in particular have an efficient asylum and return system it has become a model for other countries a special mention goes to an innovative allocation of refugees and asylum seekers to the cantons which you have done in partnership with the University of Zurich as well as establishing a pre-apprenticeship program we also want to praise you for the work that you've done to address the special needs of Afghan women and to note your solidarity with other EU member states at the external borders of the European Union the EU neighborhood and the north of Africa and we in particular are deeply grateful for your voluntary contribution which will support our management and reform efforts which I know is not always the most exciting stuff but we know from you and we have seen firsthand how critical it is to the functioning of our organization and the proper management of your investment and finally I would like to note our appreciation for your secondment of staff to our organization who regularly contribute to the work that we do and allow us to be a more effective and impactful international organization so thank you very much and we will now continue with our list of speakers moving on to the regional groups and we will start with the distinguished representative of Korea speaking on behalf of the Asian-Pacific group you have the floor Madam Chair I have the pleasure of speaking on behalf of the Asia Pacific group we extend warm congratulations on your assumption of the role of chairperson of the IOM Council your experience and education are invaluable assets and we are confident that they will guide us towards another productive and harmonious year ahead we also convey our appreciation to the outgoing chair Ambassador Lanzana Zuberi of Sierra Leone we thank the DG for her comprehensive presentation on IOM activities and progress this year we have had so far as well as the plans for the coming year Asia Pacific as one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world faced 98 out of the 308 climate-related disasters that occurred worldwide in 2022 in this regard the Asia Pacific group finds the DG's attention on climate change and its impact on human mobility especially timely recent statistics have shown that climate change is becoming a result of displacement at an unprecedented rate the number of internally displaced people by disasters reached 8.7 million in 2022 marking a 45% increase compared to the previous year it is also projected that nearly 200 million people per year might need humanitarian assistance by 2050 due to climate-related disasters and social economic impact of the climate change we find IOM's attention on the climate impact on human mobility and promotion of legal pathways timely and relevant including the inclusion into the program and budget for the coming year we also encourage IOM to take a greater role in bringing together diverse stakeholders such as government, international organization civil society and the private sector in finding comprehensive and creative solutions for these issues we also appreciate IOM's growing visibility as the UN's migration agency particularly its role as the coordinator of the UN network on migration we encourage IOM to continue stepping up its efforts in achieving safe, regular and orderly migration and enhancing the integration of migration across the UN system as the world is faced with a complex situation of mixed movements including forced displacements we further recommend IOM to continue to engage constructively with the Office of the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees working jointly to find solutions for people in displacement Madam Chair, Director General at the member's stage we are pleased to find IOM's advancement into the role of the UN's leading migration agency with an annual budget of 3 billion and around 20,000 staff members however we would like to highlight for IOM to further strengthen its co-organizational capacities for the future development of IOM as pointed out in the recent Mopan assessment there is room for IOM to further develop its organizational capacity to support its rapidly expanding programs it is of utmost importance that IOM builds stronger capacities in human resources inclusion, legal, control and monitoring functions it should also set clear priorities and align its programs accordingly in this respect we refer to engaging in constructive consultation with IOM over its new strategy plan for the next five years last but not least we welcome the DG's commitment to enhancing the geographical and gender representation within the IOM's workforce at all levels which would surely be a set to the organization thank you very much ambassador and we will now move on to the distinguished representative of Argentina speaking in behalf of GRULAC ambassador, you have the floor in the last years we have been witnesses of numerous changes in the migratory matter both globally and regionally as a consequence of multiple causes these changes reflect in the new approaches to address migration the composition of migratory flows the non-linearity of the current migrations and the new public policies adopted by states unilateral and in coordination with other countries this new international migratory panorama presents a significant challenge for the countries of GRULAC that are often forced to respond to changes in migratory volumes with limited resources and tools that require updates in this context we face the constant challenge of developing migratory policies with the international lines created by the consensus of the World Pact on Migration while we respond to the needs of the migrant people their families and the communities in the countries of origin transit and destiny with a focus focused on the human being the 23 objectives for a safe, coordinated and regular migration adopted 5 years ago the World Pact on Migration among others the minimization of adverse and structural factors that force people to abandon their countries of origin the abortion and reduction of the vulnerability in migration and issues such as the regularization of the migrants, the social inclusion and access to rights in the communities welcomed the struggle against all forms of discrimination and xenophobia the approach of the growing impact of climate change and environmental degradation in human mobility the generation of exchange of data the prevention of crimes such as the treatment of people and the illicit trafficking of migrants the incorporation of a perspective of gender and the voluntary return and the reintegration as an indispensable part in the application of an integral management of migration all these factors continue to demand a joint look and urgent responses always based on the shared responsibility both at the individual and as a collective by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in this context the OIM articulated with the sub-regional sub-regional spaces of migratory governance offers a central importance when transforming the narrative about migration eradicating xenophobia to generate effective responses to migratory dynamics in permanent exchange and offering access to policies and practices related to migration in this sense and in relation to changes in march in the organizational structure of the OIM approved last year we want to highlight that our countries will always be open to consider measures to improve the efficiency of the organization as well as the quality of their impact on the ground so we invite the OIM administration to continue to ensure a wide margin of consultation with the member states we consider the importance that reforms take into account the migratory realities of the four sub-regions of the Americas North, Central, Caribbean and South both in their similarities in terms of the amount the composition and the direction of the flows and migratory stocks the migratory policies and also in relation to the factors that cause migration this must be reflected in any structural change to continue to donate to the organization of the capacity of response and orientation that we need at the same time an OIM capable of responding to the current challenges must be nourished with a plurality of views and to be diverse in their conformity currently the GRULAC is severely underrepresented in front of other regions in the composition of the staff of the organization only 8% of the international staff of the OIM comes from our region the number is even more worrying if we consider the number of senior functionaries P5 or higher that barely reaches 4% some countries, especially many Caribeans are not represented in absolute at any level so we thank the general director for recognizing the problem and we urge him to develop and consult the relevant initiatives in order to remedy it to the greatest extent possible to finish because migration is consolidated as one of the most important issues of the contemporary international agenda we notice with concern how public speeches are multiplied that encourage a negative look at migration and the migrants based on inexact data and distorted amplified by disinformation and by stereotypes that can constitute hatred, racism and xenophobia in the face of this we want to take advantage of this opportunity to reaffirm once again our view of the migrants as legal subjects our certainty that the order of migration is a factor that impacts positively in the societies in the economic, social and cultural and our conviction that the OIM must continue to serve to develop all the potential of international migration thank you very much ambassador and I now give the floor to the ambassador of Rwanda on behalf of the African group you have the floor chair person Rwanda has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the African group we align with the statement delivered this morning by the distinguished delegation of Zimbabwe expressing African groups warmly congratulations to the new chair person of the council her excellency Dr. Katarina Stach and the entire team of the bureau and wish her and the bureau success in delivering on the mandate of the council we also express our appreciation to the outgoing chair person of the council his excellency Dr. Sarnag Berry for dedicated work and collaboration during his tenure chair person the African group thank the director general of the international organization for migration Ms. Ami Poppe for presentation of her report providing preliminary updates on efforts that OIM is taking to deliver on the promise of migration while supporting the world's most vulnerable the group took note of the global consultations that have brought to the four several programmatic priority areas including saving lives and protecting people on the move driving solutions to displacement with a particular focus on climate migration responses and facilitating regular migration pathways the African group commands I am initiative of saving lives and protecting people on the move as the organization has been at the front line of responses to crisis across the world providing life-saving humanitarian assistance protection and movement assistance to the people on the move as well as responding to new challenges posing devastating impacts on local populations the year 2023 has been has seen millions forced out of their homes by sudden disasters and OIM's strong operational presence indicated its capacity to quickly and directly respond to rapid onset disasters as well as support wider humanitarian responses on driving solutions to displacement the Africa group appreciates OIM's understanding on migration as not only a route out of crisis situations but also a means to building resilience and promote development in communities affected by climate change and developed conflicts and instability underscoring the reason why OIM is working closely with member states and argues for concrete engagement with civil society organizations and communities to building solutions that improve resilience and enable communities to adapt to a rapidly changing and unstable world the Africa group further notes I am positive positive involvement in the pilot initiative under the Secretary General's action agenda on internal displacement to develop state-led and cost a durable solution strategies and funding frameworks in 15 countries uploading the organization support to the United Nations country team leadership including with secondments to coordinate durable solutions efforts at national and regional levels also we encourage the current discussions on institutional partnership agreements and frameworks with the food agriculture organization at the United Nations of the United Nations the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the United Nations Development Program UN Habitat the World Food Program and others focusing on intensifying collaboration around the action agenda chairperson the African group welcomes I am scaling up engagement with academia to expand actionable analysis together with Jersey Town University's Institute for the study of internal migration having launched the first periodic global report on the state of solutions to internal displacement the report offers people centered and operationally relevant evidence and analysis that enables displaced people to move toward durable solutions further advocating for a shift from focusing on when displacement ends to when solutions start and illuminates some of the key factors influencing the solutions process such as the length of displacement housing and climate change impact we appreciate such a unique combination of quantitative and qualitative data which includes input from focus group discussions with over 550 displaced communities and host community representatives in 10 countries and from consultations with member states on regional action climate change action the African group uploads the I am and the United Nations framework convention on climate change on the support to the Campara ministerial declaration on migration environment and climate change which was signed by ministers from governments of Africa in September at the Africa climate summit in 2023 such a government led comprehensive and action oriented framework that practically and effectively addresses climate induced mobility and the needs gaps and opportunities of human mobility has to be collectively supported we note that during this summit I am hosted a side event in a partnership with the State's Bureau of Population refugees and migration to invite women partners and practitioners to support the implementation of programs that address the challenges of climate induced mobility the African group further appreciates I am's partnership with the office of the African union chairpersons youth envoy and the African union commissions women gender and youth directorate in hosting the continental migration and youth consultation in August 2023. The three days of discussions resulted in two reflections and critical analysis of Africa's most pressing migration issues by youth stakeholders and advocates resulted in the development of the joint AU youth declaration and call to action on migration and youth on the African continent chairpersons the African group commands I am new phase of the cooperation on migration and partnerships to achieve sustainable solutions as confirmed by the ministry of foreign affairs of the kingdom of Netherlands for the period 2024-2027 considering that this new phase has played a significant role in providing protection services to over 83,000 migrants across 14 partner countries including safe and dignified return and sustainable integration and that over 2800 state and non-state actors have benefited from continuous capacity building, capacity development in migration management, protection and specialized protection assistance. The African group understands there is need for continuous effective collaboration in the implementation of these initiatives in addressing migration including emerging complex challenges and reiterates its firm support to the management of I am from country, regional and international level. I thank you. Thank you very much ambassador and I now give the floor to the ambassador of Egypt speaking on behalf of the Arab group . Thank you Madam Chairperson. It is good to see you chairing as today and warm congratulations on your election as chairperson of the council and through you our congratulations to the distinguished members of the bureau. Madam Director General Deputy Director General Distinguished Delegates Egypt is honored to deliver this statement on behalf of the Arab group. The Arab group seizes this opportunity to accelerate its appreciation and support to Madam Amy Pope. The first woman in the history of I am as she embarks on this critical role as new director general in the midst of mounting global humanitarian challenges forever changing the outlook of humanitarian work as we know it and pushing us forward towards accelerating our joint action and finding innovative solutions in the face of new and protracted crises. Madam Director General you have the full support and encouragement of the Arab group. The Arab group welcomes the report of the director general which reflects a new beginning for the IOM both on the institutional and operational levels and welcomes the focus of the new leadership on emergency preparedness and response climate mobility solutions and enhanced regular ways for migration and labor mobility. The Arab group appreciates the role IOM is playing in response to the complex humanitarian crisis in the region as part of UN-wide response. We note with appreciation IOM's recently launched appeal for the humanitarian response in the occupied Palestinian territory and neighboring countries. Its mobilization of humanitarian supplies to the affected population in Gaza and the support in evacuating third country nationals and injured civilians through the Rafah border crossing. We also commend Madam Pope for joining the statement by the principles of the interagency standing committee rejecting the establishment of any safe zone in Gaza that would be set up without the agreement of all the parties and calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to ease the suffering and to facilitate humanitarian operations. We seized this critical humanitarian platform to remind the international community of its humanitarian legal and moral commitments to put an end to the Israeli military aggression on Gaza with its unprecedented and devastating humanitarian consequences and to stand firmly against any attempts by Israel as the occupying power to forcibly transfer the Palestinian people from their homes whether within or outside the Gaza Strip. We also call on the UN system and international community to strengthen its humanitarian emergency response to Gaza to join the growing call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and to address the root causes of the ongoing crisis which is the 75 year of Israeli occupation. The Arab group also welcomes the efforts of IOM in supporting the humanitarian response to the ongoing crisis in Sudan. The group calls on the international community to commit to the pledges it has made to the humanitarian response plan in Sudan which remains largely underfunded despite the escalating humanitarian situation and its devastating impact on the Sudanese people and its neighboring countries. The Arab group representing countries of origin, transit and destination are looking forward to supporting the director general in her efforts for ensuring effective migration governance and enhancing safe and legal migratory pathways that would contribute to the sustainable development of migrants and their host communities. The Arab group emphasizes the need to addressing growing challenges related to migration and displacement in a collective and holistic manner that tackles the adverse drivers of migration and the rights and well-being of migrants as well as their hosting communities into account. The Arab group preaffirms the importance of implementing the global compact on migration in accordance with national priorities and acknowledges the shared responsibilities of states to respect each other's needs and concerns over migration as well as the need for enhanced international cooperation to facilitate safe orderly and regular migration through the implementation of well-governed migration policies. We emphasize the important role of IOM as coordinator of the UN network on migration and look forward to more engagement with the director general in this regard. The Arab group underscores the critical role of IOM in supporting states to safeguard the dignity and rights of migrants and develop a positive discourse on migrants' contributions which helps combat intolerance racism and xenophobia. It further stresses the important role by IOM in facilitating cooperation between countries of origin and destination to mitigate against challenges associated with the brain drain and consolidate the positive contribution of migration towards sustainable development. The Arab group welcomes the new IOM's leadership priority focus on human mobility in the context of climate change and accelerating global action towards climate mobility response. We recognize the increasing impact of climate change and environmental degradation on new and existing movements and emphasize the need for context-driven tailored solutions to respond to the needs of affected populations especially people living in vulnerable situations which should not be left behind. The Arab group continues to support IOM's reform efforts intended to make the organization fit for purpose taking into consideration its increased responsibilities and growing challenges. We highlight the importance of continued commitment to ensuring efficiency, transparency and accountability of the organization and reflecting the priorities and needs of countries in which it operates in a balanced manner. We also welcome the budget reform aimed at finding a solution to the challenges of the Arab group. We also welcome the implementation of the dependency on the core-funded structure and engaging with non-conventional donors particularly the private sector to enhance flexible funding that can support project implementation and overcome challenges pertaining to the increasing gap between humanitarian needs and available funding. The Arab group also welcomes the DG's commitment to increasing cooperation between members of the Arab region and IOM and the group recalls its request to add Arabic as an official language of the organization in line with UN wide standards and practices with the aim of an enhanced regional and geographical representation and a continued engagement with the region's priorities. In closing the Arab group reiterates its commitment to extending its support to our dear DG and to continue its crucial role as the leading organization in the field of migration in the UN system and pledges to continue to play a constructive role in promoting multilateral efforts towards effective and sustainable migration policies. Shukran said the Raisa. Thank you very much and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the European Union. You have the floor. Thank you. Chair first I would like very much to congratulate you warmly in your new role as chair of the Bureau. It's all the best to you and the Bureau. I'm speaking on behalf of the European Union and its member states. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and the potential candidate country Georgia align themselves with the statement. Director General we thank you for your report. The EU and its member states value our partnership with IOM. In recent years IOM has grown significantly driven by the emergence of new humanitarian crisis and the worsening conditions in many protected crisis. We express in particular our grave concern about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the continued escalation of the conflict in Sudan and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and we recall relevant European Council conclusions on this. We deplore all loss of civilian lives and we reiterate once again the obligation of all parties to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law. In the face of these challenges we commend IOM for maintaining its agility and flexibility allowing it to adapt and respond swiftly also thanks to its strong field presence. This substantial growth of IOM would not have been achievable without the EU and its member states which collectively constitute the largest donor. Director General we also appreciate IOM's growing leadership as the UN migration agency and coordinator of the United Nations network on migration. We trust that the new strategic plan for 24 28 and the internal governance framework 2.0 will provide opportunities to consolidate the organisation and to further build on the ongoing reform processes also guided by the recent and very positive MOPAN assessment. As the strategic plan takes shape we see the essential emerging priorities that you intend to establish for IOM. We share your view that it is important to increase efforts to save lives and protect people on the move working jointly with UNHCR on mixed migration flows through a whole of route approach, promote legal pathways for migration to prevent irregular migration and counter smuggling and human trafficking and to understand climate change as one of the drivers of migration. IOM your plan focus on data and its use for action and urge you to work on data sharing and interoperability with other UN agencies. We value your aim to enhance cooperation with the private sector, academia affected communities and other partners to find solutions. We also invite you to put a strong emphasis on oversight, accountability and transparency. We encourage IOM to take forward the objective of promoting safe and legal pathways globally in line with national competences including labour mobility schemes as part of a comprehensive human rights based approach to migration which also includes return and reintegration. We need to build triple wind solutions for countries of destination and origin and migrants themselves. With an ageing population labour shortages in some sectors and digital and green transitions the European Union will need to mobilise 7 million more people into employment by 2030. While using the untapped potential of our domestic workforce we would also rely on the right talents from abroad for sectors where labour shortages cross all qualification levels. We would appreciate IOM to build on and complement the EU initiatives in this field in particular the talent partnerships and the newly proposed EU talent pool. These initiatives together with bilateral initiatives of EU member states will provide a real alternative to smuggling and human trafficking networks, thus curbing irregular migration and saving lives. We commend and share IOM's commitment to finding and implementing solutions to climate change induced mobility. Such a complex issue requires a holistic approach and sustainable responses in terms of resilience building and early warning that enables people to stay and that ensures protection and dignity for those who move. This requires action on all levels, national, regional and global. We welcome the focus on climate for this year's high level segment and we thank you for the good collaboration during the EU chair of the platform on disaster displacement. The EU and its member states believe that an additional effort must be made to guarantee a gender responsive approach to the internal organisation of IOM and the formulation of projects. We look forward to an updated version of the 2015 gender equality policy and we appreciate the recent launch of the Gender and Migration Research Policy Action Lab. To conclude, we are looking forward to continuing our valuable and strategic partnership with the IOM. Thank you. Thank you very much Ambassador and I'll give the floor to the DG for her comments. Thank you very much and I want to start by saying thank you to each of the regional groups who have provided me with the opportunity both formally and informally to consult with you to get your feedback on various issues including our strategic planning our prioritisation, our budgeting our staffing and our changing our reconsideration of certain policies so across the board I have found that regional groups to be an important source of support and information and please know that it is a priority of mine to make sure that we continue these ongoing consultations and to continue to build the relationship. With respect to Asia Pacific I want to particularly call out the fact that with the impact of climate and with the tremendous number of examples we have on mobility across Asia Pacific that there are lessons that we can take and learn and apply more broadly and also ultimately to ensure that we are starting to build out more sustainable pathways for people while also protecting the rights and dignity of people on the move and focusing as well on ensuring that when migrants are working when they're sending resources back home that that money is done that money is sent effectively with a minimum number of fees so that we can make sure that migrant remittances can go back and support the communities that they are from. I also want to note to the Asia Pacific group their their request for better representation within our organisation is one that I take very much to heart. It's for that reason that we have made clear that the language policy which had an unfortunate unintended consequence of leading to fewer Asian Pacific region nationals being qualified for jobs was changed so that we no longer have that barrier to inclusion in our workforce and it is something that we will continue to prioritize across the board. Likewise with respect to the GRULAC I'd like to acknowledge that we too have taken seriously and have heard the importance of making sure that we are a more representative organization having 4% of our senior leadership staff reflective of the GRULAC is not adequate in this day and age. We are standing up a team to better engage recruit persons from Latin America and the Caribbean so that we can have better representation recognizing that that's how we do a better job as an organization. I also want to thank the GRULAC for recognizing the importance of a collective and regional approach to what has been really unprecedented movements across the region whether it's in the Caribbean where we're seeing a tremendous number of people who are impacted by climate change or in the Americas and recognizing that the number and nationality of persons moving across the Americas at this moment in time is quite complex. I recognize that it's provided significant challenges for some of the communities who have been impacted but despite those challenges I want to recognize the countries of the GRULAC for maintaining a hospitable approach to advocating for a more inclusive and right-space approach to migration and for ensuring that we are not collectively taking a more punitive and narrative approach to the issue of migration. I'd also like to note that we have recently established a regional hub in Barbados to address the particular issues that we are seeing emerging within the Caribbean. Within the African group I want to say thank you for your tremendous leadership particularly on addressing the issues of displacement due to conflict also due to climate change with the adoption of historic Kampala declaration on migration and environment and climate change. We are seeing the seeds of something that will be significant globally not just in the region itself and your model in really driving a people-centered approach to the impact of climate change recognizing that the impact of climate on human mobility is at the center of what will have to be a comprehensive approach is something that will have wide impact not just for the communities that are of interest in your continent but as I've said everywhere in the world I'd also like to recognize your particular inclusion of young people whether it's in the upcoming COP whether it's in response to building out solutions to conflict or climate related displacement as well as the work you've done to advocate for women and inclusion of diaspora communities work that we want to harness to use in other parts of the world I'd like to thank the Arab group in particular for your support and recognize that within the Arab group countries we are seeing a high number of persons who are displaced of course as a result of protracted humanitarian crises but increasingly because of climate impact particularly if those communities are already facing vulnerabilities as a result of existing or post-conflict so having a human centered approach is absolutely key and the leadership of the Arab group states particularly in COP 27 and the upcoming COP 28 is work that is to be commended and work that we are very very pleased to be working with you and your members and finally to the European Union I'd first of all just like to say thank you because the European Union combined with the European Union member states is IOM's biggest donor you are supporting work that is critical across the board across the humanitarian peace and development nexus as well as with regard to migration management and the humanitarian work that you support around the world is critical whether it is in response to emerging crises or communities that are vulnerable for a host of other reasons and our work for example in Ukraine where IOM has the largest footprint of any UN agency is very much with thanks to the European Union and its member states and its work that we are very proud to be doing in partnership with you and obviously our obligation to use the resources that you're investing in our organization wisely transparently and with appropriate controls and we know that you are experimenting with some really innovative solutions to migration including through the talent partnerships and the talent pools and that is work that we within IOM are very very pleased to support to advocate and make work for all people so please do count on us and finally I will note that our gender policy is only moments away from release so we very much appreciate the support of the EU on gender inclusion gender equity gender parity within our organization thanks very much thank you very much Diji and we now move on with our speakers list and we now come to member states and may I remind everybody what I said in the beginning the speaking time is three minutes for member states and I have been told that now there is a clock I can't see it but you are supposed to see it and please watch the clock while speaking because that would mean that we can actually accommodate all the speakers we have envisaged for today which means that we can finish in time on Wednesday with this having said and bearing this in mind I have the honor to give the floor to the distinguished representative of India excellency you have the floor thank you chair for giving me the floor and congratulations to you on your election as the chair of the council and I will try to abide by your time restrictions I see a repeat of human rights council here Madam chair, director general excellencies, distinguished delegates a very good evening to you all on behalf of Indian delegation I would like to thank the director general for her report presented earlier today we commend the DG and her team for the initiatives being taken to energize the IOM and to make it fit for purpose earlier in October this year immediately after assuming her office DG had held regional consultations with member states to ascertain their views and to spell out her vision for the IOM India is looking forward to working together with DG and her team in taking requisite steps to implement the vision and priorities of member states we assure her and her team of our continued support India comments and appreciates the role and contribution of the IOM as the primary global organization in facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration India not only aligns itself with these objectives but also supports various programs, projects aimed at fulfilling them in the spirit of supporting the IOM in realizing its core objectives India has proposed two specific initiatives for the consideration of the IOM and its member states which are way forward on social security portability of migrants and mapping up global skill gaps India thanks the IOM for accepting these proposals and their inclusion in its programs, governance and organizational priorities we hope to make a quick progress as we believe that our initiatives will serve the interests of both global south and global north and will contribute in promoting orderly, safe and legal migration, reducing thereby illegal migration India as we have often reiterated supports safe, orderly and regular migration and to this end it has put in place institutional mechanisms these would be covered in more detail in the high level segment by our vice minister Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Thank you very much ambassador I now give the floor to the representative of the Philippines ambassador you have the floor Thank you madam chair in your election. We know we are in your good hands and please be assured of our full support. I also wish to thank Sierra Leone Ambassador Lanzana Ghiberi for his able leadership this past year. We are of course grateful to the Director General for her report. Madam Chair, complex crisis situations around the world continue to trigger the movement of people. The Philippines felt it most deeply in the increasing number of Filipino migrants over 10 million all over the world, many finding themselves in harm's way. A crisis around the world usually means Filipino migrants are affected and our government will always be ready to be there to assist them and reunite them with their families back home. These crisis situations place heavy demands on humanitarian organizations, including the IOM, each playing a crucial role in preserving human life and dignity. The Philippines' orders resided its trust in IOM and its leadership as they work for the rights and welfare of migrants. Our trust in IOM's leadership also informs our commitment to the IOM Migration Emergency Funding Mechanism, the IOM Development Fund, and the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund. And we thank all of you who have contributed to these funds as we urge others, traditional and non-traditional donors, to also extend support. We stand firmly behind the Director General and her priorities, including institutional reforms, advocating for regular and legal pathways, and continuing to explore the interlinkages between climate change and human mobility. On the latter, at COP28 in Dubai, later on this week, President Ferdinand Marcus Jr. will chair a side event entitled Forging a Consensus on the Nexus Between Climate Change and Migration. And we are very pleased that the Director General has agreed to be part of this event. Thank you, ma'am. In addition to these priorities, an issue that demands attention is that of misleading narratives on migration, recognized by the GCM as a growing challenge. How migrants are perceived, accepted, or included by their communities, how they are used or misused in the political arena, the extent they are allowed to speak and participate in society can improve or detract from their welfare, well-being, and safety. The Philippines and Canada, under the French chairmanship of the GFMD, will be leading the discussions on the roundtable on narratives and culture during the GFMD Summit in January. We also believe that the IOM can be one of the strong advocates in ensuring that this discussion on migrant narratives and advocating for positive changes on the ground continue in the multilateral space. As we are in the midst of our international campaign to end violence against women and girls, we wish to spotlight the need to protect our women migrants, men of whom are victims of human trafficking, subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, or even simply lacking adequate social and mental health support. For this reason, the Philippines will continue to be part of and support gender mainstreaming, empowerment, and inclusion, both internally in the IOM and as part of its operations and initiatives. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ambassador, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Morocco. Merci, madame la Présidente, qu'il me soit tout d'abord permis de vous féliciter pour votre accession à la présidence de conseils et de vous assurer dans notre plein soutien. Nous tenons également à exprimer notre gratitude à l'ambassade d'Orlan Gbiri pour l'excellent travail fourni et son engagement indéfectible durant son monde. Nos appréciations et félicitations vont également à Madame Pop, et nous encourageons aussi pour son action pour atteindre l'objectif commun, de promouvoir une vision commune d'un phénomène aussi naturel que structurant, et ce dans un cadre idoin silhoué de pacte mondial de Marrakech. Aussi allant des chocs aussi exogènes qu'un prix visible, la réponse aux flux migratoires ne doit, autant qu'il ne peut, se soustraire aux réalités et aux faits. Et en ce sens, elle doit être humaine, informée, proactive, et fondée sur l'aide au développement, se reposant également sur la solidarité, la coopération et le partenariat. Si les défis sont aujourd'hui communs, et les constats sont similaires, s'agissant des dynamiques migratoires, la réponse aussi doit être différenciée. Au demeurant, le pacte de Marrakech n'existe que par sa mise en œuvre, et sa mise en œuvre complète n'est possible qu'à traverser l'implantation régionale. Dans ce cadre, ma délégation voudrait saluer le travail central du réseau sur l'immigration et assurer de l'engagement à faire des table rangs des consultations régionales prévues cette année, un réel succès, pour promouvoir l'action, visant à multiplier les voies de passage légal, notamment la migration de travail, tout en contre bien évidemment des besoins de chacun, et tout en mettant en avant le phénomène nouveau des migrants climatiques auxquels davantage d'intérêt doit être accordé dans l'action future de l'OM. Excellent, mesdames et messieurs. C'est parce que le Maroc est un pays de transit et de destination, l'autre des pactes de Marrakech, ainsi qu'un pays champion des réseaux sur l'immigration, qu'il existe une cohérence totale entre son discours sur la migration et ses actions en la matière. Ainsi, le Maroc ne s'est-il pas contenté de défendre le respect des droits d'immigrants et de leur intégration, mais s'est engagé depuis 2013 dans la mise en oeuvre d'une stratégie nationale d'immigration et d'asile, pionnière dans la région, traitant autant des discours du sauvetage en mer de la régulation que de l'intégration. Sur le plan d'un narratif et d'un impératif d'un format de décision dans le cadre d'immigration, le Maroc soutenu par l'ensemble des continents africains a mis en place un observatoire africain d'immigration. S'agissant du sauvetage en mer, et en rapport avec le projet Mission Migrant, le Maroc est parmi les rares pays à disposer d'un référentiel de procédures standard pour un système d'orientation et de prise en charge d'immigrants. Ce projet important couvre l'accueil, l'orientation, la prise en charge, l'accompagnement et le suivi d'immigrants vignurables et des victimes des réseaux de trafic et de traite. Les autorités marocains ont ainsi pu se courir plus de 60 000 migrants, rien contre 2018 et 2020. De circroix et concernant sa politique d'asile et d'immigration, le Maroc a mené deux compagnies en ce sens au profit de 50 000 personnes, 95 en province de notre continent africain et 5 % émanant du monde arabe. Aussi, l'ensemble des migrants présents sur le territoire marocain ont accès aux services de base et notamment à l'éducation, les soins de santé et l'accès au marché de travail. Avant de conclure, je me permets de rappeler que l'immigration constitue un facteur d'innovation, de prospérité et de développement d'érable. L'immigration se déroulant dans des conditions humaines et des façons ordonnées profitent à la fois aux migrants et aux sociétés. Le Maroc continue à contribuer aux efforts de l'UEM, notamment dans le cadre d'éditable ronde régionale à venir et dans la réponse de l'organisation aux impacts croissants des changements climatiques. Je vous remercie, madame la présidente. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Côte d'Ivoire, Ambassador, you have the floor. Côte d'Ivoire, you have the floor. Madame la présidente, la Côte d'Ivoire suscite à la déclaration faite par le Rwanda, au nom du groupe africain. Et voudrait vous adresser ses félicitations pour votre élection à la tête du conseil en vous souhaitant un plein succès dans l'accomplissement de votre mandat. A délégation, voudrait saisir cette occasion pour réitérer ses félicitations à madame Paupe et l'assurer du soutien ainsi que la pleine coopération de la Côte d'Ivoire pour la réussite de sa mission. Aussi, mon pays, celui qui est un peu nécessaire, Monsieur Antonio Vittorino et l'ensemble du personnel de l'UEM pour toutes les actions menées à envie d'apporter assistance à tous les migrants à travers le monde. Madame la présidente, la Côte d'Ivoire remercie la délégation générale pour la présentation de son rapport annuel qui met en évidence la problématique de la mobilité humaine ainsi que les impératives migratoires actuelles. En effet, les flits migratoires ont atteint un nouveau décor du fait de crises multiformes qui traversent le monde, notamment le conflit armé, l'instabilité politique, la pauvreté, la crise économique mondiale, l'insécurité alimentaire et la sécheresse exacerbée par l'urgence climatique. Cette situation qui conduit de milliers de personnes dans l'inconnu entraîne une catastrophe humanitaire à l'échelle mondiale et plus particulièrement en Afrique. C'est à juste titre que mon pays salue la tenue de ce débat des hauts niveaux sur la mobilité humaine et le changement climatique qui nous permettra de conjuguer nos efforts pour mieux planifier, anticiper et faciliter notre réponse aux problèmes migratoires. À cet égard, la Côte d'Ivoire se félicite de l'appel mondial qui sera lancée au cours de cette session et qui vise à rechercher des solutions durables en mettant en profit le potentiel de la migration dans le monde. La Côte d'Ivoire soutient la vision stratégique de Mme Pope qui consiste à trouver des solutions pratiques et efficaces pour tous et surtout la perception positive de la migration comme une opportunité plutôt qu'un problème. Mme la Présidente, mon pays note avec satisfaction le progrès accompli dans le cadre de la gouvernance interne et de la structure organisationnelle de l'OEM grâce au dialogue constructif permanent avec les États sur les besoins et les priorités en matière de financement et de ressources humaines. C'est le lieu de remercier l'OEM pour son soutien constant à la Côte d'Ivoire notamment à travers le fonds de développement qui permettra à le financement du projet sur le développement des capacités du gouvernement de la Côte d'Ivoire en matière de gestion et de mobilisation de la diaspora. En outre, la Côte d'Ivoire s'est réjue de la collaboration étroite entre le IME et le HCR des organisations unisiennes qui contribuent significativement à la mise en œuvre du pact mondial pour les réfugiés et cellules relatives aux migrations sur ordonnée irrégulière. Pour conclure, Mme la Présidente, ma délégation appelle l'ensemble des départements au renforcement de la coopération et de la solidarité internationale. Je vous remercie. Thank you very much, Ambassador. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Sweden, Ambassador. You have the floor. Thank you, Madame Chair. Chair, Director-General, Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates, Sweden aligns itself with the EU Statement. As we will soon celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I would like to begin by acknowledging the great contribution of IOM colleagues around the world that work around the clock in sometimes life-threatening situations to uphold migrants' rights and support fellow human beings in need. We thank you. 2023 marks another year of continuous growth for IOM, which reflects the increasing importance of the organization's mandate and work. In this context, Sweden would like to underline the necessity to continue to develop IOM's ability to respond to emergencies while strengthening its core structures. To this end, we welcome and encourage the further development of human resource structures as well as the functions for oversight and internal control, including work preventing sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. We would like to encourage a continued strong focus on IOM's core mandate to provide service and advice to governments and migrants. Sweden commends IOM's crucial world worldwide under the strong leadership of Director-General Amy Pope. We face a number of unprecedented and parallel challenges in the field of global migration, none of which can be solved without international cooperation. We look to the IOM to support us in finding ways forward with sustainable solutions to address the risks that so many people take in order to migrate. Supporting its members in addressing root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement, including poverty and climate change, must remain central. You can count on Sweden's steadfast support and partnership in all these areas moving ahead. The way forward for international cooperation in the area of migration must entail a comprehensive approach. Rights and obligations must be respected by at all stages and by all parties. This includes the international obligation to protect those in need of international protection. It also includes a functioning system for return, readmission and reintegration that ensures that individuals can be properly returned without undue delay. This is essential for maintaining trust and credibility to the system. Additional efforts need to be made in the area of irregular migration, including combating human trafficking and smuggling, while ensuring adequate response mechanisms for victims. I thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Australia. Ambassador, you have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chair. Australia aligns itself with the statement of the Asia-Pacific Group. And as instructed, I will dispense with the courtesies and jump straight into focus on one area in which Australia and IOM share a deep strategic alignment. We're excited to see IOM stepping up to support member states make their skills-based labour migration programs more inclusive of people with international protection needs. Working closely with UNHCR, the World Bank and others, we encourage IOM to dream big, to look at major migratory routes, determine what needs to be done to make those routes more accessible for people with international protection needs, and work with the states along those routes to design a project to make it a reality. IOM should support destination states to review their skills-based migration programs to ensure they are accessible for displaced talent. IOM should similarly encourage countries of origin to create permissive environments for displaced talent to emigrate through labour pathways. This might include the provision of travel documents, the grant of exit permits, and the provision of the right of return. This might also include ensuring education and vocational training. Opportunities are available to equip people to join the global labour market. IOM should also support the individual who is displaced from their home but with skills and talents to offer to migrate through the promotion of skills-based pathways, safeguards for fair and ethical recruitment and protections against migrant worker exploitation. Growing such pathways to scale has the potential to be truly transformative as a solution for people in situations of displacement, additional to vulnerability-based pathways. It would be a win for destination states who gain the talent they need to meet their labour market needs. It would be a win for countries of origin who assist individuals to find a durable solution, alleviating the burden of hosting and generating remittances to support those left behind. It would be a win for the individuals who can take advantage of a lawful pathway to get on with their lives. We have focused our intervention on this one issue, not to diminish the wealth of important work IMO does in support of member states and migrants, but rather to highlight one area in which we think IOM should be looking to do more. If we get this right, displaced individuals will not have to choose between their vulnerability and their talent, but rather they will be given greater agency to create their own futures. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Turkey. We have the floor. Madam Chairperson, Madam Director General Excellencies, at the outset, we congratulate you, Madam Chairperson, on your election and convey our gratitude to your distinguished predecessor for his valuable guidance during the year. We are confident that we will achieve a substantial progress this year as well. We also would like to congratulate you, Madam Pop, on your election as the Director General of IOM. It's particularly an important milestone for IOM to have a woman steering wheel. We once again wish you success in this important and equally challenging position. Excellencies, we thank the Director General for her comprehensive report and reiterate our support to the work and efforts of IOM under her able leadership. We command IOM's work in addressing emergencies and its efforts in various fields such as return and readmission, regular pathways, counter-migrant smuggling and trafficking. Given the fact that human mobility deserves better understanding and governance, we would like to underline the importance in strengthening flexibility and operational agility of the organization. They are essential parts of our responses to current challenges we face. In this regard, let me extend our gratitude to IOM and donor countries for their support after the devastating earthquakes in our country last February. 528 tons of air aid delivered by 14 cargo planes from IOM's warehouses in Acre, Manila, Nairobi, Lahore and New Delhi helped us provide time support to those affected by the earthquake. We also applaud the Smart Energy Logar System designed at IOM's Resilience Innovation Facility in Ghazi Antep that provided clean water during the earthquakes. Madam Director General, colleagues, we would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to another humanitarian catastrophe we have been witnessing since October 7th. Without doubt, loss of civilian lives is unacceptable be it in Israel or in Palestine. Striking hospitals, schools, residential areas, places of worship, refugee camps are also outrageous. There can be no justification for deprivation of 2.3 million Gazans of food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel. Given the unpurstantied dire humanitarian situation, unhindered flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza must be ensured. It is the collective responsibility of the international community to put an end to the suffering in Gaza and send further humanitarian assistance. Madam Chairperson, indeed IOM has been a valuable partner of Turkey for nearly two decades. We have benefited and continue to benefit from the experience and expertise of the organization. Our active contribution to the global compact on migration is a telltale sign of the importance we attach to our cooperation. We are also one of the active members of the Champion Countries Initiative. Taking this opportunity allow me to reiterate our support to you, Madam Director-General as the coordinator of the UN Network on Migration. Excellencies, for centuries Turkey has been home to those who fled from expression and instabilities, just like today. While hosting the largest refugee population in the world, almost four million refugees and asylum seekers, we are also determined to continue our efforts to combat migrant smuggling and to manage irregular migration. We identified nearly 220,000 irregular migrants and apprehended almost 9,000 migrant smugglers only this year. Today, over 3.2 million Syrians live in our country. There is no doubt that expecting Turkey to shoulder this responsibility alone is neither sustainable nor realistic. We need to work together to find durable solutions for refugees. Focusing more on resettlement and voluntary returns can be significant first steps. We believe that stabilization on the grant is necessary for the voluntary return of returns of Syrians. Turkey strictly complies with the principle of non-refillment and no one is forced to return. So far, over 600,000 Syrians have returned to the secured and stabilized areas that Turkey freed from the hold of terrorism of PKK, YPG, SDG and Daesh. Further joint housing projects will support the voluntary return of nearly one million people. Madam Director General, Excellencies, migration is the human story and an integral aspect of our lives. We should continue to further our efforts in addressing migration-related issues by strengthening our cooperation globally. In this respect, we deem IEM, UN Migration Agency, as an indispensable partner. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Finland, Ambassador. You have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I would like to warmly congratulate you and the Bureau for your election and wish you all success in your important work. Madam Chair, Director General, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Finland aligns itself with the statement of the European Union and its member states and the joint statement that will be delivered by Ukraine. I would like to start by welcoming Amy Pope as the new Director General. We welcome your vision, the people-centered data-driven approach that you have outlined, as well as your holistic approach to tackling migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. IOM has a unique value as a global leader on migration and as an essential part of the international humanitarian system. In this context, we want to thank IOM and its staff for the invaluable work that you do all over the world, often in extremely difficult circumstances. We welcome the proactive approach that IOM's leadership continue to have to reform and develop the organization, and we encourage you to carry on this important work. Strengthening internal mechanisms such as result-based management, human resources, and risk supervision is necessary. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We stand firm to protect the principles enshrined in the international law. We must also fight racism, hatred, and discrimination on any grounds, including sexual orientation or gender identity. Finland emphasizes gender responsiveness and urges IOM to strengthen its work on disability inclusion to make sure it is strategic and cuts across the whole organization. In addition to persons with disabilities, we encourage IOM to pay particular attention to the inclusivity of migrant women, children, and LGBTQI-plus persons through an intersectional approach. Being sensitive to intersecting vulnerabilities and strengthening the inclusivity of IOM's work is also a way to improve its effectiveness. Finland continues to stand up for the rights of person in the most vulnerable situations, including through our domestic migrant integration policies. Finland will implement an action plan to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in working life, such as immigrant women. In closing, we want to reiterate our support to the work of IOM, and we look very much forward to continuing our excellent cooperation. Thank you. Thank you very much, and I would now like to give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lisoto. Lisoto, you have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Lisoto aligns itself with a statement delivered by Rwanda on behalf of the African group. My delegation wishes to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Ambassador Stesch, and all the members of the Beirut for your election. My delegation has great trust in your chairmanship and skillful leadership. We'd like to assure you of Lisoto's support throughout your tenure. We also wish to appreciate his excellency, the Ambassador of Sierra Leone, the outgoing Chair of the Council, for his stelling leadership through his tenure. Lisoto welcomes the insightful report of the Director-General. The invaluable work carried out by the IOM could not be more timely and crucial taking into consideration the persistent dire humanitarian challenges affecting migrants, refugees, and displaced persons across the globe. The positive impact of the work of the organization cannot be overemphasized. Lisoto appreciates the new administration's inventiveness to review internal structures and processes of the organization with a view to supporting activities by member states, aimed at saving lives and protecting people on the move, driving solutions to displacement and facilitating regular migration pathways. My delegation views this as a vital action as it accords with the mandate and vision of the organization. Madam Chair, new and emerging humanitarian challenges resulting from the impact of climate change are on the rise. Lisoto is also concerned with the escalating numbers of internal displacement from floods, storms, wildfires, and other related, weather-related disasters as alluded to in the report of the Director-General. As the impact of climate change leads to more frequent disasters, states and other actors need to intensify their strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change. It is in this context that we welcome the efforts by the IOM in developing and scaling systems that are able to efficiently meet the additional humanitarian needs, especially those brought about by the adverse effects of climate change. The IOM's critical role in addressing serious and complex humanitarian and migration-related challenges and offering support to states is commendable. To this end, we welcome the work done in implementing humanitarian border management activities at the Syrian and Ukrainian border, managing high numbers of internally displaced people in Somalia, and delivering aid to earthquake victims in Northwest Syrian Arab Republic among other activities. Indeed, the IOM is bearing no effort in living up to its goal of being an organization that is fit for papers. We also recognize the role played by the IOM in fostering partnerships with other intergovernmental organizations such as the UNHCR, FAU, UNDP, and WFP among other organizations. This initiative will go a long way in forging more powerful synergies in terms of resources and expertise and thereby avoiding duplication of efforts. The interconnectedness of these organizations with different but complementary mandates in responding to humanitarian crisis is fundamental. Madam Chair, my delegation supports the support that the IOM office in Geneva extends to the regional office in Pretoria and the country office in Massero as this enables the two offices to support the migration management priorities of my country, Lesotho. These offices have over the years helped address the sub-regional and national migration issues specific to Lesotho, including through policy development, resource mobilization, and project implementation. We thank the IOM for supporting an inter-ministerial technical meeting on the transition from the manual work payment system to automated joint resident payment or work visa issuance that was held in January this year. This initiative is part of IOM's Africa Regional Migration Plan whose mandate is to strengthen effective labor migration management in southern Africa. My delegation has the further honor to report of the support that the IOM extended to Lesotho in February this year with regards to activities geared towards the fight against human trafficking. Madam Chair, human trafficking is one of the prevailing menaces of our time. Even though it is not a new phenomenon, it requires new solutions over time. It is in this sense that we appreciate the IOM for supporting a coordination meeting between the civil society and the government of Lesotho with a view to enhancing coordination and cooperation among the trafficking in persons stakeholders as they all have a critical role to play in fighting against trafficking in persons in Lesotho. At this juncture, I would like to conclude by reiterating Lesotho's support to the work and mandate of the IOM. We strongly believe that if member states and other partners could adhere to their financial obligations to the organization, this could continue to shine a spotlight not only on the relevance and value of IOM's work, but in terms of its capability, confidence, and its voice as a leading UN agency on migration. I thank you. Thank you. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Estonia, Ambassador. You have the floor. Thank you. Madam Chair, Director-General, Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates, Estonia aligns itself with a statement delivered by the European Union on behalf of the EU and its member states and with a cross-regional statement which will be delivered by Ukraine. Allow me to begin by stating that Estonia highly values the excellent work that IOM is doing worldwide and the cooperation that we have between IOM and Estonia. Furthermore, we congratulate Ms. Seimi Pope on her first IOM Council as Director-General of the organization, especially during the times of crisis and hardship such as we are witnessing today, the role of IOM as a provider of life-saving support to so many cannot be underestimated. We are deeply distressed about the increase of people of concern to IOM around the world and the dire circumstances millions of people are facing. In this regard, I want to focus on a continuously unfolding strategy close to us. Russia's unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has lasted for 21 months. 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes and to find safety. The work that IOM is doing to support the protection and transit of Ukrainian citizens and residents is invaluable. It is saving lives and its continuation is indispensable. Estonia is doing its best to help by hosting Ukrainian refugees, by ensuring crucial humanitarian aid and launching reconstruction efforts with a focus on civilian sites and infrastructure. The impact of the Russian aggression continues to reach much further, causing energy prices and rising food insecurity and food prices all around the world. Today, we are witnessing Russia's and Belarus's instrumentalization of migrants as part of hybrid warfare against their neighbors. Only through international cooperation will we manage to mitigate the destabilizing effect of the war. Madam Chair, displacement that humanitarian needs in the world continue to raise due to multiple global crises, natural catastrophes and climate change. As the last year's council, we discussed the interlinkage between climate change, food insecurity and migration and called for a new approach. We need to apply the humanitarian development peace nexus approach to address the global challenging that we are facing. Estonia commends IOM for prioritizing response to climate migration. Building resilience of communities and ensuring long-term solutions remain the key in responding to the challenge of climate-induced migration. In concluding, I would like to reiterate Estonia's appreciation and support for IOM's growing role as a global leader on migration and irreplaceable partner in the international humanitarian system. I would like to thank the IOM leadership team and the staff for their dedication and professionalism. I thank you for your attention. Thank you, Ambassador. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Cuba. Cuba, you have the floor. Gracias, señora Presidenta. Permítanos iniciar felicitándolas ambas, usted y la directora general y trasladándoles nuestro apoyo en su gestión durante este consejo y también más allá. Cuba agradece la oportunidad de dirigirse a los miembros de la organización en esta coyuntura. Consideramos que la situación en Gaza hoy es de suma preocupación y las prácticas de desplazamiento forzoso de civiles palestinos promovidas por Israel son contrarias a toda norma del derecho internacional. Esperamos que el cese al fuego temporal deben el permanente y que se dé curso a la ayuda humanitaria que tan urgentemente requiere el hermano pueblo palestino. Cada momento de inacción y pasividad costará más vidas de inocentes. En este sentido, quisiéramos agradecer la labor de la organización en facilitar esta ayuda humanitaria. Señora Presidenta, la OIM desempeña un papel crucial en abordar los desafíos migratorios en un mundo cada vez más interconectado. La migración, fenómeno de alcance global, demanda de un foro como la OIM para el diálogo y para la cooperación. En este sentido, celebramos los logros alcanzados en la implementación del Pacto Mundial para una migración segura, ordenada y regular. No obstante, enfrentamos retos significativos. El informe sobre migraciones en el mundo 2023 y el reciente informe de la directora general el cual agradecemos revela un aumento sostenido en el número de migrantes y condiciones cada vez más precarias. Se impone abordar las causas estructurales de la migración y se vuelve esencial la cooperación internacional para revertir la pobreza, la desigualdad y la inequidad que afectan a gran parte de la población mundial y se erigen como factores de movilidad. Señora Presidenta, directora general, la crisis económica pospandémica, los conflictos internacionales y muy particularmente el deterioro medioambiental, particularmente los efectos del cambio climático impactan negativamente en los flujos migratorios. Este panorama se ve exacerbado por la imposición de medidas coercitivas unilaterales destinadas a grabar la situación socioeconómica de poblaciones enteras. Cuba reitera su compromiso con los objetivos del pacto mundial para una migración segura ordenada y regular, a pesar de los desafíos derivados del bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impuesto por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Esta política busca desalentar a los cubanos mediante privaciones y necesidades violando flagrantemente sus derechos humanos y estimulando la migración irregular y las actividades ilegales que esta trae consigo como el tráfico ilegal de migrantes y la trata de personas. Señora Presidenta, Cuba aboga por un diálogo constructivo centrado en las prioridades de los migrantes. La OIM desempeña un rol protagonico en este contexto. Continuaremos trabajando a nivel nacional con otros países de la región y con la organización en favor de una migración regular, ordenada y segura. Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bukina Faso. Merci madame la Presidente. Le Bukina Faso s'associe à la déclaration prononcée par le Rwanda au nom du groupe africain. Et voudrais joindre sa voie à celle qui l'ont précédé pour adresser sa vie félicitations pour votre élection au poste de Presidente du Conseil ainsi que les autres membres du bureau et vous souhaitez plein succès dans l'accomplissement de vos missions. Je voudrais également féliciter le président Sorbs l'ambassadeur Lancena Guibrié pour l'efficacité avec laquelle il a conduit le travaux du Conseil au cours de son mandat. A l'Android la Directive J'exprime mes vies félicitations pour les leaderships dont elle a fait montre dans la direction d'une organisation aux missions aussi grandes que complexes qu'elle l'a eu. Le rapport compliqué l'a présenté sur les activités de l'organisation mais à relief les progrès réalisés et les défis qui restent à relever. Ce rapport est un appel présent à œuvrer davantage pour répondre au cri de détresse de millions de personnes dans le monde contraintes à migrer vers d'autres horizons. Madame la Présidente le bouquin d'enfaçon de part sa situation géographique est une terre d'accueil de transit et de destination de migrants. Conscient de cette situation le gouvernement a adopté une stratégie de la migration et un mécanisme de renforcement pour répondre à notre ambition commune de parvenir à des migrations sues régulières et ordonnées en vue de latin des objectifs de développement durable. Mon pays est confronté à une insécurité due au défilement de groupes armées terroristes qui violent les droits humains élémentaires de populations et sapent tous les efforts de développement. Cette situation a entraîné une crise humanitaire sans précédent avec plus de 2 millions de déplacés internes dont la prise en charge requiert de moyens considérable. Madame la Présidente au moment où mon pays est engagé dans une lutte acharnée contre l'extremisme violent qui apparaît actuellement comme la cause principale de la mobilité des populations j'appelle l'OIEM à intensifier ces actions en vue de continuer d'accompagner le gouvernement boukinabé dans la prise en charge des problématiques liées à cette mobilité humaine induite par les ex-actions de groupes terroristes. Ma délégation estime que le mandat de l'OIEM devrait prendre en compte outre les changements climatiques les terroristes comme facteurs multiplicateurs de la mobilité humaine et ceux en vue de parvenir à des résultats probants sur le terrain de la protection des migrants et de déplacer interne. Tout à remercier l'OIEM et les autres partenaires bilatéraux et multilatéraux pour les différents appuis j'ai renouvelé l'engagement du gouvernement boukinabé à œuvrer de concert avec eux pour une gestion cohérente et efficiente de migration. Je vous remercie. Thank you very much Ambassador and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Canada Ambassador you have the floor. Merci madame la Présidente. Le Canada veut exprimer ses gratitudes de l'OIEM pour son engagement sans feuilles à aider les plus vulnérables. Nous reconnaissons et apprécions énormément les efforts de l'organisation pour apporter espoir réconfort et stabilité à tous ceux qui se trouvent en déplacement que ce soit par choix ou par nécessité. Madame la Présidente le Canada se félicite des priorités de l'OIEM mise de l'avant par la directrice générale. Tout d'abord l'amélioration de l'accès au voie de migration régulière reste un objectif partagé par le Canada et soutenu par l'impact mondiaux sur la migration et les réfugiés. Nous avons hâte de travailler avec l'OIEM pour promouvoir des moyens novateurs d'améliorer l'immigration régulière et ordonnée. Aussi le Canada se félicite des investissements de l'OIEM dans la gestion et l'analyse des données afin d'anticiper les pressions futures en matière de migration et de déplacement. Adopter une attitude proactive à l'égard des crises et des événements internationaux constitue la pierre angulaire d'une gouvernance mondiale efficace. Nous attendons avec l'impatience d'en savoir plus sur la manière dont l'OIEM prévoit exploiter la richesse des renseignements disponibles. Et troisièmement alors que les impacts du changement climatique continuent de contraindre les gens à quitter leurs foyers. Le Canada a une patiente de collaborer à la recherche des solutions globales et de stratégies innovantes pour aider les personnes touchées par le changement climatique dans l'arquête de sécurité et de dignité. Mme Chair, ensuring that the IOM has the right tools and governance structure to achieve these priorities while also maintaining the capacity to be nimble and responsive to the course of crises faced by the international community are crucial during this period of organizational transition. Canada welcomes the findings of the Mopan's recent assessment on governance and programming. We commend the IOM's commitment to improving all aspects of its governance while concurrently maintaining its essential response capacity. As a co-institutional lead with the kingdoms of Belgium and the Netherlands, we thank all those who supported the process and look forward to the organization's response to the assessments findings. As we work in concert with the international community to impact change, Canada reaffirms its commitment to fostering inclusivity, diversity and humanitarian values in all contexts and environments. In closing, Canada would like to express gratitude for IOM's support to resettle 40,000 vulnerable Afghans since August 2021. We are proud that these Afghans have found safety and are now building new lives in Canada and making important contributions to their communities. I'd also like to acknowledge the IOM's staff's tireless efforts in facilitating and promoting safe, regular and orderly migration and in providing timely humanitarian assistance. These are essential components of a compassionate, pragmatic and equitable global community. In an era where humanity faces extreme displacement and mobility challenges and crises, the IOM's unwavering dedication to preserving and promoting the dignity and agency of migrants in the displaced is not just commendable but indispensable for a better future. I thank you. Thank you very much. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Vietnam. Madam Chair, I would like to join other delegations in warmly congratulating you as the Chair of the Council and newly elected members of the Council Bureau and Her Excellency Amipo on the assumption of the position of the Director-General of the IOM. I firmly believe that under the able leadership of the Director-General and the Council Bureau, our session will continue to advance the work of the IOM of promoting regular safe and orderly migration. Madam Chair, Director-General, Vietnam highly appreciates IOM's leading role in addressing migration challenges and strengthening one management of migration to make migration work for all. We also acknowledge the efforts by the IOM in its role as the coordinator and the secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration. This is the fourth year Vietnam has implemented the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration GCM with concrete programs under our national plan as well as concrete plans of relevant ministries and local authorities. Vietnam has also actively participated in the four-year review of the GCM implementation and is currently preparing for the second midterm review next year. Vietnam thanks the IOM for its invaluable support for our implementation of the GCM with the annual review mechanism jointly established by Vietnam and the IOM. The two sides have also discussed in depth to find solutions and direction to enhance the implementation of the GCM Oceans goals while taking into account Vietnam situation. The IOM has also assisted Vietnam in several programs to improve migration management capacity notably the third addition of the migration profile for the period 2017 to 2022 and the implementation of the Asian migration program framework for the period of 2023-2025. This important support and cooperation have contributed significantly to the realization of the GCM at the national and regional levels enhance the role of migration in sustainable development and promoted the protection of migrants. Madam Chair Director-General Vietnam shares concerns of challenges of migration especially the fact that online fraud related to illegal migrants smuggling and human trafficking is becoming an increasingly serious challenge for Vietnam and other countries. For example in the case of 303 Sri Lankan citizens in the threat in our region many of these people are victims of migrant smuggling. Regarding this case the IOM Vietnam and relevant organizations have coordinated timely and effectively in providing them humanitarian assistance during 2022-2023. Madam Chair Director-General as we have passed the halfway point in the journey to implement SDGs including migration related SDG targets and we are approaching the second midterm review of the GCM implementation. We would like to propose the following recommendations. First we should maintain a cooperative and multilateral approach to address migration issues with the IOM place the central role in strengthening global migration management based on GCM pillars. Second we should thoroughly assess and review the challenges to migration that are currently emerging in various regions including the issues of climate change as we are discussing in the high-level meeting to identify priority measures for promoting cooperation to resolve migration challenges in all aspects especially challenges related to technology and climate change. Third we should continue to promote the practical implementation of the GCM on global scale. We encourage the IOM to continue to strengthen its role as coordinator helping to connect and being partnership in implementing the GCM especially between countries of origin and countries of destination to create a truly safe migration corridor for the legitimate rights and interests of migrants. Before concluding my statement I would like to reaffirm Vietnam's full support to the efforts by the IOM and its member states particularly the efforts of the director general to improve the IOM's efficiency. We believe the long-term partnership between Vietnam and IOM will continue to thrive in the coming years and would like to sincerely thank the IOM and its staff including the IOM mission in Vietnam for those joy efforts. I thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Ambassador. So I have three more speakers on my list and before concluding today's meeting I would like to give back the floor of course to the DG to comment on your interventions and with this having said I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Armenia. Madam Chairperson Director General Excellencies ladies and gentlemen we congratulate you Madam Chairperson members of the bureau on your election. We would also like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Director General Miss Amy Pope on her first appearance at the council in her new capacity. We wish her all the best in her endeavors and would like to assure of our continued support. Armenia continues to benefit from the cooperation with the IOM. In 2022 after major institutional reforms the Ministry of Internal Affairs were established in Armenia which also includes the migration and citizenship service. The reforms consolidated all migration related structures under a single umbrella. The reforms in the course of the last years Armenia has also largely digitalized migration management. Since 2020 the Armenian government has implemented the large-scale housing programs by providing housing purchase certificates to the refugees forcibly displaced by Azerbaijan in 1988-1992. According to the last census held in the Soviet Union more than 500 000 Armenians were living in Soviet Azerbaijan. Today there are none. Moreover Azerbaijan continues its policy of ethnic cleansing against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and has forcibly displaced 150 000 Armenians from their ancestral homes through the use of military force in 2020 and 2023 as well as through a nine-month-long inhumane blockade imposed against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Two months ago the IOM reported from the ground that many of those who sought refuge in Armenia undertook our reduced journeys often walking for days and finding shelter in caves and basements enduring extremely challenging conditions. There were reports of malnutrition particularly among the elderly and among children. On November 17 the International Court of Justice adopted a binding order on Azerbaijan to ensure that persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh and who wish to return are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner. Also a UN human rights expert reported last week from Armenia that he and they quote observed the pain and urgent needs of the displaced population and immense efforts by the authorities to address their basing and urgent needs end of quote. However, the humanitarian crisis of these magnitudes certainly requires comprehensive international assistance. Toward that end the Armenia Emergency Refugee Response Plan was launched in October bringing together 60 partners including a number of the UN agencies. We once again appeal to and count on the international support in this regard. Thank you. Thank you. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Germany. Thank you, Madam Chair, Director-General Excellencies. Also Germany aligns itself with the statement of the European Union. But first of all let me stress that Germany strongly condemns the unprecedented terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and Israel. And we are extremely concerned by the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. International humanitarian law must be adhered to by all parties at all times. We welcome the negotiated release of some hostages. However, Hamas must release all hostages and refrain from abusing civilians as human shields. We express our pain at seeing so many innocent lives destroyed on and since 7th of October. At IOM Digipope our priorities are in line with yours. Fostering regular migration as well as the nexus of climate change and human mobility. We are facing an extremely tense migration situation in Germany. Since 20,022 Germany has taken in nearly 1.5 million refugees about one million of them fleeing the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. And we have seen an increase in illegal in illegal migrants smuggling both in irregular entries and in applications for asylum. Some statistics will set new records by the end of this year. Irregular migration is a major topic in Germany. We have to reduce irregular entries also by improving structures of for regular migration and finalizing the common European asylum systems reform. As only about half of all asylum applications are successful, the area of returns is vital. The focus should be on voluntary return and sustainable reintegration an area in which IOM has been a long-term trusted partner. At the same time, attracting skilled migrant workers that our labor markets urgently need and securing legal pathways for regular migration remains a key challenge. We welcome that IOM intends to expand its programs for the promotion of regular migration. Germany has to become more attractive for labor migrants from third countries by offering pre-departure measures for migrants and refugees to better prepare for their future in Germany. We thank IOM for its assistance in this regard. We must also continue to strive for solutions for displaced persons. We are grateful to IOM and its staff members for always having taken immediate and effective solutions to those in need. With a harsh draw over three years in the Horn of Africa and the devastating floods in Libya this September, we have seen that climate change destroys people's livelihoods and forces people to leave their homes. Working on human mobility in the context of climate change is a priority for us. We appreciate that you, DigiPope, made this nexus a top priority and we support your leadership. Neither the effects of the climate crisis nor migration experiences are gender blind. Therefore, we need to strengthen our focus on the gender nexus in both our policy and programming efforts. Good coordination between IOM and UNHCR is especially important. As chair of the IOM Council and the UNHR Executive Committee, we will be committed to this objective. Germany values IOM as a reliable partner. We have increased our humanitarian assistance funding to IOM fivefold to almost 100 million euros since 2020. With IOM's budget growing, we appreciate your focus, DigiPope, on strengthening IOM's risk management systems and internal oversight. Last but not least, we are proud that we hosted last week the official launch of the IOM Global Data Institute in Berlin and hope it will develop into the Central Migration Data Center within the UN family. Once again, DigiPope, let me express my government's readiness to support you, your staff and your work going forward. Thank you. Thank you. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Nigeria, Ambassador. You have the floor. Merci Madame la Présidente. Tout d'abord, je m'acquite avec plaisir de la courtoisie élémentaire pour vous féliciter vous-même, madame l'ambassadeur d'Allemagne ainsi que les excellents membres élus de votre bureau. Vous avez notre plein soutien pour le succès de votre mandat. Je ne manquerai pas non plus de féliciter votre prédécesseur, l'ambassadeur du Sierra Leone. Comme je remercie le secretariat pour son dévouement et à sa tête, la directrice générale, première femme à la tête de l'OEM, entre autres pour l'excellent rapport qui nous donne une idée au exhaustif des activités réalisées et des priorités de l'organisation. La transparence des programmes favorise un appui plus consistant en termes de donations. Nous attendons avec intérêt le rapport final qui sera soumis au comité permanent en juin 2024. Ma délégation s'aligne sur les déclarations présentées par les groupes d'appartenance régionale et soumée à titre national les remarques suivantes. Nous félicitons, madame la directrice générale, pour la déclaration conjointe avec d'autres chefs d'organisation à Genève pour venir en aide aux civils palestiniens qui sont la cible d'un réel génocide. Plus de 15 000 personnes dans la majorité constituée d'enfants et de femmes ont été froidement liquidées. La destruction des hôpitaux, des écoles et des lieux de cult en violation des règles du droit international humanitaire et de la dignité humaine. Permettez-moi en cette journée de l'international de lutte contre la violence faite aux femmes d'avoir une pensée à toutes les femmes civils de la région qui sont tombées sous les armes. Madame la présidente compte tenu de sa position de carrefour géographique pour être à la fois au coeur du Maghreb et aux frontières extérieures de la CDAO et à celle de l'Union européenne. Mon pays fait face à des flux migratoires importants causés par l'instabilité politique, la pauvreté et les changements climatiques dans plusieurs pays voisins et au-delà. C'est pourquoi l'Algérie déploie des efforts considérables pour venir en aide aux populations locales des pays d'origine en favorisant l'option du développement local. C'est ainsi qu'il y a de nombreux projets de coopération notamment la réalisation de forages pour rendre l'eau accessible des écoles et des structures de soins médicaux. L'Algérie on est trois de collaboration avec les pays d'origine et qu'on sent également des efforts financiers considérables pour mener une grande campagne multidimensionnelle pour lutter contre les trafics et les passeurs. Mon pays qui plaide pour une approche qui respecte le droit international, les lois nationales et surtout la dignité humaine lance l'appel au partage des responsabilités et des engagements de toute la communauté internationale. Les effets des changements climatiques deviennent une réalité de nos jours en Algérie aussi. Les incendies, les inondations, la désertification sont devenues des risques et menaces permanentes. C'est pourquoi la mobilité humaine cherche si j'ose dire à sa climaté. L'appui de l'OEM et des autres partenaires et cruciales à cet égard. Il faudrait à notre avis que l'OEM soit le point focal pour le suivi des politiques et programmes et autres mesures préconisées par les déclarations adoptées ici au-là ou là. Et j'ai en tête le COP 28 qui se profite à l'horizon. L'idée de la mobilité humaine constitue peut-être l'une des pistes à envisager pour assurer une meilleure gestion des flux migratoires. Cependant, mon pays considère que cette initiative ne réglera pas le problème dans sa globalité et pourrait même accentuer l'état de prouverté des pays d'origine de migrants en les privant de leur capacité nationale. Mon pays contribue à la gouvernance mondiale de la migration notamment pour lutter contre le trafic des migrants, la traite des personnes, le terrorisme, le racisme et le discours haineux. L'Algérie, loin de toute agitation médiatique, a beaucoup avancé dans ces domaines. On partenaria avec les différentes structures concernées. Pour conclure, Madame la Présidente, permettez-moi de souligner l'importance de distinguer les différences entre les situations de migrants, de réfugiés et de personnes déplacées. Les causes, les aspirations et les solutions sont différentes. Mon pays insiste sur la nécessité d'un traitement adéquat et en parfait respect de la légalité internationale ont vu d'assurer la meilleure prise en charge possible dans le strict respect du mandat de chaque organisation internationale et en étroite collaboration avec les pays concernés. Merci beaucoup pour votre aimable attention. Thank you very much, Ambassador. And as promised, the last word for today goes to the DG and thank you very much to our interpreters for your patience. DG, you have the floor. Thank you very much to all of our member states who have engaged thoughtfully and providing feedback as we, as you reflect on both the work that we do in your countries and around the world as well as my statement summarizing that work. I don't have time to reply to every member state but I want to address a couple of key themes that I heard emerge from your comments. First and foremost, to recognize the work of the champions of the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration and address the ways in which countries are identifying innovative approaches, new policies, taking stock of what's working and adjusting what's not working in addressing every single objective that is included in the global compact for migration. I want to reassure all of our member states that those objectives remain critical to our work both as IOM but also in my role as the coordinator for the network on migration and in our engagement with our partner agencies in the UN system but also in taking a very firm and inclusive approach that recognizes the impact of civil society, of diaspora, of other community groups that will enable us to achieve a much more comprehensive 360-degree approach to migration. I also want to recognize those governments who are not yet champions but nonetheless are continuing to be advocates for a much more inclusive approach. If you don't mind if I call out a couple that have done some really interesting work of course the Philippines, Morocco and India have all played a key role. Turquia which is advocating for more pathways to address some of the issues even as it has played host to many, many migrants and refugees from around the world. The work that we're seeing from Australia and countries like Germany as well as within the EU and Canada who are increasingly identifying new and innovative ways of providing regular pathways whether it is on the humanitarian side whether it is to ensure family reunification whether it is to create labor pathways be they circular labor pathways or more permanent labor pathways or whether it is to achieve pathways for communities in need of international protection work that we are doing with our partners at the UNHCR and will continue to do with them. We recognize of course that the first and foremost the most durable pathway that now exists is refugee status and so I want to reiterate a commitment that I have made to many of you in previous encounters which is that we will work closely with our sister agency because we see there is a continuum of movement we want to make sure that even as we establish these new pathways for people who are on the move that we don't take away the existing pathways that may exist for persons who are eligible for refugee protections. At the same time we recognize that because there are insufficient pathways for persons who are vulnerable but will not qualify under the 1951 convention the work that many governments are now doing to create those pathways is absolutely critical. I also want to recognize what I've heard from many of you is the importance of addressing the impact of climate change on human mobility and approaching the issue from a comprehensive people-centered data-driven angle. Recognizing that increasingly if we are to use our resources which are being stretched across many many different humanitarian crises if we're to use those resources effectively using data to guide the delivery of those resources is absolutely critical and then learning from our approach so that we are able to either scale up or pivot to other approaches that may work more effectively. So that is something that we will be increasingly doing within our organization and we appreciate your support for that work. I also want to say a particular thank you to those countries who by virtue of their geography are facing additional pressures from migration and flows of people whether it's internally within their countries or across borders and I'd like to note again that this is particularly in the face of insecurity of instability of concerns about extremism and concerns about human trafficking the work that we do to support your governments the work that collectively the international communities put in place to support those governments and those communities who are hosting large numbers of migrants is actually work that is relevant for the global community as a whole providing the capacity for a neighboring country to host migrants actually creates a stabilizing effect across regions. So I want to recognize that if you are one of these countries that is hosting a large number of migrants or who is facing the impacts of insecurity whether it is Côte d'Ivoire or Burkina Faso that it is critical that we as a global community build out programs in support of countries so that we build more stability regionally. I'd finally like to recognize again that there's a lot of innovation that is happening here and this innovation is absolutely critical it won't all necessarily have the impact that we hope but it's critical that we stop continuing to do exactly the same thing we've done decade after decade after decade if we hope to see some real meaningful change so I encourage and I'm heartened to hear this support for a cooperative multilateral inclusive approach an approach that brings in women an approach that brings in young people an approach that brings in persons from the LGBTQI community an approach that recognizes the vulnerabilities of certain communities but also recognizes the strength of including those communities as we build out solutions and I'd also like to acknowledge that I've heard loud and clear the clear that mandate that we as an international organization with an increasing amount of resources to support increasing numbers of people on the move must do so with a highest amount of transparency the highest amount of oversight and compliance while not compromising our ability to be agile and responsive so we do look to you for your support whether it is financial whether it is in terms of best practices whether it is in terms of building partnerships with the private sector so that we can do that effectively and to a standard that meets your expectations but more importantly allows us to deliver the best services the best support to the communities who are most in need I'd finally like to conclude by saying that that's what this is all about while we have the tremendous honor to be serving you our member states we do so in order to serve vulnerable people around the world people who don't often have a voice people who don't often have a vote people who are often the subject of vilification or who are many times treated as less than human so the work that we do here together is absolutely critical to make sure making sure that we recognize the human rights the human dignity of all people that we do what the united nations was meant to do from the very beginning and in doing so we ultimately leave no one behind but more importantly enable the tremendous human growth the tremendous human capacity that is with migration so I will leave you at that because 13 minutes now into your time and I look forward to tomorrow's conversation please join it's a high-level meeting we have some really good engagement and from my own personal point of view we have a really tremendous global goodwill ambassador that we will introduce to you tomorrow and tomorrow's morning session suspense thank you very much DG thank you very much everybody this afternoon's meeting is now coming to an end and this general debate will continue on Wednesday morning tomorrow morning as stated we will start at 10 a.m. and we will start with agenda item 11 which is the high-level segment focused on climate impact on human mobility a global call for solution and with this we are at the end of today's session meeting however you want to call it I wish you a wonderful evening see you tomorrow