 Okay. Good morning, colleagues, dear friends. Shall we resume topic 11 of the agenda, which is the general debate? We have morning from this moment to the moment the next panel, the second panel starts. And therefore, I would like to proceed with the list of speakers. And may I give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Monique van Dallen, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands. You have the floor, Ambassador. Thank you, Madam Chair. The Netherlands aligns itself with a statement delivered by the European Union and adds the following in its national capacity. Let me first congratulate you, Ambassador Maras Pérez, as well as the other members of the Bureau on Monday's election. We look forward to working with all of you. My delegation would also like to extend a warm welcome to the new members of the IOM family, the Republic of Cuba and the Cook Islands, as well as to the state of Kuwait as an observer state and the other observers. Madam Chair, this year migration has been at the forefront of the political debate in the Netherlands, and I'm sure the same applies to the majority of delegations in the room. This is reflected, among others, in the lengthy section on migration in the coalition agreement of our recently installed governments. IOM is one of the very few organizations mentioned by name in that agreement as a partner, which says a lot about the importance our government attaches to it. For over two decades, the Netherlands and IOM have worked together closely on a large number of projects, amongst which are ongoing strong and much valued cooperation on voluntary return and reintegration. Madam Chair, migration has become a bigger theme than ever, and IOM as an organization has echoed this growth with a strong increase in budget, members, staff and programs, and was clearly outlined by the Director-General on Monday. A quick glance through IOM's annual report shows the broad and diverse range of its efforts to assist both governments and migrants all over the world. These vary from regular migration management activities to protracted displacement crises and from long-term development programs to the urgent humanitarian repatriation of migrants from conflict areas. IOM continues to respond to the ever-growing needs and wishes of its member states and of migrants themselves, often in complex and challenging and sometimes outright dangerous situations. The Netherlands wishes to express its compliments and sincere appreciation for IOM successfully taking up this increasingly dynamic role. Concurrently, IOM has in recent years experienced substantial changes, most importantly of course its accession to the UN family as a UN-related organization in 2016. But also the task ascribed to IOM to service the process towards the global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration. The manner in which IOM has contributed to the compact process thus far only strengthens our conviction, which is shared by many other delegations as can be derived from the discussions this week, that IOM, as the global lead agency on migration, should play a key role in the compact's implementation and follow-up. These developments have consequences for IOM as an organization which is still widely regarded as a predominantly operational agency. The Netherlands agrees with the director general's comments that IOM's policy efforts need to be more substantial. A more strategic policy should go hand-in-hand with and not compromise IOM's efficiency, flexibility and can-do mentality, which we believe constitute IOM's true added value. Nevertheless, precisely IOM's unparalleled experience in the field and expertise on an extremely broad range of migration issues can provide a valuable basis for a strengthened strategic policy role. One way for the members to assist IOM in the endeavor to translate its vast field experience into strategic policy advice is by considering the provision of more flexible funding to the organization. The Netherlands, accordingly, already provides softly earmarked contributions to IOM's work on the displacement tracking metrics and for its role in support of the global compact on migration and is willing to explore further possibilities for this kind of support. Madam Chair, in closing, I would like to express our great appreciation to director general Swing for his comprehensive report to this council and more generally for his aim of leadership of the organization. He truly personifies IOM's dynamic character. Let me reiterate that the Netherlands remains committed to working constructively with IOM, including through our government-wide policy dialogue with IOM at a national level in the defining years ahead. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ambassador. Let me turn now to his Excellency, the Archbishop Monsignor Ivan Djurkovich, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See. You have the floor, sir. While it is important to respect the legitimate interests of states, Pope Francis encourages that migration be regarded with confidence as an opportunity to build place and not as a threat within the limits allowed by a correct understanding of the common good. He urges that all those fleeing from conflict, hunger, discrimination, persecution, extreme poverty, natural disaster, and environmental degradation be received and protected. Madam Chairperson, my delegation wishes to stress the importance of addressing migration from an integral and holistic perspective. As migration has not only become a structural component, but indeed a vital one for our societies. The common good and the effort to obtain it cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family. In this regard, as highlighted by Director General in his report, we are increasingly witnessing, for instance, dramatic episode of record-setting natural disasters on almost every continent. In this regard, Pope Francis appeals to the political community, civil society, and religious institutions to join forces in offering a shared response to the complexities of modern migration phenomenon. This is summarized in a document of the Holy See which Holy See has contributed as an official contribution to the process of leading to two global compacts with four verbs. First is to welcome. We need a change of attitude to overcome indifference and to counterfears as a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors and offering them decent and appropriate shelter, personal safety, and access to basic services regardless of their status. Second, to protect. Defending the inalienable light of people vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and violence, ensuring that fundamental freedoms and respecting their dignity are duties from which no one can be exempt. Third, to promote. To promote for the integral human development of migrants and their families begin with their communities of origin, namely the right to find in all homeland the conditions necessary for living a dignified life. In countries of destinations where migrants are enabled to earn their living and fair and free conditions and access to education and basic healthcare of underage migrants is guaranteed by enrich both their host community and those of origin. And the last point is to integrate. At this last point of integration the permanent mission of the Holy See is organizing together with the permanent mission of the Order of Malta, the International Catholic Migration Commission, and the Caritas in Veritate Foundation, a special event today on mutual contributions and benefits integrating migrants and host societies. This meeting will take place today during the lunchtime slot in this very same room. And we are very pleased that our distinguished Director-General will also be taking part in this event. But I'm chairperson. Finally, as we move toward the next phase of the global complex, I wish to convey Pope Francis and I quote heartfelt hope that the two global comaspects be inspired by compassion, foresight, and courage. In the dream of a peaceful world is shared by all. If the refugees and migrants contribution is properly evaluated, then humanity can become more and more a universal family and our earth a true common home. Thank you, Ms. Madame Chairperson. Thank you, Monsignor. Let me turn now to his Excellency, Mr. Deepak, Detail Permanent Representative of Nepal. You have the floor, Ambassador. Thank you, Madam Chair. Excellencies, Director-General of IOM Distinguished Delegates. At the outset, Madam Chair, let me congratulate you on your election to the Chair of the 108th IOM Council. My delegation also congratulates the members of the Bureau on their election. We have full confidence in your leadership and assure you of our full cooperation. We would also like to express sincere appreciation to the outgoing Chair and Master John Metton, Patron Quinn of Australia for his contribution and excellent leadership over the year. My delegation welcomes Cuba and Iacook Islands as new members of IOM and also dominant in the Republic, which is in the process of obtaining membership during this Council. We also welcome the State of Quebec and other organizations who have joined IOM as observers. Madam Chair, we thank the Dark General Ambassador William Lassie-Swing for his comprehensive report on IOM activities, including IOM's urgent humanitarian responses, its results-based approach to implementing the key principles and objectives under the Migration Governance Framework and its deep engagement with the United Nations as the mainstream leading agency on migration. Since its establishment, IOM has been playing an important role in management and operational aspects of international migration. Given its largest field-based staff, policy clarity and implementation capacity, IOM should work in more pragmatic and innovative ways to tackle with emerging challenges in the areas of large-scale displacement and migration. Responses at the time of crisis call for preparedness and multi-stakeholder partnership that works in unison under a guiding framework. The mainstreaming of IOM in the UN system last year and the start of intergovernmental consultations and negotiation process for eventual adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018 are two interesting phenomena with far-reaching impact on international governance, migration and human mobility. Madam Chair, we are soon entering into the GCM negotiation phase after the stuck-taking meeting at Piota Vallarta in Mexico. The stuck-taking is expected to include all elements that ensure the protection of the fundamental human rights and labour rights of migrant workers in all situations and promote safe, orderly and human migration. It will pave the way for a balance and forward-looking zero-drop for the global compact. IOM will have to provide expert advice and technical know-how in the process of GCM negotiation in the same manner it played such a role during the multi-stakeholder consultation phase. Further, as a leading agency in migration, there should be a significant role of IOM in the implementation, review and follow-up of the GCM once it is adopted. All implementation relations related works in GCM should be anchored in SDGs and the GCM and the migration-related goals and targets of SDGs should be implemented in a mutually reinforcing manner. The capacity for involvement of the whole of government and whole of civil society for better governance and management of migration must be enhanced at national, regional and international levels. IOMs should come forward to cater to the emerging demand for capacity building of entities at all levels. These must include the regional consultative processes like the Colombo process also. Madam Chair, migration mostly takes place with fundamental objective of seeking better jobs and livable opportunities while government and managed migration contributes to development of the countries of origin and destination as well as transit and brings a situation of win-win for all. Climate change, large-scale disaster on dissolved conflicts, natural and man-made crises also tend to be drivers of migration. We need built-in mechanisms to address these issues at the grassroots level through partnership and cooperation so that people have an informed choice and not just compulsion for migration when crisis occurs. Strengthening national governance frameworks for the effective migration governance and socioeconomic and cultural integration of migrant workers in the host societies will ensure the sustainable development of all. My delegation emphasizes the need to address the problem of human trafficking and smuggling, contemporary forms of slavery and the people living in vulnerable and irregular situation. Chef orderly and regular migration must be promoted by empowering the migrant workers through pre-information, pre-departure, pre- and post-arrival orientation, language and skill development training, access to education and health and social integration, recognition of skill qualification and certification and informed access to the demand in international labor market, lowering the cost of remittances through availability of regular and safe channels and financial inclusion of migrants also help in migrant empowerment and enhancement of their capacity to contribute more to development. Repeated use of ICT platforms in information dissemination would be helpful in this regard. Nepal as a country of origin of migrant workers highly value the significant role and contribution of all migrant workers in development of host and origin societies and reiterates the need of respecting and ensuring the human and labor rights and fundamental freedoms of the migrant workers irrespective of their status. Finally, we look forward to getting constructively engaged with member states, IOM, international organizations and other stakeholders for further improvement of international governance and management of migration. I thank you all. Thank you very much, Ambassador. I'd like to give the floor now to her Excellency, Maria Nazares Farani-Azevedu, Permanent Representative of Brazil. You have the floor, Ambassador. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me from the outset congratulate you on your election as Chairperson of this Council. Your competence, experience and engagement will guide us through the demanding upcoming year. Let me also express Brazil's gratitude to DG William Swing and the DG Laura Thompson for their dedication and ability in steering this organization during our challenging times. We also welcome Cuba and Cook Island to the IOM. Their participation strengthens the organization and contributes to our common goal of enhancing governance. Madam Chair, Brazil aligns itself with the speech delivered yesterday by Colombia on behalf of Grulak. Migration can generate economic, social and cultural benefits for society. Migrants contribute to inclusive growth and sustainable development in countries of origin, transit and destination. Men and women from all continents have contributed to their culture values with their culture values and diversity to enrich my country. As President Tamar is stated at the adoption of the New York Declaration, Brazil is a construct of migrants and we are proud of it. Against this background, it is crucial that the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration reflect these elements. It should be guided by the need to guarantee the effective protection of the human rights and fundamental freedom of migrants, including women and children regardless of their migratory status and the specific needs of migrants in vulnerable situations. Racism, xenophobia and other expressions of intolerance have no place in migration policies. On the other hand, the principle of non-criminalization of migrants should be a keystone of our understanding on the matter. Respect for the rights of migrants, promotion of social inclusion and integration should be the north of our global compact. These, Madam Chair, are precisely the elements that underpin Brazil's new migration law that entered into force just last week. Without neglecting security concerns, the new law is based on the principles of equal treatment and opportunity for migrants and their families. It also aims at promoting migrant social, labor and productive inclusion through specific public policies. Madam Chair, as we enter a decisive phase of the global compact, IOM will be increasingly called upon to support states in addressing migration issues. I would like to reiterate Brazil's support for IOM as the leading in United Nations Organization on Migration Issues. We are confident that it will rise to the occasion and continue to play a fundamental role in negotiations of the global compact and beyond. Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador. Let me turn now to Mr. Sami Naga, Minister Plenipotentiari of Tunisia. Go ahead, sir. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Mr. Director-General, ladies and gentlemen, I would first of all like to express my sincere and warm congratulations to Madam Mauriz Pérez, a permanent representative of Chile, for her election to chairmanship of the 108th session of the IOM's Council, as well as to the other members of the Bureau. I would also like to thank his Excellency Ambassador of Australia for his leadership and efficiency with which he has led our work of the Council in the year that has just taken place. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. William Lacey Swing, Director-General of the IOM, for his report and for his efforts that he has tirelessly carried out with the aim of reinforcing cooperation with member states, as well as responding to the needs of migrants, and I would also like to commend his leadership and charisma. His laudable efforts are, of course, the result of work of an entire team, which is very competent team and dedicated to humanitarian issues. My delegation associates itself with the declaration made by Benin on behalf of the African group. This session, Madam Chair, is taking place less than a year after the holding of international conference, which saw the drafting of a global compact for safe orderly and regular migration, which represents, we believe, an opportunity and a chance of a real opportunity for all member states and all social partners to look for sustainable solution to these issues. This compact should allow us to reduce a regular migration, pave the way towards a close cooperation between countries of origin, transit, and destination, but also implement new follow-up mechanisms to be able to guarantee and improve the protection of migrants. We believe that the topic of migration and the integration into the SDG Agenda 2030 has allowed us to come out with very strategic priorities where migrants are taken into account for national and regional development plans. With this in mind, we believe that the IOM can play a leadership role in all of these measures and plans, especially with the drafting of the future global compact. We would like to underline the essential role of the diaspora in the development of economic policies, and we do believe that we need to provide a local face to the SDGs by including local authorities in this process. This process must be inclusive, transparent, and member states led. Tunisia has very strong cooperation linkages with the IOM, and we believe it to be a necessary partner, and we would like to consolidate this relationship as much as possible. In this context, the IOM, Italy, and the Tunisian government have just signed on the 26th of October 2017 a partnership agreement for the implementation of the project migration as a resource, mobilization of the Tunisian diaspora, and stabilization of disadvantaged communities in Tunisia. This project, which is very ambitious, aims to make sure that there is cooperation between Tunisians that reside abroad as well as with Tunisians in their own country, and we hope to provide help in disadvantaged areas. We would like to thank the commitment of our partner in the creation of these projects to create jobs and to make sure that we have a solidarity-based economy. We would like to underline that Tunisia is working on the protection of migrants' rights by implementing a system that guarantees equality of treatment between the citizens and foreigners by enshrining the principle of non-discrimination between foreign and national workers. And this is done at the individual level at work, but also in terms of collective rights. We would like to commend the efforts that the IOM has made in the area of protection and preserving the dignity of migrants. Before concluding, Madam Chair, my delegation would like to thank the membership of the Cook Islands as well as Cuba and Kuwait as an observer state with the IOM. Thank you. Let me now turn to the Director-General for his comments. Go ahead, sir. Good morning, distinguished delegates from all of our member states and observers. I want to begin by thanking Ambassador Bundalen for her very kind and overly generous words concerning my own leadership role here. I hope I can live up to those. Thank you very much. This is one of our old relationships, but one that is still fresh and expanding, and perhaps even more so now with the coalition discussions over and a newly elected government. With a strong focus on migration, we've traditionally done a lot together, especially in the area of returns, but we've expanded and moved well beyond that long ago, including a lot of support around the world for various projects, including those involving human emergencies. I'm looking forward to supporting, as appropriate, the new government's ambitious migration agenda and look forward to being in touch on that. I'd like to congratulate the government on their plan to increase their overall development aid budget from $118 million in 2019 to $331 million in 2021 with an effort to focus on the root causes of forced and irregular migration. We will certainly want to work with you in any appropriate manner in the implementation of that. And thank you also for a very strong support for a post-global compact role for IOM as we move into that period beyond December 2018. Thank you very much. Thank you again also to, is actually Archbishop Monsignor Yurkovic, for your presence here today and for your very important statement. No one thank you for your initiative to organize this side event today. We're very much looking forward to that and taking part. It'll be right here at one o'clock in this room, so I hope that many of you will be able to attend that. You have brought together some outstanding high-level speakers for the event and I hope that we'll see a lot of you here. Thanks also very much to the Holy See and for the Holy Father's personal engagement and support for migrants. The Pope Francis was the very first to visit Lampedusa in 2013 and I recall from my audience with him at that time his insistence that we have to do more to help vulnerable migrants and he's continued to be consistent on that point through not only his own various messages but the visits he's made including the most recent one in Myanmar. I want to also mention that he very often talks about the tragedy of the many deaths along migratory routes especially in the Mediterranean. I want to thank you Archbishop for the excellent cooperation that we enjoy and highlight the importance of religious leaders continuing to speak out and to advocate for migrant rights and integration because the moral authority of your voice is extremely important so I think that we will continue to work very closely together as we try to focus the world's attention on the vulnerability of those on the move. Very good to see you also this morning Ambassador Deepak Detail and thank you for your statement. Congratulations and thank you for taking over the chairmanship of the Colombo process and for the good meetings that we've had with you on the we had a special meeting on the Global Compact in September. I think that we are also seeing a lot of support of you your country and the Colombo process for an IOM role in the Global Compact process. Thank you for your support in helping us to resettle 110,000 refugees to eight countries since 2007 one of our larger programs. In fact a program that it now is slowly coming to an end but successfully in Damak, Nepal. I was very impressed with the productive cooperation we had after the terrible earthquake of 2015. Lots of death, lots of suffering but you've responded well to it and the reconstruction process is beginning and advancing well. Thank you for your efforts in labor migration, counter trafficking, disaster risk reduction and supporting migrant health assessments. We're glad to have the renewal of our agreement on the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development for a further six years and we hope to strengthen our cooperation still further with your new government structure of federalism that will be implemented starting in 2018 and look forward to working with you on the regional initiatives including that of SARC to address and advocate for migration and development. Very good to see you Ambassador Maria Farani Azevedo have you back with us here today and congratulate Brazil on its new migration law a very important step forward because it's replacing a very old legal framework established within the framework of the older military regime so good step forward and we hope we can support you in the implementation of the new law. I want to thank you for the generosity that Brazil has consistently shown since the earthquake of January 12, 2010 in Haiti. You've opened your doors and your hearts to the Haitians and you've come up with a very good humanitarian visa scheme for Haitian migrants and this is an arrangement that continues to this day. We're very proud that you asked IOM to support the inauguration and operation of this visa application center in Port-au-Prince which we've been doing since 2015 and it's a good important part of our partnership. We also thank you for the the migration dialogue between your two countries and information flows and more protection measures for migrants and we want to recognize and thank you for the national consultations on the global compact that were held in August with the National Council of Immigration and IOM and very pleased to announce that we several months ago placed our first international chief of mission in Brasília and we're looking forward to expand that relationship and hope with your concurrence to be able to open some sub offices in a number of the major cities of your great country. Thank you very much Minister Naga from Tunisia. Good to have you here this morning. Thank you for your kind remarks addressed to me and to our organization. We share your emphasis on the nexus between migration and development. I want to work with you on that. We've always enjoyed a strong and close cooperation particularly since the events of February 2011 with the fall of President Gaddafi and the enormous responsibility and burden that displaced on you with 6,000 or more migrants crossing into your country almost on a daily basis. I think we've worked together well on that. We also are grateful to you for hosting our IOM Libya office for the international staff at least until they could get back into Libya which is occurring almost as we speak to support our 250 staff inside Libya. So we thank you for that. I also want to say what an honor it was to visit Tunisia and Libya twice this year. I expect to go back to Libya in the weeks ahead but your government has been very helpful to us allowing us to get into and out of Libya on a fairly smooth basis. So we will be now taking some of the burden away from you by taking our international staff back to Tripoli. I would also finally thank you for hosting the global program meeting in October which brought together governments of eight countries, program partners plus IOM, UNDP, SDC to talk about migration and development and policy coherence. Thank you. Thank you Director General. Let me now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Christian Guillermé, Director of Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica. You have the floor sir. Thank you very much. Thank you very much Madam Chair and good morning to all. My delegation is very pleased to be able to participate in this session of the Council where we have debated huge issues and topics and where we have been able to understand the complexity of the phenomenon of migration. This is a migration that hides the stories of millions of people. Millions of these people are living in the conditions of vulnerability and we cannot forget this. We cannot forget the human face of these migrants and this phenomenon that we are speaking about in this Council and for the past two days already. This is a topic that is a huge challenge to the international community because of its complexity. This dynamic of migration has economic, social, cultural impacts and impact in the area of development. For all of these reasons Costa Rica believes that a very robust IOM that is operational and that has a high level of leadership is absolutely necessary. The process of the global compact provides us with an opportunity to decide on a global strategy, a common vision of a safe coordinated and regular migration. This is a fundamental step to be able to incorporate human rights and ensure that there is a human rights approach that is used. Migrants have to be the heart of all of our thoughts and beliefs around this issue. Our road to New York in 2018 goes through next week through Puerto Vallarta where we will start to gather all the different puzzle pieces of this huge and difficult and complex issue. There are many different positions but also many different visions and beliefs on the same phenomenon. This reference and thanks to God I believe and I apologize for any theological references. This is just a Costa Rican way of expressing oneself. We need to be able to have a cross-cutting approach to migration in the 2030 agenda and this is not a small task. Nevertheless it provides us with a common platform and as a fundamental characteristic there is consensus at the heart of the SDG agenda and this is really the main objective of all of our work. Migration in all of its forms should not polarize us and should not put us in counter attacking positions. We need to find consensus. We need to defend the human rights of these migrants that they need to have the right to migrate but also the right to not have to migrate. The way we deal with a migration and include migration in national policies can lead to polarization in the global form. This is why the role of the IOM is so fundamental. Costa Rica sees in this organization the leadership that is required in the leading the process of the global compact. Now for a global issues we need global solutions and a global leadership and we hope to see this come out of the IOM and its team. I would also like to take this opportunity here since I'm speaking about leadership to mentioned that my government has undertaken deep analysis. We have taken stock of this issue in our country and we have really analyzed this organization. We decided to present the candidacy of Ambassador Thompson to the director general post of this organization because of her experience, her understanding of the UN system and because of her leadership that she has already proven. She has had the opportunity to serve under Ambassador William Lacey Swing and they have made a wonderful team and because of transparency we believe and our delegation believes that it is important and I hope that our colleagues and friends of the US will agree with us and I know that they mentioned the fact that they are going to present a candidate and we out of our respect for all the different members we would like to make public our support for her candidacy. Now to come back to migration we believe that it requires a global consultation. We need to see what are all the different elements that need to be included in the global compact and what is the best way to follow up on this global compact. We trust that this organization will do this. We believe that there will not be any duplications and we think that we are all going to have to work together as diplomats and negotiate to be able to come out with the best results possible and to conclude now I would like to mention the speech that was made by the distinguished delegate from Columbia and I would like to echo her by congratulating the admission of the new member states and observer states. Thank you very much Mr. George Podorski, permanent representative of Slovakia now has the floor. You have the floor sir. Thank you Madam Chairperson may extend my congratulations to all newly elected members of the Bureau and warmly welcome Cuba and Cook Islands as the new IOM members as well as Kuwait as an observer country joining the IOM family. Slovakia aligns itself with the statement made on behalf of the European Union and its member states. Madam Chairperson let me express the gratitude of Slovakia and pay tribute to the IOM and its entire staff for an excellent work carried out during the last year in all parts of the world often in particular difficult and dangerous circumstances. The 2017 has not only been another year of migration it has been the first year in the preparation of the global compact. So far the informal consultations have shown the common will to change migration policies and to support for enhanced cooperation in this regard. This gives us hope that we will succeed in having a tool helping managing migration in order to become safe orderly and regular. Hopefully this instrument will bring new approaches beneficial for all. We welcome the important contributions IOM has already brought into the process of elaboration of the global compact presenting inputs to the Secretary General's report, preparing concept notes for thematic discussions, organizing inter-regional consultative process, supporting national consultations with active participation of a number of various stakeholders. I would also like to express our thanks for the support provided to the President of the General Assembly Minister Leitchak during the consultation phase in preparation of the global compact. The valuable knowledge and expertise acquired during many years of experience predetermined the IOM's leading role in migration which after the adoption of the global compact should become even stronger. At the same time it will be essential that IOM continues carrying out all its important functions in relations to governments as well as to migrants. Madam Chairperson, IOM UN membership has created space for enhanced cooperation and cohesion with other UN organizations and bodies. We strongly support deepening synergy which is inevitable for tackling the migration issues in its complexity as an integral part of the agenda 2030. The sustainable solution requires addressing the root causes of migration including through development assistance, climate change resilience capacity building and enhanced disaster risk reduction. Creating favorable conditions in countries of origin will make migration a choice, not a must. For Slovakia the IOM remains the essential partner in addressing challenges of global displacement but also in implementing our national migration policy. Among various forms of cooperation during the last 20 years let me mention at least the emergency transit centre in Humen one of the only two in Europe through which over 1000 refugees were resettled to their new homes. We sincerely hope to be able to continue in operation of the centre in the future. Migration governance based on updated and reliable data is crucial for us. It is again the IOM office that has been since 2009 and trusted to act as the Slovak national contact point in the European migration network collecting and analyzing reliable and up-to-date data on migration to support European commission decision-making. Madam Chairperson, as a part of cooperation it is also important to financially support IOM programs and activities. I am pleased to announce the recently approved contribution of Slovakia to the IOM in the amount of 200 000 euro. Slovak government also decided to contribute 1 million euro into the EU emergency trust fund for Africa which will surely support also IOMs activities in African countries. Let me conclude by reiterating Slovakia's appreciation and support for all the IOMs activities and expressing our commitment to further fruitful cooperation. Thank you for your attention. Yes, yes. Thank you very much. I would now like to give the floor to Mr Jorge Valero, permanent representative of Venezuela. You have the floor Ambassador. Thank you very much indeed Madam Chair. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela extends its thanks to the Director General, Ambassador William Swing for his report and wishes our council every success in its discussions. Venezuela welcomes the inclusion of the Republic of Cuba and the Cook Islands as new members of the IOM. The admission of Cuba will certainly strengthen the work of the organization in Latin America and the Caribbean. One year on from the New York Declaration, global interest for migration has grown considerably while inequality, exacerbated by various practices of foreign interventionism, continues to fuel crises and wars with damaging consequences for peoples and global peace. According to the Director General's report, the world continues to face counters challenges. My delegation notes that one year on from the adoption of the New York Declaration, there hasn't been a considerable improvement in the situation for migration. Climate change, natural disasters, conflicts, the widening economic and social disparities between north and south continue to have a negative impact on the migration landscape. With regard to migratory flows, there are few states that recognize the enjoyment and protection of human rights universally, which must be indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Human rights must be recognized without distinction between race, color, gender, language, religion or political opinion. We condemn the building of border walls, which is an anachronistic, security-based practice and approach to migration, which helps to foster racism and xenophobia in developed countries against migration and criminalize unjustly the phenomenon of migration. Practices resulting from colonialism have generated numerous wars and have taken on a new manifestation in the imposition of unilateral coercive measures affecting the economies of sovereign states and access to services and commodities for citizens. And that situation is a clear violation of human rights. These measures damage the economic and social development of countries and infringe upon the right of citizens to remain in their countries of origin. The non-aligned movement condemns unilateral coercive measures, which are a clear violation of international law and which are unacceptable interventionist practice, which damage peoples and force change of legitimate governments. The protection of the rights of migrants also faces considerable challenges in terms of financial and operational measures. And there is continued earmarking of funds provided by developed countries. In this context, my delegation attaches considerable importance to the preparatory stock-tating meeting that will take place in Puerto Vietta from the 4th to the 6th of December 2017 and the Intergovernmental Conference for the Adoption of the Global Compact, focusing on the fact that the nature of this process must be intergovernmental, transparent, inclusive and consensus-based. The Global Compact on Migration must recognize the important contribution of migrants to the economic development of host countries as we see efforts by these countries to guarantee the enjoyment of human rights of migrants. The development of host countries is a necessary condition for policies for the integration of migrants to be sustainable. When the development of host countries is damaged, then this reduces their capacity to offer those conditions for integration. We call upon the international community to invest heavily in the implementation of coherent policies for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the SDGs and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. We believe that the intergovernmental process of the Global Compact must respond to the IOM's calls to promote initiatives and non-earmarked funds with a focus on cross-cutting and core activities for sustainable development programs in the spirit of constructive dialogue. We call for the consolidation of these objectives. We would like to remind colleagues of the ECLAC summit in 2017 calling for the intergovernmental process to be strengthened for the adoption of the Global Compact, and the agreements reached in the framework of ECLAC are an important contribution to this process. Venezuela supports a global migration policy based on solidarity, respect, cooperation between peoples and governments with the view to ensuring the protection of human rights and migrants. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ambassador. Mr. Francois Gave, permanent representative or deputy permanent representative of France, now has the floor. Thank you very much indeed, Madam Chair. France aligns itself with the statement made by the European Union, and I'm here to welcome the new member states of the IOM and the new observers, and I'd also like to thank Ambassador Quinn for his excellent chairmanship of the Council, and congratulate the new members on their election, including your own Madam Chair. Director-General, your report used for you to record the changes over the past year with regard to migration and the efforts that IOM continues to make to bolster our collective response to the challenges connected with migration. The main challenge is to respond to the human emergencies that arise from the numerous crises. The effectiveness and rapid response of IOM in these contexts are absolutely essential to respond to humanitarian crises, and France commends its work in the most serious crises, particularly in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, in the Sahel, in Bangladesh to respond to the Rohingya crisis. We must also mention the situation of migrants in Libya. France is very grateful to you, Director-General, for having agreed to share your views on this yesterday during the emergency meeting with the Security Council, which was held at France's initiative. All of our efforts will be necessary in order to put an end to the human trafficking of migrants in Libya and the smuggling of migrants in Libya. We need strengthened cooperation with the Libyan authorities. We need continued efforts to fight impunity, and we need to impose sanctions against all of those individuals or groups who are helping to promote these barbarous acts. The cooperation between HCR and IOM, they've organised the voluntary return of more than 13,000 people already. This year must be strengthened. We need to work to address the underlying causes of these problems in the Central Mediterranean, so that the Mediterranean stops to be a graveyard for these thousands of people fleeing violence and conflict and others who are fleeing because of a lack of development. That is the purpose of the initiative launched by France and its African-European partners on 28 August this year, designed to strengthen necessary cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination, consistent with the work already being done by the European Union. France welcomes the partnership with IOM and with the HCR for implementation of that. We must also address the underlying causes of this displacement and find long-term solutions so that people no longer need to leave their countries and homes. What we need there is strengthening of overseas development assistance, and that's what France has promised to do through its President. We've established the objective of 0.55% of our GDP to ODA by 2022. A long-term response must also take into account the increasing number of people leaving their countries because of natural disasters or the effects of climate change. France welcomes the efforts of the IOM on this issue, and we'll have an opportunity to talk about that further this afternoon in the high-level panel where Nicola Ullo, our Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity, will be taking part. We also need to ensure that there is safe, orderly and regular migration and channels for that, and the strong efforts of the IOM in this regard supporting states should be welcomed. Strengthening migration governance at the global level is absolutely essential. The IOMs joining the UN family as a UN agency just a year ago is an important step in this process. It gives IOM its rightful role within the United Nations, preserving its strengths, which are independence, flexibility, operational capacity and strategic expertise. This is an important change at a very key time as states are preparing the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The IOM's expertise on the basis of its years of field experience is vital in this process, and we welcome the use of that, and we also need to ensure that that expertise is used in the next few stages of this process, including in the follow-up and implementation of the Global Compact. As the Global Lead Agency on Migration, IOM has a legitimate role to play a key role in that process. My name chair, allow me in finishing to pay tribute to the work of the IOM staff who work tirelessly in the field carrying out very difficult missions in very tricky circumstances. Thank you very much. Gracias. Thank you, Ambassador. His Excellency Mr. Varanda Paul, Deputy Permanent Representative of India, has the floor. Thank you, Madam Chair. The delegation of India conveys its warm congratulations to your Excellency on your election as a chairperson and to other newly elected Bureau members. We assure you of our fullest cooperation. We also wish to express our gratitude to the outgoing Chair, Ambassador Quinn of Australia and other Bureau members for furthering our collective efforts to strengthen IOM's activities. We take this opportunity to welcome Cook Islands and Cuba as the new members of IOM and the grant of observer status to the state of Kuwait and other organizations. My delegation appreciates the leadership of Director-General Ambassador Swing for his forward-looking approach and for initiating innovative approaches in the organization. We take positive note of his report, outlined under the three core themes of coherence, continuity and change. We also recognize the good work carried out by IOM in the field offices in several unsafe and challenging environments. The Sustainable Development Goals recognize migration as one of the core enablers of inclusive and sustainable development and its multi-dimensional reality. It is important to ensure every stage of the migrant life cycle is informed with safety, dignity and rights of the migrants irrespective of their age, gender and status. While addressing the issue of mass exodus of people, we must not lose sight of the distinction between refugees and migrants. In all of this, IOM as a global lead agency on migration has an important role to play by using its capacity, expertise and experience for facilitating and managing migration through international cooperation and the government and society-based comprehensive approaches. We envisage and support an enhanced role for IOM as the lead agency on migration, especially in the run-up to the global compact on migration and its follow-up, keeping in mind its core mandate and the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of the freedom of movement recognized in its constitution. We appreciate the invaluable technical and policy expertise and support provided by IOM during the consultations phase for the development of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, including the various national and regional consultative processes and international dialogue forums. We request IOM to continue to provide its invaluable support during the stock taking phase, the intergovernmental negotiations phase and in the lead-up to and during the intergovernmental conference to be held in 2018 and beyond. We welcome strength and coordination and collaboration between IOM and the United Nations system and expect this relationship to lead to greater system-wide coherence and tangible benefits, including cost efficiency and effectiveness in program implementation. We would recommend to IOM to embark on a path of assessing and reporting its program and activities on quantifiable parameters based on the principles of outcome-based assessment. An institutional mechanism should be in place to receive feedback from end users and beneficiaries on the quality of services and to seek suggestions aimed at continuous improvement of the program and its delivery. Analysis of IOM's cost of operations with RV peers should be carried out routinely. We encourage IOM to further enhance its engagement with migrants and their families in consultation with the states through innovative views of social media that has emerged as a powerful tool for dissemination of information and gathering of useful feedback on various issues including firsthand information from targeted users in a cost-effective manner. We welcome the program and budget for the year 2018 reflecting the changing nature of the organization geared towards addressing the frontier issues as outlined by the DG and as mandated by member states. India, being a major country of region, destination and transit of migrants, reiterates its commitment to IOM in its efforts towards bringing a humane approach and order to international migration. I thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much to the Ambassador of India. I'll give the floor now to his Excellency, Mr. Ivan Garcia, Permanent Representative of the Philippines. You have the floor, Ambassador. Good morning. Thank you, Madam President. Allow me to start with our congratulations to you on your election as President of the IOM Council and to the other members of the IOM Bureau for their respective elections. Let me also reiterate our profound thanks to our outgoing Council Chair Ambassador of Australia, John Quinn, for his commitment and leadership. We would likewise warmly welcome the new members of the IOM, Cuba and the Cook Islands, and the new observer state, Kuwait, as well as several international organizations, including the UN FCCC as represented by our old friend and former Chief of Staff of IOM, Mr. Obay-Sarmad. The Philippines also wishes to congratulate and express its serious appreciation to the IOM Administration, particularly to IOM Director General and our good friend, Ambassador William Bill Swing, and to IOM Deputy Director General Laura Thompson. There are many reasons to congratulate the IOM Administration and Director General Swing, as correctly pointed out in the Director General's report. The IOM has experienced phenomenal growth under his leadership. We are now a 169-member intergovernmental organization. IOM is recognized as the leading organization on migration with a very large footprint on the ground. Over 90 percent of IOM's 10,500 personnel are working in almost all countries and territories around the world, often in the most difficult and dangerous circumstances. Over the last several months, IOM has provided its invaluable technical support and expertise to member states and the UN, as we all prepared for the global combat for safe orderly and regular migration. The Philippines is the home of IOM's Manila Administrative Center, MEC, where most of the back office work is done at economic cost, thereby reducing the burden on the organization. Our dear friends Bruce Reed and Obay-Sarmad used to head it. Madam President, the Philippines welcomes the assignment of a separate IOM head of mission for the Philippines. For us, the signals are deepening of the relationship of the IOM with my country as manifested by various cooperation programs and activities, including those on migrant health, ethical recruitment and decent work, trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling, and overall capacity building at the local and subnational levels. In addition, the signals to us, the great trust reposed by the IOM on the capacity and willingness of the Philippines to take on leadership roles and to share its best practices and experiences within our region and indeed with the rest of the world. Madam President, we welcomed a tremendous partnership with the IOM as the Philippines co-led with the United States, the Migrants and Countries in Crisis Initiative, MECIC, that produced the MECIC guidelines to protect migrants in countries experiencing crises or natural disasters. The Philippines has also partnered with the IOM and at least two provinces of Canada to pilot test the International Recruitment Integrity System Initiative to advance decent work and fair recruitment principles, including the Employer Pays principle in labor recruitment and work contract models with decent work standards in place. We are hopeful that whatever lessons we are learning in the process could be shared with IOM members as another important tool in advancing the welfare and protecting the rights of migrant workers. Madam President, my delegation also wishes to point out that IOM has established the Migration Emergency Funding Mechanism MEFM to address the gap in immediate funding to cover the cost of responding to humanitarian emergency situations adversely affecting migrants. The Philippines is fully supportive of the mechanism and despite its own resource constraints has regularly contributed a modest amount to the fund. With the IOM Director General's report that there are now eight ongoing level three humanitarian emergencies such as in Yemen, the importance of the fund is increasing. It is in this regard that the Philippines calls upon all IOM member states to contribute to the MEFM. I would like to recall that the Philippines has been consistently and constructively engaged in the GCN process during the thematic and regional consultations phase and its own national and multi stakeholders consultation. We have also been active in the Global Forum on Migration and Development, GFMD and its dedicated working group dealing with the GCN. We are part of the working group that helped prepare the GFMD recollection that was submitted to the SRSG and the co-facilitators as GFMD's contribution to the GCN preparatory process. We have worked closely with member countries of the Colombo process now under the leadership of Nepal for our group's contribution to the GCN preparatory process. The Philippines in particular has finalized the report on the thematic working group on pre-departure orientation and submitted the same as a doable good practice to prepare migrants before they embark on their migration journey. The IOM has been with us in the Colombo process as we begin our work related to the GCN. Thank you IOM. At the national level, we have had our series of sectoral national and multi stakeholder consultations for the GCN. The results of these consultations were articulated in our various statements in the thematic and regional consultations. We thank IOM for supporting our national multi stakeholder consultation. Madam President, migration has been mainstreamed in the Philippines' development agenda. Our national and subnational development plans reference migration. We see this as a good practice and a concrete and doable commitment to pursue the narrative that migrants contribute positively to the development of the country. Allow me at this point to paint in broad strokes our vision for the GCN. For the Philippines, the GCN must rest on three pillars. First, that human rights of migrants and members of the families regardless of migration status must be recognized, protected and fully realized. Second, that the central objective of the GCN are the migrants themselves. And third, that international cooperation and implementation of the principle of shared responsibility of all states is crucial in the success of the GCN. Madam President, the Philippines also sees the GCN as going beyond aspirations. It must deal with the doable commitment. It cannot produce less than what we have agreed upon in the New York Declaration. As stated by previous speakers, the GCN should also have a review mechanism to gauge the process of the GCN. We, however, should caution against establishing new institutions or mechanisms when we already have existing mechanisms that may be utilized and maximized, such as the UN Regional Economic Commissions, the Regional Consultative Processes, and others. For the Philippines, the IOM must play a leadership role in the GCN implementing phase. It must provide technical assistance and expert advice as states fulfill their GCN commitments. IOM mechanisms, such as the global RCPs meeting, could be used as venues to review the GCN. The same could be said for the IOM International Dialogue for Migration, IDM, where whose orientation could be tweaked to suit the needs of GCN review. Madam President, I wish to close this intervention with a non-exhaustive list of ways forward for the IOM. First, the IOM should strengthen its data collection and analysis to a better assist migrants and member states. Two, IOM should continue its efforts towards policy formulation, utilizing its wealth of experience from working on the ground and seeing firsthand what really works. IOM should also be strengthened as a policy organization and not just as an operational organization. They should be done on its own and within its new role inside the United Nations system and in pursuit of our 2030 agenda. Three, IOM in all its actions and programs must guard against becoming overly bureaucratic, inflexible, stagnant, and not cost-effective. And four, finally, the IOM administration should continue to endeavor to achieve gender balance and equitable geographic representation, particularly at the professional and director levels. Thank you for listening. Thank you very much indeed, Ambassador. And I'd like to give the floor now to the Director General for some comments. You have the floor, Ambassador Swing. And thank Director Guillaume for having made the long trip from San Jose here. You're most welcome. Thank you very much for your statement also. We're particularly grateful to Costa Rica for hosting our very important regional office for Central North America and the Caribbean as a vital part of our work. And I'd like to congratulate you on your successful implementation of the Social Fund for Migration and your National Fund Against Human Trafficking and for the trust that you've placed in IOM to help you implement those important projects. We recognize that the humanitarian assistance provided by your government to vulnerable migrants in transit over the last three years has been a great responsibility for you. We're grateful for the sacrifice you've made and demonstrating a continuous and strong commitment to protect the rights of those persons on the move. I would like also to thank your government for its approval and implementation for a plan of action for the National Comprehensive Migratory Policy of Costa Rica and for the emphasis on a non-polarization of the Dialogue on Migration. And I wish to thank you for informing us of your intention to nominate Deputy Director General Laura Thompson as your candidate for Director General. Thank you Ambassador Podorski for your presence and your important statement. We want to thank you for the presence of your foreign minister, President General Assembly, Minister Lacek, for his support and your support to the global compact process because I thought his statement was very important. We value the good relationship we've had for a long time with Slovakia and to the PGA for his engagement on migration. Thank you for your views on the need to link migration and the global compact to the SDGs, which is important for us all. You've been hosting our office in Bratislava now for 20 years. We celebrated that last year and commend you for establishing the Emergency Transit Center that you mentioned, which is vital to a thousand or more migrants who pass there every year. And thank you for your generous contribution of a million euros, which will help us enormously as we deal with the various humanitarian crises that we face currently in Africa. Let me also thank Ambassador Valero for his good statement on behalf of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Thank you for your support of our office in Caracas over a number of years. We're grateful for your statement in which we took note of the different issues that you have mentioned, particularly regarding the global compact. And I also acknowledge the effort that the community of Latin America and Caribbean states took with regard to ensuring a good global compact. Let me also highlight the active participation of your government during the recent meeting of the South American Conference on Migration that took place in Uruguay. Thank you very much, Ambassador Gave of France for your good statement and for France's strong support for IOM. I particularly, I think we're all encouraged by President Macron's active interest in and engagement on migration matters. He's taken a number of initiatives recently and we're trying to respond to those in a positive fashion, particularly focused on Libya, as many of your remarks were also. We think that we have the basis to make some major progress there literally in the weeks ahead and we'll continue to keep you and the other member states of IOM closely informed. If need be, we will do kind of an information morning or an information afternoon as this whole process begins to work so you know at any one time what we're doing. And we commend the government of President Macron for its leadership in trying to find solutions for migrants that are trapped and exploited in Libya. Thank you for your commitment to resettle refugees from Niger and Chad, including some of the refugees currently being evacuated from Libya. We were able to take out another 125 detained migrants yesterday on a charter flight of IOM. I'd like to thank France also for its initiative in bringing up this situation to the Security Council and for the honor you gave me of being able to brief the Security Council on Tuesday afternoon here in Geneva. And I will do my utmost to significantly increase the voluntary returns from Libya in and out of the detention centers. We are very much looking forward and we're very honored to have with us today Minister Ullo who has supported us on several occasions including at the International Dialogue on Migration. He's now in a new position and in a great position to help us on the question of migration, climate change, and the environment, that whole nexus there. So I'm grateful for French leadership on climate change. Thank you very much. The Deputy Permanent Representative Paul from India for your good statement, for the support we receive from you at international and country level, for your support for IOM's road into global compact. Thank you for your innovative E-migrate online portal, your MADAD online grievance redressal system, something I think we can learn from you as we look at new frontier issues in the area of communications technology. It's interesting to see that you have yourself taken in hand the state-led recruitment agencies to ensure ethical recruitment. We'd like to learn more about that and perhaps we can apply it elsewhere. Thanks for enhanced cooperation on a number of migration issues. We hope to be able to sign a memorandum of understanding with you shortly to ensure the smooth functioning of IOM in India where we'd like to increase our presence and our activity. We will follow carefully your suggestions on how we can improve our reporting. We'll study your suggestion and perhaps we can have a further conversation on that as well as the question of innovation to address new challenges. Thank you, Ambassador Evan Garcia, our good friend and strong supporter of IOM personally, and as well as your government. Thank you and congratulate you on your appointment as a council bureau member. We look forward to seeing a lot of you there. Congratulations to your government for a successful ASEAN chairmanship and for this rather remarkable document, the ASEAN Consensus on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. This was done in November just this month earlier in Manila. Thank you for the cooperation we received in implementing the Pomona program that deals with the Bongsamoro Rebel Returnees in Central Mindanao, an ongoing challenge for you and ourselves. We will sustain our partnership with the various agencies there. Your support for MIKIC is well known and we look forward to that. That's a real tool now that we can all use. Thank you for hosting our migration, sorry, our Manila Administrative Center, the MAC, which is now almost twice the size of the headquarters. It's a great example of what you can do with decentralization and delocalization. And in terms of using your money well, as member states, let me say that that center in Manila saves your organization about $20 million a year and we will continue to deploy elements of our headquarters to Manila and to Panama. It's a smaller center, but those two centers are extremely efficient operations. So let me with that conclude and thank you for a very good statement. That was my last one on this group. Thank you. Thank you, Director General. Let me turn now to His Excellency Dr. Karar El-Tohami, Secretary General, Secretary to the Sudanese working abroad. You have the floor, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair. Your Excellency Director General William Swing, Deputy Director General Laura Thompson, Distinguished Delegates. At the outset, let me affirm Sudan's stance in aligning itself with the statement presented by Ghana on behalf of the EU. And let me congratulate the State of Cuba, Quick Island and Kuwait on their new status with the IOM family. And extend my warm congratulations to you, Madam Chair and the members of the board for your election to lead this highly esteemed council and avail myself of this opportunity to commend IOM for its pivotal evolution of its relation with the United Nations. IOM, since its inception before six decades, has been dedicated resiliently and focusing in serving needy people on the move. This deserving inclusion in the system will offer more importance for its operation around the world. Madam Chair, Sudan appreciates the durable sustained cooperation with IOM. In this regard, my delegation extend a very heartfelt and special attribute to Director General Ambassador Swing, who has been all the time very receptive and responsive to our technical needs in Sudan to manage migration for the utmost benefit of migrants and their societies. This leadership for you strong ties with our country and to this effect, our cooperation with IOM brought to the existence and made of programs including Flagship Research Center, which is the first facility of its kind in the region, serving now as the more major think tank for all national institutes working in the realm of migration at the national level. And we plan to upgrade it to the regional training center for migration and development, focusing on investment and economic inclusion of migrants and their communities, remittances and their added values. And second, we work together with joint task force with legal competencies of IOM to enact the first anti-trafficking law in the country, which changed the whole landscape of law enforcement and institutional engagement in Sudan. And third, we work also in the migration, we established the migration profile, we published migration profile, which was the first one in the region to map and screen the migration trends in modalities in Sudan. All this adding to the intense engagement of IOM in arrays of humanitarian activities covering different areas in Sudan. Madam Chair, migration is described by Ambassador Swing as inevitable, necessary and desirable. Having such an optimistic outlook on migration, we must save no result to shape migration and maintain it in the best form and substance. This will be achieved only through focusing on economic and social disparities, which are the major root cause of adversities and social abheavals pertaining to migration. People always gravitate from the low power and impoverished societies to the high-rich and prosperous ones. Equality is the panacea to cure the suffering and change the gloomy sphere of migration and render this move safe, orderly and regular. This requires a new perspective and paradigm shift in most of the current rhetoric on migration or migration rhetoric to bridge the gap and mitigate the horrible differences between societies across the globe. In a nutshell, we need to strengthen our cooperation with IOM in the following five areas. Migration, economics, including SMEs, technical assistance and the remittances, inclusion in the value chain and establishing the training center for this purpose. And second, knowledge transfer through brain circulation and extremities transfer. We have a lot of success stories to share in this regard. And also, we remind you of Khartoum process, which is a convention between EU and EU, which is being headed by EU to curb the irregular migration where Sudan became the most used corridor for the transit, trafficking and irregular migrants from the most populated countries in the region of the East and Central Africa. And reintegration of Sudanese returnees from Libya and Saudi Arabia, where we already received more than 100,000 returnees, and the prospect will exceed threefold this number. We appreciate the effort exerted by IOM and the program planned by the EU for a huge resettlement project for the returnees. We need more work on this. And the last thing which you have been doing with IOM is developing and upgrading our research facility and try to network it with the research syndicate coordinated by IOM to conduct research on the essential areas of migration. The last word, maybe we invited Mr. William Swing. We actually extended this invitation since 2009, and still we hope that he will come to Sudan. You are welcome, Mr. Swing, anytime. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. His Excellency, Mr. Ramon Morales Quijano, now has the floor, Prevent Representative of Panama. You have the floor, sir. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Panama would like to congratulate you on your election to chairmanship as well as to all the new members of the Bureau. We would like to offer our entire support for this council session of the IOM, be as fruitful as the one that we had under Ambassador John Quinn. Madam Chair, I have the honor of making the following statement on behalf of the Human Security Network, which is a cross-regional network that includes Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand, and my own country, Panama, and with South Africa as an observer state. Since this is a text that has been given to me in English, I would like to ask your permission to now read it in English. The Human Security Network is an informal group of states that promotes the integration of the human security approach in policies and programs at international, regional, and national levels. I would like to congratulate the Bureau for their coordination that led to another successful session of the IOM Council, and on that note, we would like to congratulate the IOM on the occasion of its first anniversary of integration into the UN system as a related organization. I would also like to commend the Director-General and his team for the organization of timely panel discussions and his important role jointly with a special representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration towards a global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration. International migration is a growing phenomenon that needs to be addressed globally, taking into consideration the reality of migrants, their needs, and the challenges that they have to face and are exposed to, but at the same time taking into consideration the needs and integration possibilities of receiving countries as well. In order to capitalize on the many benefits that regular migration can offer and minimize the risks of migrants are exposed to, the international community must focus its efforts on collaborating across sectors and institutions, as well as on addressing the root causes and the underlying drivers of irregular migration that force people to move. The comprehensive prevention oriented and context specific approach of human security can help to draw attention to current emerging and future risks at the local and national level and call for proactive responses to stem crisis that may lead to large involuntary movements of people. Paying greater attention to the needs and vulnerabilities at the community level can support the development or strengthening of early warning systems and guide pre-emptive resilience building responses that reduce the likelihood of larger crisis developing. Madam Chair, migrants can find themselves even more vulnerable when relocating to areas prone to natural disasters or conflicts. Moreover, climate change and disasters can be a key driver in human mobility. The application of the human security approach can help national and local governments identify varying levels and types of vulnerability among local populations in order to develop comprehensive yet targeted strategies that account for the specific needs of both diverse communities and vulnerable groups within these communities. Doing so can help reduce the human economic and social costs of such crisis and prevent or mitigate further forced migration and displacement. A methodological framework such as the human security approach can facilitate actions that are needed in order to advance safe orderly and regular migration. Therefore, it is crucial to provide support to and expand the application of existing and proven mechanisms such as the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security that provides a framework for comprehensive, integrated, people-centered, and preventive action. The Human Security Network believes that special attention should be paid to ensure human security and is convinced that human dignity and respect for the human rights of migrants as well as the local population should be at the heart of our action. Thank you very much, Madam President. Thank you very much, Sir Ambassador. I would like to thank the delegations for their statements made this morning. The general debate will continue this afternoon. Now, before moving on to the next item of the agenda, which is our panel, which will take place this morning, I wanted to go back to item number 10, point D of the agenda, that, as you remember, pertains to resolutions that still must be adopted. As we already mentioned on Tuesday afternoon, the draft resolution in document C slash 108 to slash L slash 18 slash revision one was distributed yesterday. And we would like to remind you that we had a round of consultations regarding this draft resolution. This was done in the working group, IOMUN Relations, which is chaired by Ambassador John Quinn. I understand that we have reached consensus on this draft resolution, C 108 L 18 revision one. And I would like to now see if there are any additional comments or observations by the council on this draft resolution. Thank you very much. I can see that there are no additional comments on this draft resolution, and therefore I declare this draft resolution adopted. Now, regarding the draft resolution CL 19, we are still in consultation, and I understand they still have not been able to finalize these consultations, and therefore we will look at this later on. Therefore, I would now like to take a break for a few minutes. So let us take just a few minutes break to rest, that's right, to then move on at 12 p.m. to the panel discussion, to understand migration in a more increasingly interconnected world. Now, the speakers that are on this morning, we will have this panel discussion, and then we will continue at 3 p.m. this afternoon with the general debate. Thank you very much. Distinguished delegates, dear colleagues, welcome back from the break. This is a very important segment of our council meeting this week, and I'm particularly proud to be able to moderate this session because this is all about what we call our flagship publication, the World Migration Report, and I think you'll shortly receive a copy of this fairly weighty tome, and I think one of the most interesting and important World Migration Reports that we've done since we started producing these in the year 2000. It speaks to the question of how we make sense of migration in an increasingly interconnected world that often seems very disconnected to us. So I think you'll find this volume very interesting. We have a group of very, very qualified and imminent speakers here. Let me first make a few, very few brief remarks because you're here to hear the speakers. You've probably heard enough of me already today, but I would like to set the scene by reminding us all again that we are living in a world on the move and that we, more than any other time in history, migration has become part of our life in a more conscious way than perhaps in the past. It is the quintessential cross-cutting issue, and I'm very fond of IOM's mandate. I think it's the best mandate in the European, in the entire UN family because literally migration touches everything, and there's very little that we cannot do under that mandate if member states or migrants find it necessary. So I won't give you the figures again. You've had all the figures about the billion people on the move, et cetera. But what is clear is, but is now being covered over by a very poisonous climate, is that migration historically has always played a significant role in improving lives of people, whether in their home society or their host society. Migrants are development agents, and I have never understood the debate in New York at the UN about whether there is or is not a nexus between migration and development. Of course there is. We see it every day. So as far as I'm concerned, the debate is over. Okay. Take the 3.3 percent of the world, which consists of international migrants. If we listen to the McKinsey Global Institute's latest report, and it's gotten the attention of all the migration scholars and gurus, they tell you 3.3 percent of the world's population, migrants, produce 9 percent of global GDP, which is 4 percent more than they would have produced if they stayed home. So I, as far as I'm concerned, that is a key point, that migrants are development agents. Now it's not just a question also, people are, yes, remittances are important, and yes, 429 billion U.S. dollars go back to developing countries every year. That's important, and that is a contribution, but they're making social remittances the talent they bring back. We always hope that every migrant who decides to return home will either bring back an enhanced skill or a new skill or money to invest. And there's absolutely no contradiction between being totally integrated in the local society, host society, and being an active member of the diaspora. We're talking about brain circulation. Second point, migrants in crisis, we have to be particularly attentive to them because we have the largest number of migrants along vulnerable pathways and facing trouble, about 66 million that we've had since the Second World War. Third and final point is the emphasis of the World Migration Report is on the contribution of migrants, the contribution of the World Migration Report to migrants and migration policy. We've done these reports now since 2000. This is one of the most important ones we've done. It's taken on heightened importance in a period of information overload, fake news, where you don't know what to believe. This I think you can take as something that you really can work on. This report is designed to demystify and demythologize migration based on evidence and facts. So we acknowledge here the continuing emphasis on migrants' rights in paying closer attention to migrants in need of assistance. So let me close off quickly there and start by introducing, first of all, particularly pleased and honored to have Ambassador Sarah, a personal friend, and a great friend of IOM. Thank you, Ambassador, for your support and we'll come back to you very shortly looking forward to having your insights and grateful for the time you've taken and the honor you've given us of being with us. But I'd like to ask my colleague Ms. Marie McAuliffe and Dr. Ruse to give us a brief overview of what we're talking about in this volume, which I guess you'll get shortly, right? You'll receive this shortly. Thank you. So over to you, Marie. Thank you very much indeed, Director-General, for that warm welcome and elucidating discussion on migration generally. It's an absolute privilege to be able to address the 108th session of IOM Council on the new World Migration Report. We wish to thank the Director-General and IOM Senior Leadership Team for their leadership of this body of work, for their strong support of and commitment to building the evidence base on migration, as a means to inform effective policy and practice, and the World Migration Report as part of this evidence base. We would also like to thank Ambassador Sarah for being on the panel today, as well as Deputy Permanent Representative Lucquia, who has at the last minute stepped in. So thank you very much indeed. We'd also like to thank the many practitioners, the scholars, IOM colleagues who contributed to the final report. It's a highly collaborative process and we are very grateful for their input. Let me start by saying that this World Migration Report has been written for you and it's been written for the people that work for you, for the policy officers, for the research assistants, for the visa officers, the consulate staff and the media and communication specialists, the ones who work for you and advise you and your governments. It's also been written for migration practitioners working to support and assist migrants out in the field, including those who have been displaced. It's been written for the researchers and the students too, for master students for example, studying migration at universities in Oslo, in Washington D.C., in Dhaka, in Kuala Lumpur, in Buenos Aires in Shanghai, as well as the many thousands of people studying migration elsewhere around the world. And it's also been written for people beyond these groups who want to learn more about migration and about migrants. This is an awfully lot of people, all with different needs and different levels of knowledge of migration, but such is the readership of information and analysis on migration these days. As we know all too well, interest in migration continues to increase and so we have sought to strengthen our World Migration Report series so that it's better suited to meet the needs of a growing readership. This new World Migration Report is the ninth in the series but it's the first to be published as a revitalized series. As the organization's flagship publication, the new series has been designed for its wide readership in a way that brings together both current information on migration trends and dynamics, as well as analysis of some of the more topical and complex migration issues. There we go. In revising the World Migration Report series we recognize the importance of partnerships and of the need to complement IOM's programmatic, its operational and technical work and expertise with that of other practitioners as well as migration policy scholars. This has been done through a number of means including co-editing, including co-authoring, as well as a review of the draft report by experts prior to finalization. We're also mindful of expectations. This is the first World Migration Report of course as the UN Migration Agency and we take that responsibility very seriously. We have been very focused on needing to ensure the report content is accessible, that it's balanced, that it's relevant and it makes a strategic contribution, including by offering a two part structure, which we'll talk through in a moment. We've also focused too on accessibility in terms of a digital platform and we've developed a World Migration Report, very simple actually, web page which enables people to download different chapters and different levels of material according to their needs. There we go. This is the table of contents equivalent of the World Migration Report 2018. Part one is on key data and information on migration. There are three substantive chapters in part one. It looks a lot smaller than part two, but in actual fact it is half because there is a lot to say about a global overview of migration and migrants. We talk about regional dimensions and developments and we go into research and analysis and as our Director-General mentioned earlier, in an era of fake news and information overload, this is particularly important and this will help us in our work that's designed that way. I will quickly take us through part one and then my co-editor, esteemed colleague, Professor Ruiz, will take us through part two to give you an overview. Future editions of the World Migration Report are expected to cover salient issues in part two. They will change from report to report. Part one will essentially remain pretty much the same and it will be in updates, but part two can cover a whole range of different issues such as environmental migration. There might be issues coming about migrant health. There might be areas that we need to look into in regards to counter smuggling and trafficking and looking at the state of play and the current evidence and what it means for policy. So we've got some flexibility in terms of part two, knowing that they are also fairly succinct chapters. We don't have time to read a 250 page report on one topic. These are designed to enable policymakers and practitioners get the latest evidence, the latest information on a specific topic. Now in terms of part one, the first substantive chapter is a global overview. It provides global data and trends on international migrant stocks as well as international migration flows. There's a discussion of some specific migrant groups, but we've also incorporated, and this is a fairly new thing, incorporated IOM programmatic and operational data, including on assisted voluntary return, including on the work that IOM does in regards to resettlement. We're not arguing that this is representative, that it's not global in nature, but it gives you a very good idea of how IOM's work fits into the changing nature of international migration. Chapter three is a fairly substantive chapter. Let me just say it is an overview of the key migration statistics by region. So it is a cascade effect. We look at the global picture in regards to international migration and migrants, and then we actually look at the regional dimensions. We cover the six world regions as determined by the United Nations, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, as well as North America and Oceania. We provide key statistics at the regional level, and then we provide descriptions, narrative descriptions on key features and developments at the regional and sub-regional levels. We know that migration dynamics is heavily related to geography, so we go into discussions on particular sub-regions, and it depends on what's going on within that sub-region as to whether we highlight labour migration and remittances, irregular migrations, smuggling, displacement, it depends on the sub-region. Finally, for part one, we have provided a substantive chapter on migration research and analysis. This chapter really provides the last two years of written information and analysis on migration. It looks at some of the big producers, academia, governments, intergovernmental organisations and think tanks. We look at key contributions, we look at growth over time, which has been very significant, and we look at the relative strengths and weaknesses and how different producers publish material. We also explore opportunities for further leveraging policy and practice and how the two spheres can work together, and we encourage that. Critically assessing the material in terms of rigour, in terms of its trustworthiness, in terms of its relevance, is very useful for us in our work when we're drawing upon the growing body of published research and analysis on migration. It's particularly important given that in rapidly evolving research and publishing environments, the prevalence and reach of succinct analysis in the forms of things like blog articles, for example, is on trend to increase. Finally, I would like to suggest that overall part one of the report has been provided as a reference. It's something to dip into and to refer to as you go about your work, assisting migrants, formulating policy, advising governments and others. It's intended to very much support people working on migration, as well as people who are studying migration and maybe future leaders on migration. Just before I hand over to Professor Ruz, it's worthwhile recalling comments made by Ambassador Quinn in the opening session, and he referred to the values that are placed on IOM in terms of its agility, how it operates in a low-cost environment and operates on a problem-solving basis. And I would just like to finally reassure you that that extends to research and analysis and producing the World Migration Report too. We have been very grateful to the governments of Italy and the governments of Norway for their financial support, but we do work in a tight environment and we are constantly working on how to produce the best material with our partners, with our colleagues in academia and practitioners, in the most effective and the most efficient manner. I'll hand over now to Professor Ruz, and he can take us through part two. One of the reasons that we wanted Ms. McCullough to be head of our Migration Research Division was because of her 20 years of experience as a migration specialist in many manifestations of that, migration practitioner, program manager, senior official, and scholar. And one of the things she's done is to get us a good partner in Dr. Martin Ruz from Oxford. So Martin, it's a pleasure to welcome you here. Dr. Ruz is the associate professor of political economy at Oxford University and the co-editor, as Marie mentioned with the World Migration Report. His research focuses primarily on economics and politics of international labor migration with a strong international comparative dimension. So Dr. Ruz, it's a pleasure and honor to have you here. You have the floor. Thank you very much. It's a great pleasure to be here. Thank you, Director General Swing, for the introduction. And I would like to thank the IOM for giving me the opportunity to co-edit this report. And in particular, I'd like to thank Marie on my right for doing this job with me. It's been, as Marie mentioned, it has been a big collaborative project with a large number of researchers and experts contributing from around the world. So we are very grateful to everybody who has worked long and hard to make this publication possible today. As Marie mentioned, chapter part two of this report is meant to be a flexible part that will change with each new and upcoming World Migration Report in the future. It includes a series of chapters authored externally, so to speak, by academics and researchers from all around the world. And the chapters discuss what we have called complex and emerging migration issues. Now, the choice of the topics is necessarily selective and to some extent subjective. However, what is common to all the chapters is that they speak to what we think are some of the most important and prominent migration issues and debates today. They all deal with complex issues. Now, many of you will know that academics always say the world is very complex and we need to think long and hard. But it is, of course, true today that many of the public debates that we see are highly simplified and effective policies are undermined by a view of migration that is not nuanced enough. So all the topics in this second part deal with complex issues that cannot be solved or addressed easily. There's no one magic solution. So what we try to do with these chapters is to contribute to debates in three ways. So the chapters, each chapter, first of all, identifies what the key issue and policy challenge is. And a lot of debates that we have, of course, are problematic because we disagree on the nature of the problem, nature of the issue. So I think if we can agree and clarify what the issue is, that is already a huge step forward. Secondly, each chapter brings to bear some of the relevant research and analysis that might be helpful to addressing the challenge. So we include research and review research from around the world, but we also use a large number of real-world examples and illustrations from different areas of the world that bring alive the issues that we talk about. And we've taken great care to draw from examples from all around the world. And thirdly, the chapters discuss the implications for policy debates. Now, the chapters are not meant to be and they are not prescriptive. They're not saying they're not proposing a solution to some of the issues, but they're meant to be informative and stimulating. And really, the emphasis is very much on trying to better understand the issue, better understanding the dynamics of the problem in order to then facilitate a more systematic debate of these very contested issues. Now, as Mari mentioned, all the chapters are downloadable individually. And in a way, they're all fairly self-contained. However, I'd just like to highlight two key themes in a way that run through the chapters. And they're both obvious points in some ways, but they're frequently forgotten in policy debates, so I think it's worth emphasizing them. Now, one key issue that comes up again and again is the importance of recognizing the many variations in migration and its impacts and policy responses across space, so across different countries, across demographic groups, and across different levels of government. For example, if you want to discuss a common policy, a global policy, of course it is very important to understand, agree on what the policy variations across borders are and what that means for trying to come up with a common approach. And the second key issue that runs across is the issue of interconnections between, across space, so immigration, immigration transit countries, for example, interconnections between different types of migration, labor migration, refugee student migration, interconnections between migration and wider public policy issues. One of the points that I make in almost any public policy forum is the importance of not discussing migration in isolation of other public policy issues. If we talk about migration, we have to talk about labor markets, we have to talk about development, we have to talk about lots of other issues. So what the report does is try to make these linkages in a very explicit way. So in the few minutes that remain, I will just very briefly give you an overview of what is in part two of the report. Now, chapter five deals with global migration governance, and I'm not going to read out what's on the slide. You can see the kinds of issues that are covered in this report. I will just say that the chapter provides a fairly frank and objective analysis of the barriers to greater global governance and the opportunities. I think we agree that governance in the area of migration is much more limited than in some other aspects of globalization, such as trade. However, in recent years, there has been a lot of progress. There has been stepwise progress. Many people argue that migration is an inherently global issue. Therefore, it follows that we need more global governance. Well, this is true to some extent. Of course, we need to work harder than that. So the report in this chapter goes beyond that statement and analyzes which specific issues lend themselves to global governance. Where can global governance really make a difference in a way that also benefits individual member states and not just the world community as a whole? Chapter six is, I think, a very innovative chapter that looks at the relationships between transnational connectivities, especially advances in telecommunication technologies and mobility and migration. We all know that we have lived through huge changes in transportation technology, telecommunication technology, the rise of smartphones, and these changes have had important implications for migration processes and different migration actors. So what this chapter does is really discuss what do these changes mean for migrants themselves, for example, in the way they access information, in the way they move around the world in terms of the decisions they make. What do these changes mean for non-state actors, such as civil society, but also for smugglers? And what do these changes mean for states in their efforts to control and manage migration? And the chapter gives examples based on research findings that critically discusses all these implications. There's one chapter that makes the important point that really, to understand migration in a more comprehensive way and to have more effective policies, we really need to understand migration from migrants' perspectives. I'm an economist and economists are probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to making assumptions about the behavior of migrants. Migrants move in response to wage differences, for example. But of course, we know that migrants are active actors. They make decisions. Even among types of migration that are often classified as forced migration, there's often an element of choice. There's a spectrum of agency at different types of constraints that migrants have when they leave their countries in the transit country and in the country of destination. So what this chapter does is highlight the importance at looking at the decisions that migrants make and at better understanding what these decisions and these processes mean for policy making. Chapter eight looks at media reporting of migrants and migration. Now, media is obviously a very important filter for the information that comes at us, information about migration and other issues. Media can be related important ways to public opinion and of course, policy making processes. By and large, media migration is often but not always. Media coverage of migration is often but not always negative. Again, the chapter goes beyond the simple statement and the wish to see better coverage by asking what exactly explains that. We really need to understand how newspapers and new types of media behave, what drives them to report on migration in particular ways. And this is what this chapter does. It also looks at journalistic practices in different parts of the world. Chapter nine, the penultimate chapter, looks at migration, violent extremism and social exclusion. Now, this of course is a highly controversial issue, but it is a very important issue to talk about in an evidence-based way precisely because we see arguments being made all the time in the public sphere about the alleged links between migration and the threat of violent extremism. So it is a sensitive topic that must be discussed using available data in the most systematic way and not based on anecdotes. And so what the chapter does is it puts in perspective and it provides an analytical framework for understanding the links between migration, migrants, and violent extremism. And it does three things. It talks about the importance of definitions and data. Too much of the debate is so confused by being unclear about who are we talking about. Are we talking about migrants? Are we talking about refugees? Are we talking about settled communities? Are we talking about citizens and about terminology? It presents a typology of intersections between migration, violent, extremism. It highlights that migrants are of course much more likely to be victims of violent extremisms than drivers. And it talks about the issue across the migration cycle. So that means extremism as a driver of displacement, radicalization in camps, risk of infiltration of asylum migration flows, and after arrival issues such as social inclusion. And the final chapter to finish off looks at migrants and cities. Now this chapter is a little bit different from the remaining chapters in the second part in the sense that it is a follow-up chapter. Those of you who remember the previous World Migration Report was dedicated entirely to the issue of migration and cities. And we felt that it is important to keep up the momentum of the issue to follow up with the chapter that talks about more recent research advances and policy implications in this area. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Ruse. We've now had two interesting overviews from our colleagues, the co-authors of this volume. And I would now like to welcome His Excellency, Mr. Maurizio Enrico Luigicera, the ambassador of Italy here in Geneva, and give him the floor, Mr. Ambassador. Thank you very much, Director General. Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, it's always a delight and a honor to be part of the IOM family. And I have to say also that I bring it to you all the best wishes and greetings from Under Secretary for Social Affairs, Giro, who is in Abidjan. You may understand why. It is not too close to Geneva. I wish to be able to be here with us but send these best wishes. But first and foremost, let me tell you that I'm very moved that this report, of which I will say a few words, is culminating with the extraordinary authoritative tenure of office of Director General Swing. I think Director General, fed for your success, it would be an extremely difficult task to equal your achievements. And I would say it would be humanly, I think, very difficult, if not impossible, to surpass it. Now, turning to the report, my congratulations obviously go to the authors and to the outline of the theme. You said that it has physical weight. I would say that it has intellectual weight of such a level and comprehensiveness that makes it almost impossible in a few minutes to address all the issues or even the most important issues that are included in this report. Let me just say one word on the need of having even a wider distribution of the document. I was, as the Honourable Beno, for a few years the Director of the Diplomatic Institute in my Ministry of Foreign Affairs and such materials, particularly also if I can be downloaded chapter by chapter of relevance for young colleagues who turns to these issues. And then in order to, since it is, as I say, impossible to answer with the same comprehensiveness, and I would like just to mention a few, to make a few bullet points to fertilize our debate later. And I would start with a premise. I'm one of the oldies in the diplomatic community in Geneva in the sense that I'm terminating my fourth year, which is between three and four as we know the normal diplomatic stint. And I have to say that I've been very impressed, positively impressed, to see particularly in the last two years the place that the issues related to migration have taken in our works in all walks of the Geneva activities. Geneva is, as we know and should be better known abroad, the largest multilateral hub in the world. And I don't see any of the major and even the other organization here that cannot be encompassed in that connectivity and this cross fertilization on the debate on migration. And that is because, in fact, the three key areas that are subdivided in these chapters are areas we work daily here. The first one is what I would say the mega trend of people in the move. And people in the move request answer of a societal nature, of an extraordinary societal nature that invests the fabric of all our countries. It is a real cross regional commitment that we have towards that, be it country of origin, country of transit or countries of destination. We are all together in this endeavor and the success will depend on the capacity that we will have to work together and to forge answers. And I would say that on this, the main key areas that request an overarching interconnected approach are really those of health, education and labor. These are the three main pillars, it seems to me, of integration. And obviously that implies, and this is the second bullet point of my intervention, an active campaigning against forms that unfortunately are creeping up in all our societies, all our societies, of stigmatization and exclusion. We should be able to send more and more, I'm talking now from my country particularly, a positive message about the challenge, the opportunity. In economic terms, first of all, migrant work produces 8.9% of the GDP of Italy nowadays, 8.9%. It's enormous. We Italians where we were migrants have contributed hugely to the GDP of other countries of the world. So I mean, it is a challenge that's to be seen and addressed both way and that's to bring all the opportunities that we can. It is not only a problem that we can treat in law enforcement approaches. We need a vast campaign. The third point that I would like to make and the final one concerns what I find particularly stimulating. I didn't myself devoted enough before reading this and it is, I would say the cultural dimension of the issues of, in another room here in this building, we're debating issues of minorities today. And although the two things are different, nevertheless, there is the necessity of going toward the better cultural perception of the culture of migrants, of the culture of minorities and of the interconnectivity with our realities. So all in all, I think that these were some of the few points that one can evoke in the choice of the basket of thought provocative and really very fertilizing issues that come out of this document. So thank you very much for having invited me here and congratulations for these excellent word migration reports 2018. Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. It's a great honor to have you here and I see you here and so much of what you say, your long experience in senior positions, including Ambassador in Paris, to UNESCO and long, long periods with the presidency of Italy, Italian presidency of the G8, et cetera. So I'm really, I think this gets us off to a very good start here. I want to also, if I might, then also pass down the line to my right to introduce and welcome and thank the Ambassador of Uganda, Ambassador Lucquia, who's the permanent representative here and who's just joined us. Thank you very much for coming and I'd like to give you the floor now if I may. Thank you. Thank you, Director General, ladies and gentlemen. I'm quite delighted to be part of this important launch of the World Migration Report 2018. I think this is because the year 2018 is a very important year for all of us. We are entering into a period of establishing the global compact on migration, on migrant and this will put in place a framework with which we are going to work for years to come. I think in this respect, the World Report on Migration will definitely make an important input in that process for all of us. Uganda is very, very grateful and we thank IOM for having published this report and we also thank all those who have contributed in one way or another to putting together this important report. Indeed, this report comes at a time when migration is not only the subject of sharp focus for policymakers, politicians and the media, but also at a time when the number of migrants and those displaced from their homes is at an all-time high. Given the ever-increasing number of migrants that we are seeing, coupled with the complex and multi-casual nature of migration, a report such as this one which is going to be launched could not be more timely as it provides an opportunity for all of us to gain a better sense of some of the most important and pressing migration issues of our time. More importantly, the World Migration Report 2018 provides the much-needed evidence-based information, which is often lacking in many current discussions on migration. And as I said, the period we are entering into is key and we need to be well informed as we negotiate the global compact on migrants. First of all, in a region such as Africa, where reliable information on migration is often uneven and fragmented, this report is an important contribution and a useful source of key data and information on migration. This is especially central for policymakers as accurate data and information is key to formulating appropriate responses and policies on various migration issues. Ladies and gentlemen, focusing on Africa, which is the continent I come from, we have a common perspective, which of course Uganda shares. And first of all, it is important to note that the vast majority of African migrants still move within Africa. And this dynamic has expanded significantly over the last decade. So what do we need to do in order to keep pace with this expansion? It is very important for us in Africa to be able to put down what we think is important for us to be able to address this development on our continent. At the continental level, the various AU African Union policy framework and instruments on migration contain recommendations on how to promote the benefits of migration, improve capacity for migration management, and enhance mobility on the continent, as well as address the challenges of irregular migration. As recently as the 25th African Union Summit, which was held in Johannesburg, the African leaders deliberated extensively on how to effectively manage migration by committing to achieve a comprehensive range of issues by 2018. So this is why I say the year 2018, for us, is very important because of these developments that are coming up. But these comprehensive range of issues include, if I may mention just a few, improving labor mobility by establishing harmonized mechanism, thereby ensuring that higher education in Africa is compatible, comparable to enable recognition of credentials that will facilitate transferability of knowledge, skills, and expertise. Operationalizing existing action plans to combat issues like human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. And we also look at the speeding up of the implementation of continent-wide visa-free regimes, including issuance of visa at ports of entry for Africa. So this is a strategy that the African continent is trying to come up with in order to address the issue of migration. Now, while we put in effort to address these issues within the continent, we are also ready and prepared to join hand with all the other continents of the world to be able to come up with a concrete, effective framework that will help us to address these issues in the years to come. Now, if I can briefly look at the different perspective on migration between the African continent and other parts of the world, this is an issue that is usually very difficult to understand because we have a number of perspectives depending on where we are standing. The people in Africa have a different perspective on migration from the people in Europe, for example, simply because, as we will all accept, the flow of migration, as we see in the recent crisis, has been from the south to the north. So this is the reality and it's the fact that we must accept and be able, in order to be able to address the challenges. Between Africa and the other continent, especially the developed north, large differences exist in how the issue of migration is perceived and how it should be managed. Now, yet within this divergent narrative, there exists an area of convergence between Africa and the rest of the world, which we can build upon. And we intend to pursue this in the process of the global compact. The process of putting in place the global compact will facilitate this process. Then, within the developed north, the emphasis is more strongly on the containment of irregular and, I mean, unregulated and irregular migrant flows, as well as reducing the number of arriving refugees. But the African position puts more emphasis on facilitating and better managing intra-African migration and mobility, as well as creating legal migration opportunities. So these are the differences in the perspectives from our own point of view and the point of view of the rest of the world, which we think we need to exploit in order to come up with an effective global compact on migration. So, ladies and gentlemen, I think you will be able to read more about these perspectives from the report that is going to be launched. And as I said earlier, we are very grateful to IOM for having come up with a very useful source of information for our participation in putting in place a framework that will help us to address the migration challenges in the years to come. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Ambassador Benedict LeLucuia, for your insights also. I think that in the interest of time, I won't make any summary of this at all. I couldn't if I wanted to, probably. It's very complex. So I think we'll open the floor immediately. I think we can squeak over to maybe five past one because we have another, we have a side event coming up. So let me open the floor. Please let me know who we wish to speak first. It's partly because you haven't had an opportunity to see the volume yet, and I apologize for that. But we will distribute, I think, immediately after this, right? Okay. All right. I realize we're standing between you and lunch, so. But thank you very much for coming. Thank you for your interest. I hope that you will find this volume of great value as you work on your own migration policies and come back to us, even during the general debate, if you want to make comments on the World Migration Report, it would be entirely in order. So thank you for your good attendance at this meeting. And I would remind you that we should be back sharply at 3 p.m. We have a very important panel on migration and climate change. We have a distinguished panel including French Minister Oolo, who has this whole portfolio, and a number of other distinguished speakers. So let's be back at 3 p.m. And I invite those of you who can make it to remain here for a very important side event sponsored by the Holy See, which will be a number of interesting panelists. Thank you very much. It is a busy day, and I am especially thankful to Ambassador William Swink to really admiring his stamina being capable to stay almost 24 hours on duty and honoring us with his presence, unnecessary presentation of his personality and his role for this organization. Please, you have the floor. Thank you very much, Archbishop Yurkovich, a strong supporter of IOM and a good friend. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be asked to be part of this very important panel. And I apologize at the beginning that I'm also, at the same time, co-hosting a lunch for a number of our guests. So I will bow out at some point here. Also, His Eminence, thank you very much, sir. I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. It's a great honor to share the podium with you here. Look, I'm going to throw away the text that I had. It's a good text, but I don't want to read from anything. It's a lunch hour, and I know a lot of you had a long morning. I'd like to speak a little bit from the heart if I may. I think that integration is probably certainly one of the most critical elements in any successful migration. And it's one of the ones that is the most neglected. And frankly, in today's toxic atmosphere, we have a lot of hard work to do to put this back into the right place. So much of it involves preparation. It is not something that happens automatically, or that is a given. People look different, speak different, have different customs. It's always that fear of the other out there that we have to deal with. If we don't deal with it, we put people's lives into danger, and we deny ourselves the important contribution that migrants are going to make, they've always made. Historically, migration has always been overwhelmingly positive. So we need not only to support integration, we need to embrace it. Diversity is a value in itself. And I know you know all of this, but I'm just saying to you, because right now we're in great difficulty. If you consider all of the terrorist attacks we've had recently, in Europe and say in the Western world, Paris, Nice, Brussels, Barcelona, San Bernardino, California, Orlando, Florida, and probably some I've forgotten, they were all homegrown. These were people who were citizens. They weren't people who arrived on our shores yesterday. People who felt marginalized, rejected, not socially included. And so there's a lot, there's a lot riding on the question of doing integration. And I think of many countries, I see the Ambassador of Germany here, Germany, I think they're doing a fantastic job of trying to get people into language classes, to get them into jobs, and those who don't qualify, making sure that they're able to return indignity, not in rejection. I have enormous admiration for what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did. When he asked IOM in December of 2015, when I was in Ottawa, could we bring back 25,000 Syrians to Canada by the, could we do it in by the end of February? And we said, well, we'll try. And we think if anybody can do it, we can do it. But what he did was he sent his Minister of Migration out to all of the provinces and the big cities and laid out for them a program of integration. Here's what's expected of you. Shelter, a job, language learning, communication with the community because it's a two-way street. It's not just, we have to help the community to adjust to the migrant and the migrant to adjust to the community. And it was done so well that in the end, they had more families asking for another Syrian refugee to take care of. They didn't have enough to go around in effect. So I'm just saying a couple of examples you have opening up, you know, opening up public services. Now you can argue that they're coming here to exploit our public services to take money away from hard-earned taxpayers' dollars. It may well be true, but ask yourself a question and make one conclusion. The question is, do you want unhealthy migrants, which will make unhealthy communities? Do you want uneducated migrant brats? Or do you want migrant children who will grow up in an educational system and will make at least as good a contribution, maybe more, than the child who was born in the community? So if there's a national interest in doing all of this properly, so I think that there's a lot to be learned from those experiences. I think of countries like Thailand, Morocco recently, King Mohammed VI, the 4th-4th anniversary of his policy, they've all opened up the public services, invited people in, opened up the job market. So a lot of this is self-evident, but we have to understand that people out there do have fears, and I think it's important that we help them with their fears by showing them the contributions that migrants make. We're conducting a program now called I Am a Migrant. We've interviewed 500 or 600 migrants. We let them tell their own story, and that is probably one of the best ways to counter the very poisonous atmosphere in which migration takes place and very often where integration does not take place. So I think there's probably a lot more I could say, but we've got a large panel and you've got more important voices than mine here, but I wanted just to share these thoughts with you because I think this is a major part of it. This is a major challenge, and if we don't get this one right, we'll be asking for much more trouble. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador Sweeney for setting this in, which is certainly capable to allocate all the considerations we are going to do during this session. I certainly appreciate very much that you could find the time to stay with us and give to our event a real somehow institutional meaning, I would say, because the conviction of the Holy See, the Catholic Church of the Pope personally, to stand close to the ideas that is inspiring also your organization, is very strong. Thank you. So I now have the honor to give the floor to His Eminence Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of Munich and President of the German Bishops' Conference. He's also President of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union. He will deliver a keynote speech on participation and inclusion, the commitment of the Catholic Church to integration. His Eminence, after studying theology and philosophy in Germany and France, and being ordained a priest, became Director of Commende and then Professor of Catholic Social Teaching in the Faculty of Theology of Badenborn. After becoming consecrated bishop, he was appointed to three-year in 2001 and to Munich in Friesen in 2008. In 2013, he was appointed to the Council of Cardinals and become Coordinator of the Economic Council of the Vatican with a big visibility and big interest of public media, as you know. His Eminence, Cardinal Marx, was elected President of the Commission of the Bishops' Conference of the European Community in 2012 and is President of the German Bishops' Conference since 2014. Your Eminence, I thank you for being with us today and the floor is yours. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I address this meeting of distinguished representatives. I would like to express my gratitude to the Permanent Mission of the Holy See, to the United Nations in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of the Order of Malta, the International Catholic Migration Commission, and the Caritas in Veritata Foundation for having organized this event. Since our gathering takes place on the sidelines of the 108th Council of the International Organization of Migration, thank you for your presence. I would also like to extend my best regards and wishes to the delegates and participants of the IOM Council. In our time, religious and political leaders alike have an increased responsibility to address urging matters of integration. We heard this from Ambassador Swing. At the UN General Assembly in September 2016, the heads of state and government gave a pledge to develop, I quote, national policies relating to integration in conjunction with relevant civil society organizations, including faith-based organizations. End of quotation. At the same time, they initiated an important consultation and negotiation process which aims at the achievement of two global compacts in 2018, one on refugees, the other on safe, orderly and regular migration. We discussed it also yesterday during this wonderful event at table. The issue of integration is at the heart of many of the questions that will be dealt within this context. And I can assure you that the Catholic Churches and the Catholic Church in Germany, but all over the world, is more than willing to make significant contributions to these efforts, both at national and global levels. The nuncio mentioned the Holy Father. As controversial as our discussions about the most promising integration policies may be, they should be guided by a clear idea of participation and inclusion. What does that mean? In his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2018, Pope Francis calls for a quote, a determined effort to ensure that all migrants and refugees, as well as the communities which will which welcome them, are empowered to achieve their potential as human beings in all the dimensions which constitute the humanity intended by the creator, quotation end. That must be the common ground of our policy. That's a religious argumentation, but it's also open for all the people who are not following the Christian faith, that there is a common ground for every human being. That's very important, otherwise we will have separation in nations and races and all these terrible things of the past. That is to say, we are summoned to promote the development of every person irrespective of their specific status. Such an approach requires a far-reaching change of perception. Also, Ambassador Sving mentioned it, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees should not be regarded as passive, supplying, begging for favors only. Instead, we should more often than not see them as persons who dare a new beginning, who are eager to advance the well-being of themselves, of their families and of the communities they live in. Most people easily agree on three keys to successful integration, language, education and work. But we have to do more than just paying lip service to uncontroversial general claims. Judging from the situation in my country, I have the impression that there is by and large a sufficient degree of goodwill. We were surprised by these thousands of people who are engaged in the work with the migrants and the refugees. Yet, when it comes to taking tangible steps, there are often still too many obstacles and hurdles. Migrants sink into frustration or even hopelessness because they are not granted access to adequate language and integration courses or to higher education and training programs, also to work when it is possible. Because they face grave difficulties with the validation of the educational and professional qualifications, because they are not given a fair chance in the labour market. One source of problems in this area is the distinction between those who are expected to stay for a longer period of time and those who are anticipated to live in the foreseeable future. Also in Germany we have this discussion. In some instances this distinction may be justified, but whenever it is possible we should strive to overcome it. That's not helping us in the real sense to help these people and to give them a chance. Those who return home after a while can utilize. Utilize the skills and experience gained in our country for the benefit of their societies. In this manner, measures which were originally meant to enhance integration in our country can also have a favorable effect on the development of other countries. What matters is that every person is given a real opportunity to advance and use their skills and competences whether they live in a society temporarily or permanently. This is not simply a question of prudence but also of principle. By engaging in meaningful activities we make use of our God-given abilities and even take part in the work of creation. As Pope John Paul II expressed in his encyclical Laborium excelsens, I quote, man created in the image of God shares by his work in the activity of the Creator. Catholic social teaching thus makes us sensitive to the wider anthropological dimension. If we truly recognize every person's dignity we cannot force them to live in passivity and without their families. The genuine empowerment of migrants is a decisive step towards successful integration, empowerment, one of the key lines of our ideas. There is, however, more to the idea of participation and inclusion. What is essential is some sense of belonging, the consciousness of being part of a community. Perhaps it's better than the word integration. Integration is sometimes, you mentioned it, is a difficult world and you must explain, explain, explain, but the line is to be part of something, to be included, to belong to a community, to be part of it and to have the chance to become part of a community. That is very important. Both among the local population and among migrants a shared responsibility for the common good needs to involve. Such a joint commitment must go beyond the basic requirement of law abidance. It has to be driven by mutual recognition and mutual esteem. The host society can certainly expect migrants to respect its values and to appreciate its heritage, but this should not be a one-way road. Rather, members of the host society on their part ought to receive migrants with sincere appreciation. In a apostolic exhortation, Evangelii, Gaudium, Pope Francis characterizes such an attitude as a, I quote, a generous openness which, rather than fearing the loss of local identity, will prove capable of creating new forms of cultural synthesis. To this end, a mutual readiness to become acquainted with so far unknown perspectives, experiences and customs is necessary. Just like the success of integration processes is the fruit of two-sided efforts, there is also mutual momentum in the failure of integration. That is to say, in many cases, failed integration cannot solely be attributed to the lack of willingness on the side of migrants. Rather, the host society as well needs to ask itself whether it is making sufficient efforts to value foreigners, sometimes in spite of differences, sometimes because of them. To be sure such an attitude of generous openness must not be confused with naivete or relativism. The respect of the dignity of every human being, the right to life and physical integrity, the equality of men and women, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, these are some of the core values which are not up for negotiation but which are the very prerequisites for an inclusive society. Nor should generous openness be taken to imply the denial of one's own cultural and religious roots. When Europeans receive migrants from other parts of the world, there is no reason to understate the strong imprint which Christianity has had and still has on the identity of our continent, like in Bavaria. However, one needs to resist the tendency of turning positive identities into negative identities. Identity is not against another one. That is not the identity I prefer. Identity is open to receive also others. At times the recourse to human rights or to Christianity or to other elements constitutive of our societies is simply misused as an instrument of exclusion. That's not the way right identity can brought in. This happens when the values we rightfully cherish are not brought to life in an inviting and inspiring manner but are treated as rigid demarcation lines. This is us and that is you. And between us there is an insurmountable trench, a mountable trench. Such discourses of separation are typically the symptom of a deep uncertainty about one's own identity and belonging. Whenever tendencies of segregation occur, be they mantle or material, the church is called to be at the service of a difficult dialogue to quote from Pope Francis, he said. That is not the way we save our identity and make separations and being against others. The challenge we are facing is, as a matter of fact, integration in a wide-ranging sense. Participation and inclusion are of concern not only for newly arriving immigrants but also for citizens and long-time residents. In our European societies a significant number of people do not experience themselves as valued members of a community and do not feel empowered to contribute to the common good. It is against this background that the German bishops gave a clear assurance in their guidelines for the church commitment to refugees, I quote. The church defends the interests of all disadvantaged people because they said you are only looking on the refugees, what is about the others in our country and so on. Nor we said the church defends the interests of all disadvantaged people, the church's commitment to the many people who are marginalized within our societies to be continued with unreduced energy. The church's manifold activities in the field of migration must be regarded as part and parcel of a comprehensive commitment to the well-being of society. We have to oppose any tendencies of playing off one marginalized group against the other group to bring them against each other. That's one of the dangers. People in need should feel assured that the church is at their side regardless of the origin and background but the challenge is even more waxing. Those who feel threatened by migration and those who engage in a discourse of separation are not always necessarily necessarily the ones who have really been left behind. In some instances we can detect a worrying attitude among the established and well-to-do, an inclination to defend one's own cultural and economic privilege at the cost of nurturing prejudices against migrants and disparaging people in search of protection. I think it is no exaggeration to perceive in such a hardening of hearts the signs of an ethical and even spiritual draught. This language of exclusion has always in history been and is also today dangerous for a common future of our societies and this language of exclusion is back again in our societies. When sentiments of a shared humanity are lacking, the church must not remain silent. As Pope Francis reminds us, our Christian commitment is driven by a deeper spiritual motivation. I quote, Jesus Christ is always waiting to be recognized in migrants and refugees, in displaced persons and in exiles and through them he calls us to share our resources and occasionally to give up something of our quite riches. We live up to this call not only through words but also through concrete actions. The numerous Christians all over the world who are committed to the needs of migrants and refugees testify to a living culture of acceptance and solidarity. In Germany more than 100,000 Catholic volunteers and approximately 6,000 employees of the church and of Catholic organizations are active in this field. It's a large number and they're still there. They don't give up. The commitment of church initiatives and civil society's groups is not intended to replace government efforts but many times such grassroots activities succeed in something that cannot be mandated by law. They create spaces of encounter where people experience personal care and affection. One particularly interesting approach in this regard is the strengthening of practical inter-religious cooperation. Very difficult but we have to try it. We have to go forward in it. In 2016 the German Bishops Conference contributed to launching a nationwide program which fosters the cooperation of Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. The underlying idea is that members of local synagogues, church parishes and mosques join forces in giving aid to refugees and in promoting integration. Such models of cooperation face without a doubt challenges and difficulties but they are worth every effort. Experience teaches us that true solidarity requires empathy and empathy comes from encounter, from meeting, from seeing the other. Those who have never been forced to leave their homeland are called to see the world through the eyes of the other and such a change of perspective must not result in fatalism or indifference but has to give rise to a willingness to promote the inclusion of those on the margins. As Catholics we belong to a church of all languages and of all peoples. We are convinced that the definition of the common good of a given society may never be detached from the common good of the entire human family. You cannot have the common good for one society without looking on the common good of the family of human beings. In order to promote this objective even in ancient times international cooperation and international exchange are more necessary than ever before and in this sense we as Christians want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Thank you very much for your attention. Your evidence thank you so much. It is exactly what you said today that is on the base of our special event. We wanted to show not that much also to testify the positive experiences but also to show that the the resolute that we are resolute to continue on this this way. It is how to say what as you said church is in service of a big dialogue. This is exactly what we are doing here your your evidence in this very prestigious and very professional environment and very useful probably much more than in the media can be perceived. You said church defends the interests of all disadvantaged people who are disadvantaged. So the other thing is that we would like to show this we are by defending also promoting and standing behind the global compact we are exactly doing this. We are spotting many many brothers and sisters who are in absolutely impossibly difficult situation and we stay behind it. We are fighting language of exclusion. We are we would like to be example of living acceptance as you said through hundred and thousand volunteers in your country. It's a big country important country with many means also with a big Christian and big religious communities and big Catholic community as your address. And also we were very much what to say inspired also by this suggestion of having in the country of acceptance already beginning of interreligious dialogue that will bring new fruits and be prepared all those who are to say have to learn how to live in the new environment. Everybody has to learn how to live in new environment and probably the interreligious dialogue is one of those very important elements that we are a capable and we can offer in today's difficult moment in our societies. So your Eminence thank you so much. After this keynote speech we will have now a panel. Each panelist will have about seven minutes to present his or her speech which will then be followed by a short statement of some co-organized and post posturing state fully. So the first panelist is Mr. Eli Habib Nadir, Secretary General of Ministry Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in charge of Moroccan living abroad and migration affairs and co-chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. In this moment I would like to thank your Embassy here your Chauchat Afair who is so generously collaborating with us and helping us to have you with us because we wanted to have you exactly as another voice to give credit also to our voice as we are somehow complementary looking and we are part of the world that needs this complementarity and we appreciate very much your presence here so please you have the floor and we are looking forward to listen to you thank you. the government of migration in general and this question of integration in particular the integration of migrants and we leave this post here is beneficial both to the country of welcome to the country of origin and to the migrants themselves for the countries of welcome diversity creates wealth brings innovation allows companies to enlarge their market to have innovations and then a representative of italy had given a eloquent figure is that migration contributed in italy to the height of 8% of the growth of this country it is not negligible 3% of the international migration contributed to the height I think there are studies of the world bank which speaks of 10% so 3% of the population which contributed to 10% of the creation of wealth for the countries of origin you know so the migration benefits here in the transfer of the competences of the diaspora their return to invest in the countries but also the transfer of funds like something more concrete starting from this point for the migration and the integration is beneficial for all it is also the responsibility shared by all shared between the country of welcome country of origin and the migrants themselves I believe that the different parties must make their efforts to understand the other when I don't understand you when I don't understand your specificities I risk my trap on the look that I wear on you and on our way to live to live together so I think it's mutual efforts between these different parties that must be that must be done and on the part of the migrants he must understand his rights and his duties to live in a society that he has welcomed from there integration becomes a matter of all the components of society d'abord les états qui sont responsables de la création des conditions des opportunités pour d'abord l'accès aux services de base qui est un droit fondamental mais également de toutes les conditions qui permettent de libérer le potentiel des migrants un migrant est une force un migrant est une compétence est une ressource que le pays d'accueil doit entre guillemets exploiter c'est le rôle également des élus locaux parce que c'est là où se passent les actions sur le terrain c'est le rôle de la société civile d'accompagner par des actions de proximité c'est le rôle également des médias pour promouvoir un discours et non se focaliser sur la stigmatisation des migrants c'est le rôle des élus de faire des efforts pédagogiques pour expliquer et rassurer les populations qui sont dans le dans le désarroi et c'est le rôle des autorités religieuses qui ont un rôle central pour véhiculer un discours de la sagesse pour contrecarrer ce discours de haine de repli d'entités de xeno phobie etc c'est un discours les discours qu'on a aujourd'hui qui associe le migrant aux terroristes qui associe le migrant aux traficants de tout genre qui associe le migrant comme origine de tous les mots de des sociétés et difficultés qu'ils vivent donc ils ont ce rôle de dialogue entre entre religions et surtout de véhiculer ces discours de de la sagesse j'ai lu avec beaucoup d'intérêt les 20 points d'action sur les réfugiés les migrants élaborés par l'église catholique et je trouve qu'elles sont inspirées de valeurs d'accueil de protection de générosité qui font la force des sentiments religieux ça devrait inspirer d'autres parties à trouver les voies pour cette question donc de des gouvernances de la migration et d'intégration nous avons mené au maroc et là je vais parler du cas de maroc rapidement des consultations nationales sur le pact mondial juste pour faire un exercice pédagogique avec toutes les parties prenantes universitaires sociétés civiles migrants eux-mêmes et les recommandations qui sortaient de ces consultations nationales rejoignent donc beaucoup d'entre elles les 20 les 20 points d'action c'est pour dire qu'aujourd'hui il y a un consensus sur un certain nombre de principes notamment le principe de respect des droits des migrants en tant que personne humaine le maroc il y a quatre ans a lancé une politique migratoire face au flux de migrants qui traversait le maroc pour passer en europe et avec le durcissement des des des de la gestion des frontières européennes beaucoup ont choisi de de rester au maroc et donc à partir de là nous avons travaillé sur un vaste programme d'intégration qui a suivi d'abord deux opérations de régularisation régulariser un migrant c'est lui donner ce papier peut-être administratif mais il est très symbolique parce que c'est à partir de là qu'il peut chercher dignement un travail sans avoir toujours cette préoccupation d'être régulier ou pas donc régulariser toutes les femmes et tous les enfants et ça c'est un geste humanitaire de solidarité et puis l'accès aux services de base et là je vais m'arrêter à un service que je considère très important c'est l'éducation aujourd'hui si on n'ouvre pas l'école aux enfants des migrants nous allons ériter demain des jeunes mal édiqués ou sous édiqués peut-être exploité par d'autres si c'est pas l'état qui le fait d'autres le feront à notre place à leur manière et dans leur dans leur intérêt je crois que si on n'ouvre pas les écoles aux enfants de migrants quel que soit le statut migratoire un enfant et un enfant reste un enfant et n'est pas responsable de de sa migration légale ou illégale et l'apprentissage de la langue la langue locale si on veut de l'amixité et avoir une compréhension mutuelle il faut qu'on se parle la la la même langue au maroc nous avons ouvert les écoles mais nous avons également dispensé les enfants de cours d'éducation islamique obligatoire pour les enfants marocains ça c'est un geste peut-être anodin mais ça permet de mettre à l'aise l'autre c'est obligatoire pour les marocains mais pour un enfant de confessions autre que musulmane il n'a pas à suivre des cours et des examens qui nous avons aussi aidé les migrants à se constituer en association parce que intégrer les migrants c'est les écoutés c'est les associés c'est les associés au même à tout ce qu'on fait tout ce qu'on fait pour voilà je vais je vais avant avant de conclure c'était une anecdote de manière notre notre équipe nationale de football aujourd'hui elle est constituée en majorité de jeunes issus de parents qui ont émigré du maroc qu'il y a donc qui vivent en france en allemand etc le jour on aura une équipe nationale avec des enfants ici de l'immigration maroc je crois qu'on aura en partie réussi l'intégration l'intégration des migrants et c'est pas et c'est pas loin d'être d'être là de la réalité je vais conclure avec un message qui est le suivant je crois que nous sommes aujourd'hui en train d'abandonner les valeurs humaines de solidarité de partage de respect mutuel parce que nous avons cédé à ces discours populiste n de repli identitaire la migration est devenue aujourd'hui dans beaucoup de pays de grands pays qui devaient donner et montrer la voie aux autres elle est devenue un enjeu électorale c'est une régression et il est temps d'agir et de réagir nous sommes tous interpellés religieux élus les ciens sociétés civils organisation internationale média etc ensemble nous pourrons faire de la migration et le vieil de développement pour tous merci thank you rexcellency it is exactly i think what you said and what we are hearing today repeatedly we we are all growing in and getting more mature and more capable to understand think that is certainly how to say in itself a very in your news and it's a normal phenomenon but it's very very big phenomenon not easy to explain to the society i think that what we can do and what especially let's say from the part of our religious organization we have to do this work of presenting the real phase of migration how to say avoid everything that can intoxicate a real consideration a serious consideration historical philosophical and also theological and i think we are this is our duty and this is why we are so thankful to you that you came to show us with in other words the same reality the same challenge it will be necessary to educate to speak for years to come and to repeat it again and again as it is necessary to say good things once twice twice always every day so thank you so much for being with us and sharing with us really the efforts a very important efforts of your nation and also very big sensibility that you have personally in your specific responsibilities thank you so next panelist our next panelist will be ambassador stefan the board permanent representative canada to the wto in geneva he has an incredible interesting personal curriculum with i don't know whether i should read it but i would say for our for our event it is important to have somebody who had experience somehow in the business environment and diplomatic environment traveling many parts of the world also recently east in europe so ambassadors are so happy to be with us and and so it was your embassy that we contacted at the beginning we wanted to have you as one of the strong pillars together with german embassy and american embassy to start these conversations so thank you for being with us and we are listening to you thank you very much your eminence excellencies ladies and gentlemen permit me to set out for you and and talk a little bit about canada and canada's immigration experience canada is a country that is shaped by immigration immigrants have built canada's economy as well as shaped its social and cultural fabric and this issue in this story is of particular interest to me as the child of immigrants today one fifth of canada's population 21.9 percent were born outside of canada including my parents immigrants make up more than one fifth of the total labor force as a consequence of demographic shifts in the canadian population immigrants are expected to account for all net labor force growth within the next decade and for almost 80 percent of net population growth by 2030 looking to the future it is very clear that we will continue to rely on immigration and refugees to help build a dynamic society and a thriving economy in canada we believe that the diversity of our population is a great source of strength in fact we have studied this and found this to be the case and that diverse communities experience better social cohesion greater respect for human rights and notable civic and cultural benefits in generation after generation we have seen immigrants refugees and their descendants become tremendously productive members of our country and make meaningful and varied contributions to our society our economy our communities and our cultural life our own minister of immigration was a refugee himself who became highly educated as a lawyer contributing to the private sector and now in the political arena so what is our immigration model we practice what we call managed migration each year the federal government decides how many people will enter the country as permanent residents this approach balances economic social and humanitarian objectives canada has a strong commitment to its humanitarian goals by resettling refugees either as government assisted refugees privately sponsored refugees or blended visa office referred refugees many asylum seekers have also been successful refugee claimants that is refugees landed in canada in 2017 immigration levels plan maintains a strong commitment to protecting those in need with a target of 40 000 refugees well less than in 2016 this is double compared to historical levels in the last decade which was an average of 20 000 to 25 000 or 10 percent of total admissions the levels planning includes consultations with provinces and territories security partners and stakeholders other governments and the public this whole of society approach combined with an emphasis on protecting and consulting the public and growing the economy is one way that canada builds public confidence in its approach to immigration we believe that the successful integration of all immigrants including refugees provides our country with great opportunities and a competitive advantage to this end the federal government places a high priority on the effective settlement and integration of newcomers through inclusive laws and policies and investments in settlement and integration services the federal government helps to set an inclusive and enabling environment for successful immigrant integration the cornerstone of this approach is canada's model of immigrant immigration which is premised on social inclusion and mutual adaptation by newcomers and societal actors what we refer to as a two-way approach the federal government invests almost 350 sorry 650 million outside of kebek unsettlement services via more than 500 third party organizations across canada to permanent residents and protected persons including refugees in order to support their successful settlement and integration into canada employment related services are one of the five direct program components of the settlement program residing with the federal government other settlement programming includes information and orientation needs assessment and referrals language training and community connections the federal government also works with provinces and territories to coordinate efforts to improve the labor market access of immigrants including refugees including foreign credential recognition so they can apply their skills in the canadian marketplace provincial and territory governments are also key partners in ensuring immigrants and refugees have the basic supports to integration such as health education and social services labor market attachment is both a key indicator and an important contributor to newcomers successful integration to canada current employment related settlement services typically include one or a combination of the following services work placement including internships paid or unpaid practice firms and other direct work experience opportunities mentoring including speed mentoring or a traditional link with professionals in the client's field of expertise or interest preparation for licensure and certification services that are meant to help clients meet the licensing requirements in their field for the purposes of licensure networking opportunities structured activities and events that allow clients to be present in an environment with professional peers and potential employers to increase their professional networks this may include job fairs meet and greets and information nights and employment consulting counseling services a direct one-on-one counseling to clients on pathways to employment by international comparisons canada is at the top of oecd countries when considering immigrants economic outcomes recent evidence shows that immigrants in canada continue to have the most equitable outcomes in the labor market in terms of job quality unemployment rates and earnings immigrants also successfully contribute to canada's social cultural and political fabric immigrants have high rates of citizenship acquisition roughly 85 percent of those eligible to become citizens levels of political and civil civic engagement are comparable to the canadian born population immigrants feel a strong sense of belonging and satisfaction about life in canada and there's a high level of social trust in cities with growing ethnically diverse populations and immigrants have taken positions of political leadership and have thus shaped canada over time moving forward canada will continue to take a balanced approach to immigration integration it will reap the benefits of immigration through high levels of immigration and proactive supports to immigrant integration including upholding its humanitarian commitments while at the same time continue to take steps to maintain integrity and public confidence in its immigration system however canada cannot rest on its laurels there are challenges that remain to be addressed more and more newcomers arrive with complex settlement needs lower literacy know our little knowledge of english or french foreign credentials from different education systems which thus increases the pressure on settlement and other public services an evolving global context that gives rise to increasing numbers of displaced populations and vulnerable refugees will also challenge canada's capacity to respond an emerging threats to national security as a result of geopolitical dynamics can affect public confidence in canada's approach to immigration and multiculturalism and this will need to be managed and finally refugees who often arrive in canada with no knowledge of english and french continue to have low economic outcomes with average employment earnings significantly below the canadian average even 10 years after landing all of that to say there is more work to be done thank you very much for the opportunity to outline canada's approach thank you so much mr ambassador it is certainly good to have um how to say realistic presentation of the situation and what you said is from one side exactly the positive and beneficial effect of immigration and or the phenomena of people move but on the other side also the responsibility that this is not an easy task we all know from the experience in the past that it takes more than one generation to somehow settle down and organize itself we are now surprised by such a rapid and quick growth of migrants in the recent years and certainly we cannot pretend to have an easy and quick and answer that could be applied everywhere in the world but what we need is exactly what you said no to look positively and open-mindedly to the positive side and also not to forget that it is a process it is probably similar that any process of growing and educating that we went through we are as a human being we have to go through a difficult process of growing and becoming responsible citizens and I think also migration probably brings to our society a kind of the task that we have to take this seriously it is at least as difficult as educate as grow up children which are born in our probably it's more difficult so it means realistic approach certainly helps us and encourages us really to to maintain this vision our in future that is going to stay with us for many years to come in many decades to come it seems and that we have to be prepared and we have to give an answer from our experience for our teaching from our spiritual inspiration thank you so much so next speaker does not need any presentation Madame Carol Batchelor director of international protection department of united nations high commissioner of refugees you have the floor thank you very much archbishop your eminence fellow panelists ladies and gentlemen it's a pleasure to be with you here today when we talk about integration it's interesting to consider we heard words of inclusion of belonging of social cohesion and we hear about ethnicity and religion and language and culture and tolerance and acceptance across these lines I think it's also important to recall that not all persons on the move whether they're migrants or or refugees come with the same experiences we have people with different gender people of different ages and needs we have people with different degrees of vulnerabilities and certainly with extreme differences in what they have experienced that may have motivated them to be in situations of displacement or force them to be in situations of fleeing from persecution so I think it's important to remember this because in order to achieve integration we need not to look at people only from large the perspective of large blocks but also as individual human beings and I appreciate it very much your eminence your your comments so long that line I think it's also important to recall then that when we say some of the priorities include education lawful stay certainly for a refugee a number one priority is to be identified in the first place as somebody who is in need of international protection but the education and the job opportunities this will vary depending on the individuals that we're speaking about and it's important to identify those vulnerabilities and differences because by virtue of doing that we can design programs and support systems and mechanisms that really will facilitate integration and we've heard of success stories along this line well I want to make six specific observations and give you some examples we are talking about migrants today and I would like to also highlight the situation of refugees and you in hdr's experience in this regard we note firstly the principle of inclusion is central to integration and as a first step as I mentioned it requires that refugees are counted the work needed to achieve integration takes time and should start from the early stages of displacement nine out of the top ten refugee hosting countries are in the developing region when these countries have shouldered the responsibility over decades for what is a global issue many developing states already support the integration of refugees through making employment and social opportunities accessible to them and including refugees in development programs public planning administrative records and censuses and adopting legal and policy frameworks that facilitate equal enjoyment of rights and access to local systems and services some instructive examples include in latin america the cities of solidarity initiative launched with the aim of ensuring the enjoyment of the rights of refugees in urban settings through the design and implementation of inclusive public policies and programs a strengthened coordination of the different institutions and the promotion of livelihood projects also a good example in iran which of course has hosted a large number of afghan refugees these persons have been included into the national education and health services including the health care insurance scheme so these are the types of measures that support the fuller integration of refugees within the community secondly working with communities and understanding their priorities and perspectives and the challenges they face is crucial for any successful integration the most important partners in promoting integration of forcibly displaced persons are actually the displaced persons themselves along with the communities they live in thirdly promoting peaceful coexistence between displaced and local communities is one of UNHCR's global strategic priorities community-based approaches to protection provide opportunities for displaced and local communities to work together and to jointly identify concerns design and implement activities which respond to these concerns one example in brazil the municipality of saupolo and the national government have created a conducive environment for refugee settlement through open dialogue between different actors including government representatives international organizations civil society migrants and refugees who discuss migration issues and work together they actually develop together the migration and asylum policy and the national plan and this is aligned with national laws and implementation of plans within these municipalities a fourth observation integration requires the involvement of many actors in countries of displacement national and local governments as well as civil society play a key role in creating welcoming inclusive societies and supporting social cohesion and refugee integration within host communities we need to place local administrations at the center of coordination and action reinforce local governance actors and strengthen capacity on governance and rule of law as well as taking a comprehensive approach to development aid and expanding partnerships and collaboration for example with the private sector and certainly with faith-based organizations some examples here authorities in urban contexts in ecuador brazil and costa rica have promoted integration by enrolling refugees in health housing and social safety net programs in lebanon with financial support from the ec unhgr is working with local partners and the municipality to support improved access to water for over 200 000 syrians and for the locally lebanese population a fifth observation experiences from resettlement countries have also shown that private and community engagement have not only expanded protection and solutions for refugees but have contributed to foster public support for resettled refugees and welcoming communities an example and we've heard from the ambassador from canada illustration private and community-based sponsorships in canada and other countries and initiatives such as the global refugee sponsorship initiative have played a major role in supporting and hosting resettled refugees these experiences can yield further dividends in expanding the role of local communities and private sponsors in supporting refugee integration and finally it's important that we continue to learn from these initiatives and to take time as we are at today's event to reflect on the advances we are making towards furthering integration for refugees and for migrants and overcoming the most pressing challenges towards achieving sustainable solutions for refugees in a spirit of global solidarity international cooperation and more equitable responsibility sharing finally i'd like to just close with a question we talk about integration but we haven't really discussed in too much detail what we mean by integration into what exactly i would note that our communities our countries they're not in a situation of remaining the same and they shouldn't that's not healthy we need thriving economies thriving societies thriving communities we need not to be static we need stability but we cannot stay the same migrants as we've heard so eloquently from other panelists and from our keynote speaker migrants and refugees contribute to advancing all of us at the societal level at the country level regionally and internationally they represent an opportunity thank you thank you so much certainly your question at the end is somehow encouraging and also preoccupying encouraging certainly that we have to be and i think this is very very normal that when we are speaking let's say the dynamic the society in which we live always needs a new idea new inspiration new generosity we have to look around to find those people who are able to do that and ready to do that and often we cannot spot them about the people who are well established and well off living a good life let's say so so i think this is already from purely practical point of view educational point of view how to say to expect more dynamic approach more will to start to do to to try to to do something better and more for the people who are coming who went through enormously difficult period of suffering of of being treated improperly and so so probably this is the lesson we have to learn from your organization and the Holy See certainly stands very much behind the principles that you are promoting so we are coming continuing with a couple of statements that we we are going to have from the floor from the generous embassies and countries that work and institutions were co-sponsoring our event i would pass the words to ambassador of order on malta please you have the floor thank you excellency your eminence distinguished panelists their colleagues and friends one of the objectives of this event being to identify practical recommendations allow me to share with you some good practices that the order of malta has established in germany to improve the integration of refugees and migrants being responsible for more than 140 facilities with more than 44 thousand migrants and refugees the order has gained wide experience regarding this issue and has been playing an important role in the support of new arrivals during the peak of the immigration malta is a germany had about 5000 volunteers active an additional 2500 volunteers joined on a spontaneous basis volunteers as we know are a public expression with an impact on civil society they are a message against defeatism following the first phase of emergency assistance malta germany created integration services to make migrants familiar with the german society and culture such as religious tolerance the role of women the rule of law and the like these units also generated a platform for germans to meet individual migrants which in turn allowed for a totally different image of migration as opposed to fearing the influx of hundreds of thousands of foreigners in the field of health care the orders medical foundation malta is a migrant medicine provides free medical care for migrants refugees and others who cannot afford medical insurance in 18 cities across the country furthermore during the high influxes in 2016 special medical services targeted against diseases that are typical for migrants and were set up this field of activity that up to now has not been systematically developed may however need to be strengthened in the future some 40 special units for unaccompanied minors help children overcome the traumatic of life-threatening experiences during their journey of particular interest among examples of a practical approach to support refugees in host countries is the innovative model of pilots for integration looking for a long-term solution to help integrating refugees and migrants more easily into society malta is a has begun to employ and train so-called integration guides which run over 80 groups spread across germany with 30 to 50 volunteers and one employed coordinator per group integration guides support migrants and refugees in overcoming challenges of daily life in their new host country such as finding appropriate schools and child care learning german making purchases visiting doctors communicating with governmental authorities screening for job possibilities and simply being part of society such interaction enables a both sided exchange giving refugees and migrants the possibility of being heard by having personal and familial contacts thereby safeguarding their dignity and ensuring the participation of local communities it also enables them to learn by experience what open society means and to be part of it as illustrated clearly by his eminence earlier on furthermore this kind of support by the civil society is transferable to governmental or institutional implementation in an engagement of private and public partnerships several german local and regional authorities have already adopted this approach to overcome language barriers with foreign language speaking people I would like to conclude by referring to the now widely recognized special role of faith-based organizations and religious institutions in the protection integration of migrants in host countries as the director of protection has also just mentioned due to their local roots they can be providers of both material and spiritual assistance with its practical support the order of malta therefore aims to combine a spiritual dimension so as to foster resilience and understanding between the different communities such as by establishing a prayer room in every one of its facilities these are just a few examples of innovative actions that the order of malta has introduced within its worldwide humanitarian activities to support populations on the move and to alleviate their suffering thank you ecstasy thank you so much so I would give pass the word to another other co-organizer of this event the international catholic migration commission please you have the floor thank you very much good afternoon everyone you've been so patient to listen to these um to these panelists and so I um wonderful panelists with very interesting um thought-provoking things to say so I really appreciate the opportunity to be a part and um also cardinal marks thanks uh I'm just delighted to see you here um I used to live in work in munich and I know of your activities um with migrants so it's good to good to see you um speaking is um as part of icmc um today um but also I'd like to share with you a little bit about um some of my personal experience as um as a practitioner so we're going to see this from a practitioner's point of view um I uh about five years ago I moved to munich and um I was studying there at the lmu um and at the same time I started my own business in uh cultural integration for migrants called cultural integration solutions and so what I did is I provided direct assistance to migrants and to the organizations and local authorities and institutions that served them too and so a few of my clients were the bavarian department of labor and industry um the lmu and then caritas munchen and so um I'm going to focus on uh that client caritas uh so norma norma matere was the director of the migrations deans to the migration services unit and she and I worked together and as a consultant um she would refer migrants to me and I would accompany them um I would prepare them I would coach them I would accompany them and interpret for them um at german uh social service offices like um the job center or the um the department of housing and so uh what we would do then is when in in during those meetings um I would not only interpret but I would sort of facilitate a kind of I guess you might call it a negotiated agreement uh in terms of social services packages um and so uh the the language was german uh throughout these um uh meetings uh so anyway uh what I I'll I'll get to the point and what I found in my work is it's really that personal accompaniment um it's it's really that the migrants exposure to people to the systems in that country that seems to in my opinion and in my work accelerate the integration once they see what is expected of them once they see how they have made a mistake and how they can do better the next time it is it is um it's uh it was to me very clear um that that kind of personal accompaniment and that exposure uh increased integration so here's I'll give you a brief example so um Caritas referred Salvatore to me he was uh from Calabria and uh we uh he had an appointment at the job center and um so you know a couple of days before I prepare him I tell him what the documents are to bring um we go over the uh the address uh what time it is uh so here the day comes I'm sitting at the job center 15 minutes goes by Salvatore shows up 15 minutes late bad he shows up no documents what are you talking about he he comes dressed um you you know and not uh not looking very serious and I'm thinking this this is gonna get off to a bad start so um graciously though the German civil servant welcomes us into her office and then in like a span of two minutes she apprises the situation and uh firmly um tells us to basically get out of her office because we don't have um the documents we came late this is not how we you know this she can't work like this she wasn't rude but she was very clear so uh we walked out and um you know I think at that point Salvatore learned that something was going wrong and it's at that at that moment then that I came in as that coach explaining to him hey this is what went wrong this is what we need to do better you know learning learning learning learning so that um three weeks later when we met again with the the German social servant she was very gracious to give us a second appointment that doesn't always happen um she gave us um so the three weeks later um two days before that I call up Salvatore I tell him the documents I tell him what to do he at the day of the appointment he comes 15 minutes early he uh brings more than the documents necessary the man is wearing a suit you know he is ready to go bam he learned immediately what to do um and the the meeting went very smoothly uh he received the social services that uh we negotiated a a very suitable social service package for him and you'll never believe this um and it sounds so Pollyanna but it actually happened um at the at the end of the meeting the the German social servant uh explained how the first time she went to Italy you know what that was like how much she enjoyed it um and how um she really wants to go back again um but she just needs the vacation time to go back so she was talking about how much she just loved Italy so it was so neat to see that's kind of you know in the beginning you know that that image of you know get out of my office that can't work this way too oh my gosh I'm loving Italy I want to go back let's make this work so it was a very very interesting that you're talking about that integration process where the two parts are coming together I actually saw that so it was really really really good um so it's not just me you know I'm just one small little practitioner the Maltese certainly are doing this in Germany as well um but ICMC also uh does this um in Europe in cities in 27 countries through its share program um you've got organizations we've got our partners you've got local authorities working together side by side directly with refugees in that's integration process um it's also in ICMC's resettlement support centers working directly with refugees in the cultural orientation programs again helping refugees understand their new culture and what is expected of them and it's truly in my work what I've seen is that when when when the migrants understand clearly what is expected of them they in general um they general respond I mean not everyone but in my work I saw they very much very much responded um so I'm going to wrap it up because we've got to come to the end and what I'd like to say is um you know sometimes the best solutions are the most human ones this human accompaniment I'm talking about so the most human ones and uh migrants can teach us that so thank you thank you thank you other international catholic migration commission and admiration for all the work they do so we are continuing if anybody else any cosponsoring site would have something to say I see the Philippines Philippines afternoon uh I would like first by thanking our dear moderator his excellency archbishop Djokovic um let me express also our appreciation for the insightful remarks of the panelists indeed we must all encourage integration of migrants their inclusion in host societies as one of the most fundamental positive actions must be undertaken in the face of the rising tide of xenophobia and anti-migrant sentiments I say this confident that all of us in this room believe that migrants contribute positively to the economic development of their countries of origin and countries of destination furthermore migrants can also help enrich and diversify their host communities to the benefit of all this process should be welcomed as a positive development that would be greatly facilitated if host communities and their leaders would embrace the social and economic inclusion of migrants this is after all in matter in the most basic terms of mutual respect of migrants for their hosts and of hosts for their migrant neighbors I recall that social cohesion and inclusion are already affirmed in the new york declaration states have already committed to fully protect the safety dignity and human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants regardless of their migratory status as rights holders and in full respect for international human rights law and other relevant standards in that same declaration states strongly condemned acts and manifestations of racism racial discrimination xenophobia and related intolerance against migrants and the stereotypes often applied to them they also pledged combat with all the means of their disposal the abuses and exploitation suffered by migrants in vulnerable situations and address their special needs in accordance with obligations under the international law allow me also to note that it is my country's migrants experience that they become more productive in contributing to the economic development of their host communities when they and their families are socially integrated and are allowed access to economic resources particularly to financial resources if we want social inclusion and cohesion host societies must learn how to recognize and appreciate the overwhelming positive contribution of migrants host societies must value migrants at the same time migrants must take serious efforts to take advantage of opportunities provided for inclusion it is in this context that the gcm with the new york declaration as its baseline aspirations framework should be a document that advances in concrete terms social cohesion and economic inclusion of migrants and their families regardless of their migration status in host societies it is a truism that it is through social cohesion and economic inclusion that the human rights of migrants are best protected and fulfilled in closing allow me to submit some recommendations that my country believes should be included in the gcm first we should encourage the positive institutional role of local governments like cities provinces and subnational government units which can play critical roles in the economic and social inclusion of migrants and members of their families number two we should ensure that employment contracts are fair transparent and verifiable and are designed to promote decent work third we should establish and enhance mechanisms for mutual skills recognition and qualification frameworks between sending and hosting societies fourth we should implement the employer pays principle in the recruitment of migrant workers and finally fifth we should guarantee access of migrants to basic services such as education and health regardless of their status paying particular attention to those in vulnerable situations such as women and unaccompanied minors thank you for listening thank you mr ambassador we are really we're very living with very little little time so i see european union probably we will finish with the statement of european union unfortunately uh please european union thank you mr chair chair your eminence um excellencies i want to thank the distinguished panelists for their impetus and rich deliberations we thank the holy sea for hosting this side event which the eu is glad to co-sponsor we would like to re reaffirm the importance of integration and social economic inclusion of legally staying migrants clearly the cost of non-inclusion exceeds the cost of inclusion local authorities have an important role to play and require support in this regard it is important to ensure access to basic services with particular reference to access to education health care justice and language training we also need to pay particular attention to the application of legally staying migrant workers these pillars were flagged already by his eminence cardinal marx earlier the integration and social inclusion particularly requires substantial contributions of civil society diaspora led organizations the private sector media academia as well as social partners large movements of migration should be addressed from the needs-based perspective underpinned by a rights-based approach in compassing all human rights women and women leaders in migrant communities have a significant contribution to make we should ensure their full equal and meaningful participation in the development of local solutions and opportunities since 2016 the u has in place an action plan on integration of third country nationals this action plan assists migrant member states with concrete measures in five areas that are crucial for integration pre-departure measures education and training access to basic services labor market integration and vocational training also in December 2016 the council of the EU adopted conclusions on the integration of third country nationals legally residing in the EU the european integration network started its mutual learning activities in february several commission services are working to explore possibilities to publish more data on immigrant integration and the solid migration fund budget for integration for 2017 was increased by 150 million euros to conclude mr chair i just want to point out that integration is indeed as was mentioned by the panel a dynamic two-way process of mutual accommodation by all migrants and residents of member states it encompasses elements of participation interaction and cohesion by legally staying migrants and receiving societies thus it aims at facilitating equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms i thank you very much thank you so much opinion thank you for your cosponsoring our event it is certainly a very authoritative your voice and we are really thankful to you we have a little little bit time left so a little one minute to caritas internationalism one minute more at the end okay caritas one minute and then thank you uh he's a your resiliency yorkovich um just to add like one issue that you you discuss here that time and we as caritas internationalist total agree on that is that integration goes beyond participation and inclusion is the sense of being part of the community and on that matter i would like to share with you the new campaign launch globally speaking as caritas internationalists is called the share the journey campaign with two main objectives this campaign has been launched globally speaking in all the regions all over the world this campaign has two main objectives is to raise awareness of the culture of encounter that you also spoke about with a focus on the myths surrounding migration as well as the causes and efforts of forced migration and finally to mobilize communities to increase spaces and opportunities for migrants and communities to come together so i wanted to share with you this this campaign thank you miss um your excellency thank you so much so a lot of we have to go over work for africa association african the education for the development here represented by mr the president of the association but for please briefly thank you mr the president i think i don't know if you listen to me here mr mr the president i just saw that african is absent in this room it's for you to respond to the power i wanted to congratulate the senator of science after the united nation in june since the election of the french pope the Vatican has become a world center for the defense of the human rights of the oppressed the message of the french pope are clear and ambiguous the french pope they press with very concrete samples himself i think is considered as poor i am no longer someone important i am not important but allow me to make a small recommendation i would like that the next time that you organize an event like today i suggest that the victims also take the word we are tired of talking about our name we also have the possibility to say what is going on with us the migrants from africa the migrants from latin and asia must also have the word in this sense i also wanted to congratulate the german people with the good direction of angla merkel who was a courageous woman who had accepted despite the criticism of a party of her society the refugees in 2015 2016 and until today even if i should i should say to mrs merkel even if a party of the critical German society the entire world is the mirror for the courageous to be courageous and that it is a western country that holds the hands of man that holds the fundamental freedom mrs merkel does not say that but he acts we congratulate ourselves i also wanted to visit the government of canada so that canada has shown that his minister of integration comes from the retreat it was a retreat it was also a very concrete thing it is not a theory but also concerns the north africa that's what i wanted to talk about today the north africa it means that the marocan the tunisian the asian the libyan the exibitian they are a very ambiguous attitude on one side they defend the migrants who are in france in great britain in belgium in german and on the other side they oppress the migrants who come from east africa and oriental africa i wanted to talk about the racial discrimination in marocan the racial discrimination in asia the slavery in libyan which is a crime against humanity i hope that the international community as a crime against humanity will apply laws that we have since 1940 laws against humanity slavery in libyan i want to thank you mr president thank you so much it is certainly was very important to listen to you and to to listen also these words that could be that are probably not often or sufficiently left and presented to the public and general opinion i think we are very close to the end i would like to thank to everybody today present with us especially co-organizers cosponsoring state graciously kind with us a german ambassador and a fantastic dinner and a side event which we have with dinner it was a kind of a second version of side event thank you so much thank you to everybody who is participating today for you sharing with us the vision and i would give the support of final remarks to see seminars and thank you again for his present with us thank you thank you very much ladies and gentlemen for your participation for this debate also to hear the statements is a little bit of debate you have different points of views you see that this subject of migration of integration is is a large subject just the beginning i say sometimes it's not the end we are not planning the end of this problems we are perhaps beginning to to understand that is a large and a widespread problem for the next years and for this century we cannot influence all the catastrophes of the world and and the the wars and all the tensions who are on the base of of migration and and refugees but i think we have to to make more and these organizations like here in janeva and and and in new york and the united nations and all the other organizations and the catholic church they want to underline we will have no future when we are not able to see the common good of the of all people not only looking on our special problems but looking on the consequences for for for the whole for the for the whole of this planet the the pope is always speaking of one house of the creation i think that's the beginning when we are not able to look on the on the family of human beings that we are in solidarity together then we will not have solutions for our problems we have to think also of our own interests that's clear but not alone and that is for me very difficult to see that we are going back in some tendencies i can see going back to national interest to to the closer closer visions to look on on the on the own profits and not to to see that also in this policy of of migration and refugees we will only come forward when we see how can we create a situation that nearly the refugees the host societies and also the societies where you go where they go out they can be also winners of the situation a little bit to to see the advantages to to come together forward otherwise they that will be difficult but you see when i begin begin again with with these subjects that's very close to my heart also for the conference of bishops in germany we will we will help and we will be very active in this in this subject in germany and in europe and the catholic church is there in the very clear line with po francis to be on your side in all these questions thank you thank you everybody we just finished with the remark that panel ministerial immigration environment environment the climate change is starting at three o'clock thank you again distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen thank you very much for coming back in large numbers and on time i'm particularly glad because this is one of the most important issues we're going to discuss in our four days together we just had a fascinating luncheon conversation with our panelists here and i certainly learned a lot and above all else i came away from our lunch today with a much greater sense of urgency than perhaps i've had or should have had in the past and i think you will hear from the distinguished esteemed minister from france and our colleagues the the ambassador of fiji here in geneva and mr key mrs keyama representing a major a major organization you will hear from them as experts why we should be concerned and why we should be doing more much more and even in iom which is just one of many players so let me i will keep my remarks very brief because we only have something less than an hour and you want to hear from these speakers not from me but i i just wanted to underline the urgency of this this continues to be a major area of iom's agenda we've been writing and reading and researching on the subject for about 20 years we got started a bit late but we're with it now and i i want to say that how much we need to try to integrate the thinking that you hear today into the global compact for migration because it's going to be a major driver of forced migration and irregular migration for some time to come i'm extremely sorry that the convention executive secretary mrs patricia espinoza could not join us today something came up at the very last minute and she's she's her statement will however be made available to all of you through our secretariat um so let me uh then say that let me just start by introducing the panel we're very honored to have back i think it's probably our second or third time to press the minister into service but we're extremely grateful to his ecstasy uh mr nicolas holo who is the minister in the new government uh of president mo uh mo crone for the ecological and inclusive transition of france great pleasure to introduce and have the honor to welcome you sir back to our council session over the past decade through the nicolas holo foundation the minister has lobbied for the and received the unanimous approval of the charter for the environment through the challenge of the earth he proposed an ecological pact to the french presidential election candidates and urged them to put environment and climate concerns at the very heart of public policy he also helped organize the what's called the grinnell de la vieur on iman there's a conference that brings together government local authorities uh trade unions business voluntary sectors to draw up practical green policies so we're also proud that in his former capacity as envoy of the president of the republic in preparation of the paris agreement uh his ecstasy minister holo endorsed our atlas of environmental migration which is a great honor for us um i also want to introduce on my left someone well known to you who are here in geneva her ecstasy mrs naja shamim kahn the ambassador and chief negotiator for the 23rd climate conference of parties cop 23 under the fiji presidency uh ambassador and permanent representative of fiji to the united nations here in geneva now ambassador kahn is um been with us for a while and now is going to be even more in view here in geneva as the chief negotiator for the cop 23 presidency she will oversee the formal negotiating process on behalf of the presidency of fiji among other highlights in her impressive professional career she holds the honor of being the first woman to be appointed a judge in fiji she served as a judge for a decade and later started her own consultancy and was appointed to her current ambassador or post by the prime minister in 2014 health how time flies excellent it's honor to have you in the 108th iom council session um i want to introduce also miss keiko kiyama uh co-president of japan emergency NGO acronym jen the executive director of japan platform japan uh she is uh been serving for refugees working with refugees internally displaced persons and survivors of natural disasters since she joined jen in 1994 uh two decades ago and from 94 to 2000 she worked as the regional representative of jen's program for former yugoslav countries where she and her teams supported self-reliance of refugees and idps through hundreds of projects in huge varieties of sectors miss kiyama it's an honor and pleasure to welcome you here today so let me uh first of all then make just a a few more comments namely that contemporary migration policy and practice is not possible to shape it in the way we did 10 years ago or even five years ago we can no longer afford to ignore the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on migration i gave you my one personal example when i first went to africa on my first diplomatic assignment in 1963 50 55 years ago uh we flew over lake chad i'd been asleep and i looked out and i thought we were over the ocean so big i came back in 1998 i guess it was as ambassador to nigeria i did a fly low fly slow trip over lake chad and permanent dwellings were being built in the bed of the lake is one example of what happens in a period of 25 years secondly is migration is inevitable it's necessary and it's even desirable if we manage it well and respect human rights including helping people to prepare for the impact of climate change on their lives through a positive adaptation to be used later with mitigation efforts and i do believe third point that the global compact that's going to be negotiated next year is a historical opportunity to make sure that global migration governance efforts take into account respond to and respect the importance of environmental and climate change drivers of migration so let me now having a welcome to our panelists let me start by once again giving the floor to his Excellency Mr Nicholas Hulot the minister of ecological and solidarity transition of france so you have the floor thank you i suggest uh you take your headset because my English is not very good and it will be more comfortable for everybody monsieur the direct dear director general thank you very much for having well welcomed in me here thank you very much for all of these warm introductory words that you have just addressed thank you very much and also dear executive secretary dear ambassadors dear vice chair your excellencies dear friends first of all i would like to thank you mister william lacy swing for your invitation i would also like to take this opportunity to underline the exceptional work that you have carried out at the helm of this organization this organization is absolutely fundamental this international organization for migration geologists have informed us very recently that we would have brutally gone from one geological area to another geological era they have informed us that we are now in the anthropocemic period which means that we have entered into the era of humanity without even knowing this which means that humanity has become its own factor its own determinant for our future and i am asking myself this question in front of you today whether we if this means that we are own factor of change is this good news or bad news this is the question that i'm asking myself because a french philosopher used to say that i deplored that the fate of humanity was in such bad hands as his and of course we must prove him wrong because personally i am very pleased that we still have our future in our hands it is still up to us to decide our destiny but everybody here understands that if we no longer control of this phenomena we will no longer be able to control our own fate and we will go into a very decisive era we will enter into this new era where the where there is going to be a degradation of all sorts of phenomena that we can observe now therefore i would say that that if there is a skill that we should take on as soon as possible at the beginning of this 21st century it is lucidity we really need to look at today's realities to face these realities straight eye to eye and i understand that these realities are sometimes very terrifying and very complex but we should not to discard them and put them to one side or forget about them because personally the one thing that i'm very afraid about is to let the future decide for us our destiny sometimes we put things to one side saying that we are too busy but this is extremely dangerous and i am just mentioning all this because the subject that you are dealing with here in this organization is one of these subjects there are a certain experts here around the room but often people dissimulate the severity of this these topics and issues that you deal with here at the IOM however this topic that we are dealing with today is absolutely essential we must carry out our duty which is the duty of humanity this topic of how to address migration and climate change in the global compact is not a future topic it is a topic that is currently affecting hundreds of thousands of men women and children around the world these are men women and children that are already living in situations of vulnerability and i have often mentioned this the climate change crisis is the excess injustice because it adds suffering to suffering and that it affects it mostly the most vulnerable populations already and you know this here of course already but many people outside of this august buddy do not know about this as you know a climate change of phenomenons or desertification natural disasters are already displacing twice as many people as conflicts and we know of all the tragic consequences of these displacements with your permission please allow me to reiterate here our devotion to human rights of all migrants regardless of their status we also commit ourselves to the reinforcement of absolutely necessary cooperation between countries of origin transit and destination let us never forget that most of environmental migration are invisible for people around the world it is neighboring countries of affected zones that have been affected by climate change are welcoming with very few means of the first displaced migrants because of a climate related event they are doing this out of humanity spontaneously but we also have this duty we have a duty of solidarity the linkages that exist between migration climate change and environmental degradation have been proven and at the same time are very complex they have been proven already there are territories that are close to the coastline where we can see digitification can be threatened in the long term and even in the short term extreme weather events which this morning we have been reminded about the WMO confirmed this morning that there are more and more extreme weather events and did they lead to displacements that are sometimes temporary but more and more definitive displacements climate change also affects in the long term entire swaths of territories that increase poverty and misery all migration of course are not because of a result of climate change often there are many different factors however everybody recognizes that climate change is one of the causes that one of the root causes for migratory flows and once again it adds injustice to injustice we have in fact entered a new climate era that forces us to look at reality to face reality and to not to not to give up but to find solutions this is why it is absolutely essential to take action the Paris agreement is the first response and is the most important one in this context I would like to commend the chairmanship of Fiji at to COP 23 the linkages between migration and climate change are also very complex on one hand climate change is not the only cause for migratory flows there's also the degradation of land and ecosystems however we can see men and women's impact here directly deforestation pollution overfishing irrigation systems and agriculture practices that are completely unsuitable this all contributes to problems linked to migration now what can we do to help fragile states that accumulate all sorts of different handicaps that are for example related to nature economic environmental and social handicaps what must be done we can not not deny another type of reality the first victims of global warming as I just mentioned are the poorest populations the most disadvantaged but also paradoxically the people that have less contributed to climate change and degradation and this is why I thought I've always thought that this was a major injustice because these men women and children are subjected to the consequences of a phenomenon that is itself the result of a mode of development that they have not benefited from and a phenomenon that they have not provoked and they are going to be the biggest victims of this and I am stating this here because history is never amnesiac and we always have to bear in mind these realities this is really the heart of climate justice which has been enshrined in the preamble of the Paris agreement we can take action in many different ways first of all climate issues must be integrated to all the work that is carried out in multilateral international organizations that have to do with human mobility challenges the development of the global compact for a safe orderly and regular migration which results from the declaration that was made in New York on the 19th of September 2016 represents an opportunity that we must take up thanks to its unique expertise the IOM is providing very precious support and here once again I would like to commend all of your work and efforts undertaken towards the development of this compact France will continue to participate actively especially in a few days time in Puerto Vallarta and then of course during the entire phase of negotiation France will contribute and will continue to reform the respect for human rights of all migrants regardless of their status we will also look at the need for reinforcement of cooperation between countries of origin transit and destination above and beyond this compact we must take this opportunity to highlight the linkages that exist between climate change and migration we also of course need to improve data and knowledge related to climate induced migration and find as quickly as possible sustainable concrete solutions for displaced people or at risk of being displaced this issue of the protection of these people is absolutely essential this is the raison d'être of the work of the platform on displacement linked to natural disasters which was an outcome of the Nansen initiative and which facilitated in 2015 the adoption of an agenda for the protection of displaced persons in the context of in natural disasters and climate change for all of these reasons France which has been a member of the steering committee has supported actively this this platform and has contributed to the projects of the IOM at the same time we need to work on the prediction of environmental changes to be able to help societies avoid the worst and take the best decisions resilience strengthening must be an absolutely essential a key of any public policy to ensure the stability of human communities the prevention of risks is also paramount there are many different efforts that have been undertaken in this area France has been carrying forward with other bilateral partners as you know but also with the WMO and the World Bank an initiative that I commend here which is the initiative cruise which aims at improving preparation preparedness and prevention for extreme climate events and once again I would like to highlight this a terrible example which is that recently when there was a series of hurricanes in the Caribbean when the entire world was observing on their screens this these tragic events in certain areas in Haiti some people were not even informed of the approach of these extreme weather events we must work upstream through the implementation of the Paris agreement of course but also by respecting the pledges that were made to benefit southern countries also the improvement of agricultural practices of the preservation of land and ecosystems and putting an end as well to deforestation and to and start reforestation concrete answers are necessary and this will allow us to decrease the pressure on natural resources especially in the most fragile areas we must also support the development of strategies that place ecosystems at the heart of development this presupposes everybody's mobilization for the very first time indeed in there is a in the implementation of the Rio convention a decision was adopted on the topic of migration during the last to COP 13 under divination which took place in China in Ordo last September we must therefore foster all synergies that exist between different organizations on this subject and continue to mobilize all of our energy to protect our planet and of course to protect our humanity now to conclude this is why the president of France Mr Emmanuel Macron decided to organize on the 12th of December in a few days a summit in Paris to be held in conjunction with the UN and the World Bank to be able to mobilize all all actors that are fighting against climate change but also to help find solutions for adaptation and mitigation France put forward at the General Assembly the United Nations in September a global compact for the environment which aims to align all the great principles of international environmental law this program as you can imagine is very extensive but the good news is that there is no fatality to all of these migratory floors that are more and more dramatic and tragic we have all the means at our disposal if we choose to use them and work together thank you very much for your attention I know that you would want me on your behalf and as well as myself to thank the minister for a very brilliant presentation of the urgency of the matter of something that has been too easy to ignore in recent times he's put us before the reality that among other things climate change is becoming is already one of the great drivers of forced migration he outlines several of the very what I would call cruel ironies number one is that its neighboring states or receiving states often have to carry much of the weight of the results of climate change secondly it exacerbates people who are poverty of people who are already in great need and then it affects the most vulnerable and often the most innocent who've done nothing to contribute to the climate change so I think it's very very very important for us to keep that all closely in mind that many of the of the of the priorities that we have now will have to be changed if we're going to succeed in this and I think he gave me a perfect transition to our next speaker by praising Fiji for its presidency of COP 23 so let me without further ado who have already introduced but ask our Excellency Ambassador Khan Madam you have the floor please thank you thank you very much indeed Director General and may I also commend the IOM for organizing this important high-level event it is an event which allows us to discuss the synergies between climate change the environment and migration this is a very very important subject indeed for us to focus on may I also congratulate Mr. Ullo his Excellency on the important conversation that he's just had with us about the relationship between climate change and climate justice and really at the crux of that is something that I would also like to talk about and this is the importance of putting people first in relation to any solutions that we have relating to climate change the environment and migration may I say in relation to persons who are displaced as a result of the environment as a result of climate change that it is very clear that when they are displaced that existing vulnerabilities become exacerbated and that when you move people from and we know this very well in the Pacific when you move people from the coastline where they're used to being fishing people into onto higher ground where they suddenly expected to be farming people that this already creates great disruption for their way of life and the way of life of the entire community and it also exposes those who are already vulnerable to acts for instance of harassment of violence and of lack of access to medical services for instance to further vulnerability so we are very aware particularly coming from the pacific of the very negative effects of climate change displacement if we are not careful to adopt approaches which we've heard would be could be well described as an approach of climate justice so this is a very good way to start may I say also that here in Geneva we have seen important initiatives which show that any attempt to deal with climate change and displacement and migration should be one that reflects coherence in the various agencies which deal with such displacement and we saw that very clearly in the adoption in the 35th session of the Human Rights Council of a resolution on human rights and climate change which recognized these linkages so the linkages between human rights and the number of other policy areas which included the effect of displacement on loss and damage on gender and on the rights of persons who are indigenous following on from that resolution we had the very useful intersessional panel which was organized on the 6th of October here in Geneva it was a very good first step to understand those linkages and also it provided an opportunity for an initial exchange of breast practices we are also looking forward to the OHCHR report next year on the gaps in human rights protections in the context of climate related migration and displacement it was very timely that this year Fiji shared the chairmanship of the oceans conference in New York which looked at the importance of oceans and the environment and was instrumental in fact for the call for action which was adopted by the parties in New York as a result of the oceans conference and that conference also drew very clear links between the oceans and people and sustainability and economic development something that is very very important especially for the pacific in addition to that of course Fiji had the presidency of COP 23 and really I want to take this opportunity to talk about some of the outcomes of COP 23 which had people at their center and as I've said before it is really important that when we look at the entire area the entire area and the entire subject of how we deal with climate change and the effect of climate change and society and on social institutions that we put people first so this was the first time that a small island developing state had the presidency of a COP and it was natural that we would as a result of that presidency want to see a people-centered COP and we've now begun to call COP 23 the people's COP because we saw a number of outcomes at COP 23 that reflected people and the wishes of people as well as the involvement of people because you simply cannot impose ideas on people it's very important that people participate in the processes of deciding that what is best for them and so quite unexpectedly this year at this COP we had a result on agriculture for those of you who are familiar with climate change and its processes you will know that it's taken some time to get there it's been a struggle but for the first time agriculture was recognized as one which required priority a work program called the coronavial work program named after our agricultural research station in Fiji was launched and a consensus was reached in agriculture which is not only going to look at the emissions of the agricultural industry but is also going to look at small farmers so important in countries which are developing small farmers and their role in reducing emissions so a very good result on agriculture the gender action plan it took 12 years of socialization for there to be a gender action plan and at last at COP 23 the gender action plan was launched which looks at the integration of women not only in national action plans and national strategies but in international climate change governance very important because sometimes when you look around the room at UNFCCC processes you wonder whether women have become an endangered species we had a result on long-term finance also unexpected we had the first ever open dialogue between states and observers we had and I'll pause here for a video for the first time we had a child opening the high level segment and really I mean for all of the extremely intelligent knowledgeable and well qualified people in the room including with respect president Macron this little boy really stole the show so if I can pause there just to show a short excerpt of Timothée's speech the high level segment at COP 2017 has really been the year underlining the relationship 2016 we were hit by one of the strongest cyclone ever struck Fiji the strongest in the southern hemisphere my home my school as as a food water money was totally destroyed my life was in chaos I asked myself why is it happening why is the cycling getting stronger what am I going to do I walked along one supplementation searching for what to take home for dinner fishing the river for fissure prawns walked amongst once a dense forest only to be filled with this pan frustration my once beautiful village I once called home is now a barren and empty wasteland months that follows summer temperatures continue rising production of soil moisture tending our land infertile tree is not bearing fruits and ages was seasoned water bodies getting dry each day feces streams prunes yields dead on lakes and river I feel the pain the remorse the angle the loss the terror the insecurity worthless and useless as I watched everything around me turning from green to yellow then brown a stress sign that we are dying that's indicated thank you very much indeed and that was Timor the talking at the high level segment as the very first speaker and I understand that he has been invited by President Macron to also speak at the Paris summit also an important outcome at COP 23 was a work program on education under the Paris agreement and a workshop on education is going to be held in May 2018 also launched at COP 23 the Suva expert panel on loss and damage to look at the sharing of best practices not only in relation to what's happened to all but also to discuss support for loss and damage the Fiji clearinghouse for risk transfer a recognition that insurance has an important role for dealing with loss and damage and five high level events aimed at coherence in relation to climate policy we have for the for the first time the recognition in a cop decision that the adaptation fund shall serve the Paris agreement and in addition to that considerable input into the adaptation fund by developed countries but of course COP 23 was intended fundamentally to move progress towards the Paris agreement work program and to introduce the design of the Talanoa dialogue what we could now call the Talanoa dialogue which was of course originally called the facilitative dialogue and it is in relation to the Talanoa dialogue that I have to say that there was a strong degree of support from observers as well as parties and that as a result of that support and as a result of the discussion around expectations for the Talanoa dialogue we will have a degree of observer input throughout 2018 in a process which is guided by the methodology of Talanoa a form of dialogue in the Pacific which is inclusive participatory and non-judgmental and the aim of the Talanoa dialogue is to enhance ambition in relation to the informing of the next round of NDCs so again a very important process we announced the design at COP 23 and of course the process of Talanoa will be unrolled during 2018 I do want to say in addition to the outcomes of COP 23 that the Pacific is going to see an unprecedented level of displacement in the coming years and that is because of rising sea levels Fiji has already offered its own land and its own country to some of the countries of the Pacific specifically Tuvalu and Kiribati but in order for us to ensure that that is a humane and dignified process it's very important that we adopt a regional solution to ensure that this is a process which is consensual which is dignified and as I've said before based on human rights and it is very important that Fiji whose constitution includes a right to a clean environment very important that in relation to any solution that we have for the Pacific that we have one that is inclusive and participatory and one that reflects the Pacific spirit of welcome and bullet and I'll stop there director general thank you madam ambassador as with the minister you've given us exactly what we had hoped for and I thank you for that I'm not going to make any effort now further to summarize because we're we're run out of time I have two more speakers and I know that the minister needs to leap promptly at four I want to make sure that get you out on time as much as we'd like to keep you and if we don't have time for a lot of statements or questions we will ask to share these statements written form later and some of the remarks you want to make on this could be even be included in the next session of the general debate so let me move immediately to the video that we have with Eric Solheim the head of the United Nations Environmental Program in Nairobi 2017 has really been the year underlining the relationship between natural catastrophes and environment on one side and migration and conflicts on the other side we had the horrible cyclones in the Caribbean as well as in the United States we have seen the drought in Somalia landslides in Sierra Leone and great flooding in Bangladesh and India so many people have been suffering from the enormous impact on natural catastrophes that's why we need to make the link between what we are doing in the international organization for migration and what we are doing in UN environment UN environment just one year ago joined the UN global migration group we are very encouraged by the open process you have put in place the inclusion of environment and climate issues in the broad thinking around migration and conflicts and the preparations for the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration which I hope we will be able to finalize in 2018 this work highlights the role of the environment in either creating stable and prosperous societies or driving migration and displacement just as it demonstrates the potential impact on the environment of failing to adapt to climate change or reduce the risk of disaster in the first place take the quarter of a million people in the Caribbean affected by the hurricanes Irma and Maria it was so devastating this year in Puerto Rico alone nearly 80,000 people were evacuated half the power grid remains offline and for vulnerable people like Jorge Lopez Ortiz in Puerto Rico that means being a virtual prisoner it's impossible for her to cook and too dangerous to go outside after dark her only lifeline is a rope passed through security bars to aid groups delivering food and water so the media headlines have gone but the problems have not these are the kind of far reaching consequences we need to remember then taking decisions on land use on energy on infrastructure and in so many other areas decision that we are looked into for decades what we decide to do in 2017 have implications for maybe 50 years to come and that have the potential to create either virtues or vicious cycles that's why so important that the work of the global company should be linked to the work to tackle climate change to protect the biodiversity to fight poverty health destruction to fight for equality security and decent work I very much hope this will be reflected in your discussions today and I really look forward to hearing the outcome let's work together to make the link between environment and migration so that we can serve the planet and its people thank you mr chairperson I'm honored and humbled to okay to this opportunity to give a presentation at this high level high level the comments I will be making today are based on my humanitarian background as mr chairperson have been have introduced I have been working in the field of humanitarian assistance for over 23 years out one of my early day missions was in the former Yugoslavia countries it was early 90s and I was we were serving for refugees and displaced persons what we learned there was the dignity and strength surely exist within those who seemingly vulnerable we also saw how easily one careless distribution of unified materials could take their dignity away and discourage them to take initiative of their own lives therefore we have been emphasizing the importance of supporting self-reliance from the very early stage of emergency many people have criticized the self-reliance is for the phase of development or at the earliest in the traditional phase however for example from our example experiences we also learned that the earlier the earlier they are involved the earlier they will be they will become self-reliant so there are four points I'd like to be to make sure that to make sure to be included in the global compact of safe orderly and the regular migration some of these may have already been thoroughly discussed but it is always better to emphasize important things repeatedly those are the first one is mainstreaming environment and climate change in promoting safe orderly and regular migration I'd like to express my deep appreciation to IOM's efforts on this disasters affect those who are vulnerable more severely thus it will require more resources for them to recover from the damage in such resources if such resources will be allocated for the vulnerable people before disasters hit them they might be able to become providers of assistance rather than recipients once disaster occurs second point is to tackle with root causes and prevention I also highly appreciate that IOM has been emphasizing the importance of peace and development it also aligns with one of the conclusions of the world humanitarian summit prevent and or end conflict each individual in disaster affected areas are no less capable of supporting themselves if such disaster did not occur it is extremely important for the damage damage of disasters to be minimized so that they will they will not be forced to migrate due to adverse drivers the third point is migrants and potential migrants are the first stakeholders tackling root causes requires local knowledge therefore it is totally natural for them to be included in not only implementation implementation of projects but also in all the processes including strategy making planning monitoring evaluation and researches since they are the owner of their own lives when they are included in all the phases the project will be more efficient and productive and the result will be to the point and sustainable sustainable because their background varies we must make make special efforts to include people with various backgrounds such as women minorities physically and mentally challenged needless to mention they are the owner of their problems as well as precious resources the fourth point is nexus beyond collaboration is the key for innovation all the stakeholders must come together and produce innovative solutions for fundamental issues currently humanitarian need is the largest since world war two in 2015 un was able to raise only 55 percent of funds against it appealed for humanitarian needs and unfortunately the number of people in need of is not decreasing insufficient fund may not affect quality but definitely the quantity of assistance that unfortunately increases the vulnerability of those who had been already vulnerable the ongoing way of humanitarian assistance will not be able to fulfill the objective of assistance assisting to satisfy basic human needs therefore you know the innovative solutions are in desperate needs the actors on the ground are also diversifying therefore closer closer tie amongst all the stakeholders need to be developed and innovation are eagerly sought for for closing i'd like to share our experience of the great eastern japan earthquake the earthquake hit large areas due to tsunami huge area was damaged many depopulated towns and villages were included those villages had already had various problems in relation to depopulation the tsunami even more expedited depopulation therefore it was obvious that even if they recovered all the material materials they lost they would not have been they would not have been able to rebuild the same lives they had without tackling without tackling the fundamental problems they had from before the earthquake and tsunami in other words the earthquake and tsunami forced them to face the existing problem problems innovation was desperately in need japan platform is a consortium of seven forty seven japanese NGOs where i served as a co-president from the time of the earthquake the majority of member NGOs of jpf was scattered through the earthquake tsunami affected area and worked with local communities we faced the same agenda innovation therefore starting from 2014 jpf held a humanitarian innovation forum involving various stakeholders including local people this undertaking had been adopted by asian disaster reduction and response network and now many innovation workshops are held in various parts of asia including earthquake affected Nepal without the innovation we are not able to serve for the need of various vulnerable people and i believe that we can make innovation together thank you as with the other speakers i wish to thank miss kiyama most sincerely for very good presentation giving some idea more from a practical level of what what it's like on the ground where we do work on climate change matters i'm afraid that we have about two minutes left i'm not sure that's time enough for ten minutes okay okay good all right did i have a series of speakers here i have the speakers have asked to speak madagascar costa rica germany and the european union with others perhaps to follow but let's start with madagascar you have the floor afini mom thank you very much chairman first of all i'd like to thank you for the organization of this panel i'd also like to thank the panelists for their excellent presentations mr director general looking at the factors and the root causes for migration in the context of the new york declaration of 19 september 2017 the members have looked at all the notions that gave rise to forced displacement and irregular migration they looked at the multifaceted nature of causes mentioned and their complex interdependence with the example of combating extreme poverty climate environmental factors basically the objective of the global compact is to come up with solutions at a global level by adopting integrated approaches of commitments which would be feasible one of the proposals made it to in it to this regard was to establish partnerships in a global context of shared responsibility taking account of flexibility and adaptability that we'd like to insert into this global compact and i would like to ask the following question and i'm asking it of the three panelists what are the areas and the types of cooperation which we consider which you consider decisive to reconcile climate change adaptation and mitigation while including the cross cutting issues of sustainable development and economic growth in other words the solution should it take account the fundamental aspects inherent to the social cultural and economic aspects thank you very much thank you uh Costa Rica thank you very much director general and thank you very much to the panelists for the interesting talks they gave today the minister certainly talked about something which today seems a fact which is the importance of the environment and their global agenda and this is a major game but it has been a fairly difficult combat for many countries in this global agenda and i'd like to refer to this because although he was referring to certain dates or deadlines i recall that in the 62nd united nation general assembly where this was in 2007 the chancellor costense said at that time that we could not we could not say better late than never at that time the general assembly had decided that the central issue was climate change but 20 years before in 1987 president mamun abdul gayun of the republic of maldives had come to the general assembly to warn us all that he was not going to talk about policies but rather he was coming to talk about the death of a nation and this because from his standpoint and his appeal for help he said his nation whose 1900 some 1900 islands were going to be submerged by the sea level rise 30 years ago we had that warning that presentation from the president of the republic of maldives and finally today we're taking action and moving forward certainly the global compact for safe regular and orderly migration is a unique opportunity for us to be able to have this link between migration human rights and climate change and i could say that it's a virtuous cycle because it has these three elements but at the same time they move or gravitate around the sustainable development goals and i think the global compact is a major opportunity for us to assert this extremely strong and solid link and in addition it will be with a perspective of sustainability this was very well said by the representative of madis gasker he was talking about problems of economic development for countries who are developing how can we look at climate change migration and human rights if this is going to prevent our development but it shouldn't be seen as a perspective of sustainability in facing this problem of human mobility i simply also wanted like to stress certain initiatives that are also been created in parallel frameworks and all of these have to be linked up and i'm thinking of the geneva pledge which is an appeal for negotiators on climate change to sit down with the human rights negotiators and to have an exchange and i think this would be a possibility including people from the migrant population to have a holistic approach thank you very much mr director jan many you have the floor thank you director general for giving me the floor i asked for it because germany is the current chair of the platform for of disaster displacement and i will keep it very short in order you can take maybe another speaker we of course are we find it essential that the gcm addresses human mobility in the context of disaster and in the adverse effects of climate change goes without saying and we have elaborated key messages valuable key messages as we think how this can be integrated in the gcm text and you can find them on the ppd website which is disaster displacement.org so thank you thank you very much european union thank you director general um honorable minister excellencies thanks for the rich panel and for putting this important issue of climate change on the agenda of today's meeting and of the gcm i'll try to cut myself my comments short in the interest of time um i speak on behalf of the european union and its member states climate change is creating complex humanitarian and development challenges it has devastating effects on people communities and their livelihoods according to the icmc 24 million new displacements by disaster happened in 2016 many more are displaced by less spectacular but more permanent slow onset impacts of climate change like sea level rise or desertification better evidence is needed here for us to understand how many idp's cross borders and become migrants or refugees and why left unchecked climate change can become a leading driver of migration and forced displacement worldwide migration and disaster displacement in the context of climate change is not primarily a cross border problem thousands of internally displaced persons also need protection assistance following disasters and the adverse effects of climate change the u shares it as our sees it as our shared global responsibility to tackle climate change and climate induced displacement our global strategy approaches the nexus between climate migration and security in a joined up way from prevention to managing the impacts this global strategy also emphasizes the role of building resilience to promote security effective and timely adaptation work also helps us address underlying causes of forced displacement it can prevent minimize and respond to disruptive impacts this is why the u is engaged right now with the most vulnerable countries to increase their resilience with the 2.9 billion euro u emergency trust fund for africa which which was created to address the root causes of instability forced displacement to stem irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management we in the u decided to work in unison and to join forces with the private sector this joining of forces finds the latest manifestation in our external investment plan to help boost investment growth and decent job creation in partner countries the u will provide 3.35 billion euros with the aim of mobilizing up to 44 billion euros in investments to help create opportunities and tackle the root causes of forced displacement finally mr chair the u's member of the steering group of the platform on disaster displacement and supports the implementation of the protection agenda resulting from the nuns initiative in close cooperation with iom i thank you very much thank you very much in the interest of keeping the minister on schedule i'll stop the questions here uh i hope you'll submit statements and uh in the respect of the other delegates that perhaps let the minister respond first if you have anything thank you very much mr. advocate general i apologize for not uh being able to stay here for longer but i will give you more time in the next a few days months and years to come because the subject is so important to me and i would like to say to the representative of costa rica that uh i am outraged i am very surprised and frightened that it has taken us 30 years to understand the reality in front of us if we take another 30 years to go from this uh this reality to the implementation of our objectives if there is really a 30 year gap i don't know if a humanity will should keep the word the term humanity i want to be an optimist of course but we are going to have to change how we do things money will not to do everything but money will facilitate a lot of things we can't ignore that in 2008 when there was the financial crisis we showed so such creativity to be able to save the banking sector and without being demagogic here it did not take eternity to avoid a collective bankruptcy and i have to say that i hope that we will be able to have the same amount of creativity to help our fellow citizens and to help humanity as a whole now to respond to metagascar's question we must say we must and for the future and this is really the purpose of the event that we will be organizing in france but i'm saying this very cautiously of course because i can't presuppose of state's intentions but of course we will have to completely put on an equal footing attenuation and mitigation because of up until now the phenomenon that we have been seeing and this has shown us already that climate change is already underway this is a true tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people around the world and i uh remembered that the number two million was mentioned earlier i think there are a certain number of priorities that should have an influence of course on donors activities especially when it comes to the most vulnerable of populations we must allow them to protect or rehabilitate restore their ecosystem especially arable land i completely agree with the analysis of monique barbu who is the executive secretary of the un convention to combat their certification if we undertake a worldwide movement to allow certain countries and here i'm thinking about african states and more particularly the sahel region if we pledge all of these different means to rehabilitate to desertified land and we know how to do this thanks to agroecology this would allow us three things first of all avoid people leaving their territories secondly for people to come back to their land and thirdly it would make sure that this land was arable once again and therefore they would be able to fight against climate change because these people would then be able to stock carbon dioxide and of course participate to mitigating the migratory phenomenon that we have been observing here i also believe that we must do everything at our disposal because the technologies are available we need to render them economically accessible to all of these countries for renewable energies to become a an accessible common good common public good for all of humanity so this is just what i wanted to say very briefly once again france will of course be at your side mr. director general and we will be an an tireless ally thank you very much for your attention i would like to also thank the other panelists for this event i am i have been discovered since i became minister that the formula agenda for a minister was not just a legend and indeed i am very very busy and very booked up thank you very much thank you good afternoon i would like to invite the council to go back to item 11 on our agenda general debate and i will come back to the list of speakers that we had started with this morning and i would now like to give the floor to mrs. simongile rebushe counselor for south africa you have the floor thank you madam chi madam chi south africa aligns itself with the statement delivered by garner on behalf of the africa group allow me to congratulate you madam chair and members of your bureau for having been elected to lead the council to the next session my delegation also congratulates the newest members of the iom the republic of cuba cook islands and all new observer organizations madam chair my delegation also wishes to thank the director general on the report presented to member states we acknowledge the support iom has provided during the consultation phase of the compact including the six thematic areas regional consultations and saddock and engagement with several society in addition iom over the last 66 years has grown and is now a stronger and responsive organization that serves and assists vulnerable migrants around the world and in 2016 became the newest member of the united nations system at the same time also the historical new york declaration was adopted by world leaders with the aim of improving international cooperation and governance of migration madam chi this meeting takes place amid the shocking and barbaric acts of modern slavery day slavery as and we call on libian authorities to investigate and we commend the iom for its swift response trafficking in human beings and modern forms of slavery is a reality for migrants and these extreme forms of human exploitation in the migration process require counteraction madam chair the global compact will negotiate should be inclusive with a focus on whole of society approach in promoting development through migration we need to be practical in the negotiations and focus on concrete actionable areas on which states can reach consensus sub-africa has made significant strides towards the realization of the objectives of the global compact for migrants through firm recognition of the positive role played by migrants in the country's national development plan vision 2030 that embraces migration for development and the white paper on international migration our international migration policy balances the prime the primary objectives of economic development national security international and constitutional obligations as well as the vision articulated in the freedom charter that we should as a country seek to live in peace and friendship with our neighbors we strongly believe that for us a regional approach to issues of migration will deliver a better deal for ourselves and the continent push factors of illegal migration are best addressed in regional cooperation and africa as a whole and our engagement should be understood in this context of collaboration with our static neighbors sub-africa has embarked on a special dispensation for regularizing the state of migrants from the region as a means of managing the flow of migrants the objectives of the special dispensation is to properly document and regularize the state of national from static in south africa for work study and business the special dispensation has benefits including relieving the pressure on the asylum seeker management process provide amnesty to those who receive south african documents fraudulently regularize those staying in south africa undocumented and suspend deportation for those residing in south africa undocumented by allowing them to apply for the special dispensation for south africa the global compact for migrants should develop operational instrument for fair and effective migration governance with mutual understanding and international cooperation is critical it should be inspired by the 2030 agenda for inclusive growth sustainable development and balance security concerns and development the root causes of regular migration that many many first themselves through underdevelopment conflict poverty and unemployment need to be addressed in a comprehensive holistic manner the global compact needs to take into account the level of development of countries particularly those in the developing world who confront immense pressure to their economic and social fabric when addressing the issues of burdens sharing madam chair we also need to acknowledge that each state will have its own emphasis on the global compact for migrants however focusing on convergence will be critical accordingly a concerted global effort to protect the human rights of all migrants regardless of their migratory status should be the focus of member states and in particular the protection of unaccompanied minor children women and the disabled any commitments towards the global compact that are not accompanied by concrete interventions and resource mobilization to relieve pressure from the developing countries by developed nations are unlikely to lead the international community to any realization of these otherwise noble ideas in conclusion south africa will within international obligations support all initiatives contributing to a well managed migration and international cooperation as we move towards negotiating the global compact for migrants thank you thank you very much thank you very much i would now like to give the floor to mr juan carlos moreno second secretary of columbia you have the floor sir thank you very much columbia affiliates itself with the statement of crulac we would like to congratulate you on your election as a chairwoman and we would also like to welcome cuba and the cook islands as new members of the council the iom has worked in columbia for more than 60 years and its support has been absolutely fundamental to draft to develop and implement public policies pertaining to human mobility based on this context in 2015 the government of columbia and the iom had lent its support to the indicative plan of work for the period 2015-2019 which is in line with our national priorities especially with the national plan of development and contributed the implementation of the un development assistant framework you undefined 2015-2019 this is proof of a growing relationship between the iom and the un system in the field in this regard we would like to commend and urge the increased cooperation of interagency work particularly with unhcr this indicative plan of work of 2015-2019 is structured around three strategic objectives number one to strengthen capacity buildings of the state to be able to to foster orderly migration at the territorial national regional international level with an approach of sustainable development secondly to contribute to emergency responses and the management of risks with a territorial dimension number three to facilitate processes for peace building initiatives in july 2017 the iom and the national government carried out a joint evaluation on the implementation of this indicative indicative plan there were five aspects that resulted from this assessment now first of all there was institutional strengthening of state capacities to be able to manage migratory flows with an integrated approach number two design and transfer of methodologies of tools and models in order to promote development as well as the increase of activities carried out by the state to improve migrants conditions third build on knowledge that already exists and to increase knowledge on migratory topics and to develop policies and projects which would benefit to the migratory population number four consolidation of coordination in transitional spaces of coordination and coordinate better between all the different actors involved at the national territory level number five differentiated attention that is really focused on ethnicity is a gender and the life cycle now these uh these are amongst others the operational strengths that the iom can lend to support the development and the implementation of the global compact likewise we would like to underscore and extend our gratitude to the iom on an essential topic for our country we are really in the uh facing a historical moment which was the peace agreements with FARC the support of the iom in this area has been absolutely key especially for the rest of the region of victims of rights in a transitional framework of the judiciary at the moment as well as the reintegration of former combatants dear madam chair and dear mr. director general the government of colombia would like to highlight the role of leadership that mr. ambassador william lacy swing has had since 2008 at the helm of the iom you have been a wonderful director general as well as a very insightful interlocutor and may you receive mr william lacy swing our deepest appreciation for your exceptional work thank you yes thank you very much i now give the floor to mr. adel sattute in charge of and interim negotiations of libya you have the floor sir thank you madame chair uh my delegation aligns itself with the african group statement delivered by ganon a doubt set allow me on behalf of my delegation to express thanks and appreciation to the iom and its director general on holding this 108 session but i'm chair my country works closely with the iom and partners to seek solutions to the problem of illegal migration taking into account that libya is considered by thousands of migrants as a transit country towards the final destination of europe libya right now is neither stable nor secure country to receive such huge number of migrants however the government of the national court spares no effort to help the government of national court reiterates its call on the iom and other partners to help in dealing with this ongoing migration issue financially and technically in a way that protects the human rights and dignity of those who are exploited by the smuggling or terrorist groups and find a way to assist them the government of national court has requested the attorney general to investigate what has been published recently regarding the smuggling trade of migrants somewhere in libya and wanted here to take the opportunity to seek help of the iom african union and other partners to cooperate with the attorney general of libya and bring about all information they may have on the issue with the aim of bringing perpetrator is before justice in conclusion the government of national court is determined to continue the ongoing constructive cooperation with the iom calling on the immediate return of the international staff back to libya finally libya is highly welcoming the joining of friendly republic of cuban cook islands to the iom family and welcomes warmly the state of coeta as an observer state thank you madam chair thank you very much thank you libya and now i give the floor to the director general for his comments and please include also your comments to the statements of sudan and panama for leftover from this morning thank you was very happy to see uh his excellency uh dr elta elta hi uh elta honey and we had just a very good bilateral right after that before we we broke for the for lunch we have a long-standing partnership with sudan they have excellent cooperation and we've witnessed steady growth in the relationship over the years particularly the last two years uh we want to thank uh sudan and its people for their generous support of more than 200 000 refugees for many many years and that's kind of gone unnoticed but it needs to be recognized and thank you for that i appreciate also on a more monday note thank you for your recent uh clearance of all of your arrears so that you're now in full standing on voting privileges and so forth thank you for the good work that you did on that um and as i i told you during our bilateral conversation at the break i've been embarrassed that i haven't been able to get down to sudan for the last few years but i will be coming in the early part of 2018 it's on my schedule now i appreciate the leadership of sudan in the cartoon process which just met a few days ago um and the cooperation with iom and other partners in combating trafficking and smuggling of people the cooperation with sudan is also part of our regional cooperation with the oic with the league of arab states uh and other regional bodies and this recently focused on the preparation of national and regional positions on the global compact we hope we can support you on that um uh i'd like to also thank the uh permanent representative and ambassador of panamol for his presentation i appreciate particularly what you've done to help us by allowing us to have a regional office in panamol it's a very important office it has both regional and global responsibilities and it's functioned very very well thanks to the support that you've given us and continue to um congratulate you on the lead that you've just assumed of the the regional conference on migration the so-called puebla process that looks at matters in central and north america and the caribbean i'm like you're the subjects you've chosen for the presidency one is sustainable development goals and another is migration governance and we will be honored to continue to support your presidency and the regional conference i want to congratulate you also on the approval and implementation of your national plan against human trafficking for the period 2017 2022 um and the provision of assistance and protection of victims and we'd be happy to to support you on that um the distinguished uh representative of south africa glad to have you here and have your presentation having spent many years in your country i followed developments there uh closely and i want to thank you for hosting our very large regional office that covers the whole uh saddock area uh all the way up to to the congo i was also impressed that you recently developed and published a white paper in addition you're now trying to ensure uh equal treatment for migrants and particularly to a special dispensation for those in uh irregular status so they can be regularized that's very important particularly in light of recent years and you've got a very much of a whole of government holistic approach which i think is important um in negotiating of the global compact across the board um the um i want to express appreciation to the uh honorable representative of columbia uh this is one of our has been our largest post in the world and one of the two or three largest now we've had an excellent reception there and support thank you for the um active uh program that we have and for our large and very diversified iowan mission um i think that um i want to congratulate president santos in particular for all of his efforts to bring peace with the fark which uh richly married him the nobel peace prize we're honored to be asked to with the unicef to reintegrate the child soldiers two problems there beyond the normal ones one is they're no longer children and two they've never lived in a moneyed economy but we're honored to be asked to take part in this uh very important area here um also want to recognize all of the efforts that you've undertaken uh to consolidate the national civil society round table for migrants very important in bringing them into the process and highlight the existence of a very efficient uh program you have to coordinate assistance of columbians abroad um the newly arrived charge ed affair of libya welcome good to have you here uh your second day in country um we want to assure you of our full cooperation and support and thank uh libya for what it's doing to support our efforts throughout the country we're i think the only organization that's in all parts of the country um as you know i've been to your country twice uh the first un head to go to libya since the fall of qaddafi um we are working in close coordination through a government the african union the european union the united nations uh unhcr other agencies and we've started a substantial increase to evacuate all remaining uh detain migrants under government control the militia held detention centers we'll have to come at later but this is uh something we've already announced we hope to be starting it very quickly and hope that it will not take very long meanwhile we'll continue to try to help you build capacity within your government but also uh along with others like the european union to build the capacity of the libyan coast guard which has saved uh thousands and thousands of lives and we hope that we can keep that assistance going um thank you for the creation of your migration governance working group and for letting iom co-chair that along along with your government um we will also be working with the attorney general and other libyan authorities to address smuggling and trafficking and thank you for uh instituting an investigation into the reported slavery and trafficking thank you very much mr director general i now give the floor to cecilia casares first secretary of guatemala you have the floor madam chairman at the outset i'd like to congratulate you and the other bureau members on your election to guide our work during this iom council session we'd like to thank the director general for the the report presented to this council which points to the work done by the iom throughout the world with the purpose of improving and defending the dignities security and well-being of migrants in close coordination with governments and other international organizations at the same time that he presented the present challenges as well as the future ones guatemala associates itself with columbia statement on behalf of gruelac and congratulates the new members on a national basis we'd like to add a few of our own points one year from our entry into the united nation system we realized that we did not make a mistake the good results are becoming famous through our participation in the mechanisms of the system providing our technical and standard setting expertise my country supports the follow-up to the implementation of the association agreement between the united nations and the iom offering a unique opportunity to the international community to forge a greater consensus in the management of worldwide movements of migrants and refugees and we reiterate the importance of the working group on iom un relations and the iom strategy also one year ago nations decided collectively to sit around the table and take up the theme of migration governance and they committed themselves to preparing a global compact force safe orderly and regular migration which appeals to the iom to take on an active role a leadership role in the development implementation monitoring and assessment of this global compact taking into account its expertise and capacity in strengthening migration governance at the global regional national levels in this regard the guadaman while in government with this board of iom decided to implement a process of institutional consultation to prepare a national position in view of preparation of the global compact guadamala is committed to the promotion enforcement and the respect of human rights of the migrant population in accordance with international instruments in this spirit we are fully certain of the need to continue with national efforts and regional initiatives that will allow us in a better way to face the challenges of international migration last year guadamala adopted a new migration code based on a human rights perspective for the protection of migrants and refugees it's a very visionary project so its implementation will not be easy with the support of iom we are putting in place the necessary measures to create new institutions and assign new tasks to already existing ones my delegation values the work done by the iom in guadamala whose projects with an integral approach have been carried out in full coordination with the national authorities enabling us to strengthen national capacity to provide greater and better attention to the migrant population in our country and overseas particularly um returning girls boys and adolescents among these projects we can mention the mesoamerica program strengthening the capacity to protect and assist migrants in situations of vulnerability through which we provide training to staff of governmental institutions and in civil society guidance and advocacy to strengthen institutional capacity inter institutional coordination transporter uh coordination and we prevention campaigns once again we'd like to reiterate our commitment to continue working together with the iom joining efforts with the international community to deal with the root causes of migration our work will be based on international cooperation coherence and shared responsibility likewise we consider that each country must take the necessary measures in its territories to counter xenophobia and intolerance and actions which violate human rights weaken relations between countries and jeopardize international security and peace aspects which must be included in the global compact thank you very much for your kind attention thank you very much i now give the floor to miss bb shillisa ali minister council of kohayana you have the floor i thank you madam chair and as this is the first time my delegation takes the floor we wish to congratulate you on your election and we also offer our congratulations to all members of the bureau we welcome kuba dominica cook the cook islands and uh quate to the iom my delegation aligned herself to the statement delivered on behalf of gruelac earlier this week we also take this opportunity to thank the director general for the presentation of his report and we pay tribute to his leadership of the organization and to the hard work and sacrifice of his staff particularly those who leave behind loved ones and families to be in the fields to address the needs of the world's migrants and refugees since becoming a member of the iom in 2011 gyan has worked with the iom to implement several projects particularly in the promotion of the involvement of the gyanese diaspora in gyan's development we thank the iom for the assistance provided and we look forward to continued successful collaboration in the years ahead as we commemorate the one-year anniversary of the iom within the united nation system gyan believes that this seat at the table has served to strengthen the voice and role of the iom in the international community's efforts to address the interests of migrants and refugees across the globe and in this regard we take the opportunity to express our continued support for the work of the working group on iom un relations madame cheer we agree completely with the remarks of the president of the general assembly when he stated that we have never lived in a world without migration and that we cannot make it disappear in the quest for a better life mankind has always been on the move and migrants have always contributed to the economic social and political development of receiving countries and will undoubtedly continue to do so however the situation of migrants today in many parts of the world and what is accurately termed a migrant crisis is unprecedented and represent grave challenges to the international community this makes the work of the international organization for migration more necessary than ever before images and accounts of men women and children who are forced to flee their homes and homelands in search of safety and often better economic opportunities are transmitted daily and graphically by the mass and social media those host countries that have been grappling with the effects of this crisis must be lauded for their efforts and the international community must continue to do all that it can to alleviate the plight of these desperate human beings many of them do not choose to become migrants leaving homes loved ones and livelihoods behind to face an uncertain future often at grave risk to their very lives as we continue this process leading to the 2018 intergovernmental conference on international migration with a view towards the adoption of a global compact for safe orderly and regular migration gianna believes that we must understand the circumstances behind this migrant crisis in order to effectively address its challenges and we must in our deliberations strike a careful balance between the need for safe and secure borders and the humanitarian needs of the world's most vulnerable our national policies and measures must be aimed at effectively managing migration for the benefit of our own peoples but we must also be guided by the humanitarian needs of those who are desperately sorting for a safe and better life to this end gianna is heartened that the discussions on the global compact appear to have the interest of migrants at the forefront this we believe is crucial in reaching a framework which we can all agree and which can be to our national benefits and work for the good of migrants and refugees gianna believes that should our deliberations continue to be guided by common goals of eradicating racism prejudice and intolerance our work will provide for the protection of the human rights for all both within our borders and those of our neighbors gianna will continue to work with the international community towards this end i thank you thank you very much gianna her excellency permanent representative estonia you have the floor thank you madam chair i would like to congratulate you as well as the other bureau members for your election to guide the work of this council estonia aligns itself with a statement delivered by the european union on behalf of its member states allow me to start by thanking director general swing for his dedicated leadership of this organization and for the report he presented to the council two days ago iam's tireless engagement and dedicated response to global migration challenges are truly truly commendable estonia wishes to reiterate its support to iam as the global lead agency on migration allow me to also welcome new members cuba and kuk islands and new observers to the council as the dg reported iam continues to grow in every aspect in number of member states projects budget budget figures and global reach while the soon quasi-global adherents to item iam witnesses the trust to and importance of iam the steady growth is also a result of many unresolved migration related challenges in the world we welcome iam's agility to face the growth of the organization in order to remain fit for purpose in the context of multiplication of displacement crisis with regard to this phenomenal growth attention has to be paid to coherent prioritization of activities to avoid possible duplication including with other unorganizations and diffused focus estonia highly values the reinforced cooperation with iam in recent years which has enthroned by iam dgs visit to tell in the spring iam as well as unhr has provided valuable support to estonia to estonia in building capacity to address increased forest displacement flows including assisting voluntary return of persons not in need for international protection i would like to express our sincere appreciation to iam and its office and telling for the excellent cooperation in the field of resettlement and relocation in its capacity as the presidency of the EU council since july 2017 estonia has set migration as one of its EU presidency priorities at the EU level estonia has been promoting comprehensive and holistic approaches to migration that take into account both internal and external aspects and focus on the long-term perspective of the migration policy madam chair estonia welcomes iam's enhanced focused on data collection and evidence iam's displacement tracing matrix and global migration data analysis center supporting foreign decision making in the field of migration nonetheless handling larger amounts of data also creates the need for better data protection estonia stands ready to share its experience in this regard dgs report to the council also brought up iam's vision to develop its policy planning capacity and enhance its work in idp context we would like to encourage the dgs to continue his commendably transparent updates to the council to inform on the advancements and possible challenges in the context of the work on idp's timely and consistent coordination with other organizations including u and a u and h r and ocha will help to avoid possible overlaps madam chair iam's accession to the u and family as the global lead agency on migration was a milestone we are pleased to hear dgs positive assessment of iam's first year in the u and system and regarding iam's greater access to information visibility and funding finally a few marks on the global compact on migration estonia expects the compact to be people-centered human rights-based closely in line with other global initiatives such as the 2030 agenda and taking into account the challenges and benefits of migration for all we aim for a practical and implementable outcome that would enhance the cooperation and coordination globally between the countries of origin transit and destination and follow the principles of inclusiveness and transparency allow me to reiterate also estonia's support for a strong role of the iam in the process of global compact on migration including in the implementation and follow-up of the compact iam as the global lead agency on migration with a truly global mandate and reach as well as operational and policy expertise in the field of migration has to have a significant and specific role to play in this process considering the non-legally binding nature of the global compact on migration estonia sees that the follow-up and review mechanism of the gcm should be efficient lights and responsive based on the framework of existing u and fora and it should not lead to the creation of new structures thank you for your attention thank you very much and now give the floor to mr. Murtaza kanzari bozorki mr advisor of the islamic public of iran you have the floor thank you madam chairperson at the outset i would like to congratulate you and the new members of the bureau on the election and welcome the new members and observers of iam i wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to iam administration and the director general william swing for the detailed and informative report to the council and also for his recent visit to the islamic republic of iran which took place last week as iam celebrates the first anniversary of its joining the united nations as a related organization it is of great significance to ensure this development has led to the reinforcement of the iam's collaboration and synergies with the other u and agencies especially with those having a clear mandate in development and in response to the multiple challenges of human mobility taking into account the complexity and multifaceted nature of migration we think that seeking synergy among relevant organizations and mandates is key this approach could help most to successfully find ways and means for addressing human mobility and migration related issues in a more comprehensive and sustainable manner as we are in the middle of the unga process leading to adoption of a global compact for safe orderly and regular migration my delegation while taking note of what has been done in the consultation phase would like to emphasize the importance of addressing drivers and root causes of migration the islamic republic of iran as a country which has been facing large-scale arrivals of mixed migratory flows and their huge economic and social impacts for near four decades would also like to underline the nexus between migration and development and importance of paying special attention to this issue in the process of developing global compact and migration in such a context it is worse remembering that sdg's target 10.7 to facilitate orderly safe regular and responsible migration is a part of the goal 10 which aims to reduce inequality within and among countries therefore in the process of development of the global compact migration should be seen from this perspective and facilitated in a way to reduce inequalities among different states the tendency of migration as a precursor for the brain drain for some countries and the brain gain for the others should be rectified and reversed a lot should be done in order to manage migratory flows in a decent and human manner and to let migration contribute to the development of countries of origin and destination alike in this way migration should be transformed from a means to escape poverty for some to an instrument to eliminate poverty for all it has been a reality for such a long time that some developed countries have had absolute advantage to manage and tailor the migratory flows in accordance with their needs and requirements on the other hand the developing countries in absence of such an advantage have not been able to play an active role vis-a-vis migratory flows and this has led to the deterioration of the situation for these countries in different occasions this situation becomes worse when we notice that the impact of migrants on their host countries is a function of the specific circumstances and level of development of any given host country having said so and in a context of a global migration crisis it is fair and appropriate to say that if in the process of developing global compact for migration states have to replace deterrence policies with protection initiatives this should be promoted first and foremost by the global north otherwise this process will lead to more and more gaps and inequalities among countries which is obviously in contradiction with the sustainable development goals we think the message of SDG 10 should be an integral part of any global compact on migration that works for all finally my country would like to support the IOM to continue playing its key role in the process of developing the global compact and hope that the organization could help to promote a well-balanced and inclusive approach towards managing international migration in a way to reduce inequality within and among countries I thank you for your attention thank you very much I now give the floor to to her excellency mrs. Kadiri permanent representative Nigeria you have the floor madam ambassador thank you madam chairperson Nigeria endorses the statement made by Ghana on behalf of the African group I congratulate you and members of the bureau on your election to the council I join others to welcome the Republic of Cuba and Cook's island as well as countries and organizations that joined the IOM on observer status I also wish to thank the Secretary-General of IOM ambassador William Lacey swing for the insightful leadership of the IOM and efforts in ensuring the protection and fair treatment of people on the move I also congratulate IOM on one year anniversary within the UN system the efforts of the IOM in facilitating voluntary repatriation our integration of hundreds of Nigerians from Libya under assisted voluntary return and reintegration program is commendable IOM should also be commanded for the approved project on research support towards a common African position on the global compact on migration funded through the IOM development fund migration is a multifaceted issue with enormous challenges the global compact may not be binding but the IOM should ensure that continental regional sub-regional and national policies on migration should address a number of issues related to fair treatment of migrants this should include the diaspora mobilization adequate border control financial inclusion of migrants and asylum seekers all with a view to ensuring that migrants related issues are well managed it is important for the international community to robustly address the push and pull factors that drive international migration while individual states have rise to manage their borders the New York declaration for refugees and migrants which call for the protection safety dignity and human rights of migrants should be a guide to all member member states in adopting national policies that will guarantee the security of all migrants without discrimination in addition creation of awareness on the dangers to potential migrants capacity building and strengthening of border management especially in developing countries would go a long way in ensuring in ensuring safety orderly and regular migration Nigeria's policy of free movement of persons goods and services within the echo us is in ensures that people's freedom to migrate at least within the region is guaranteed in addition Nigeria has bilateral agreements of migration with some countries under these arrangements both parties cooperate in the professional and social integration of persons repatriated to Nigeria there are in areas sorry these are in areas such as skills acquisition prior to departure reintegration programs and measures that provide voluntary return under the assisted voluntary return our integration program madam chair the persistent threat of Boko Haram and climate change most especially the drying up of the lectured have exacerbated resisting vulnerability vulnerabilities and further post protection rinks for the affected populations in the border regions Nigeria and its neighbors have continued to reaffirm their commitment to the principles and standards of regional and international conventions governing specific specific aspects of refugee and migration problems in Africa in particular the principle of no forceful return in this regard I wish to express my country's profound appreciation to the IOM and the donor community on the approved project on assessing the migration climate change and conflict dimension in the lectured region funded through the IOM development fund Nigeria strongly believes that the research study of this project would inform policy directions to us positively impacting on the lives of people around the lecture as a country Nigeria will continue to support the IOM as well as collaborate with other countries to ensure that the rights and well-being of all migrants no matter their status are respected we also believe that the global compact on migration will bring to the fore the profound contribution of migrants to economic and social development in their societies and global wealth world creation as it anchors the 2030 agenda for sustainable development madam chair person there is no doubt that the new york declaration is ambitious but this is not sufficient until aspirations result in realities on the ground to this end it is important to devise practical practical global and local solution solutions as well as undertake painful institutional and structural changes it is important to end on the note that in all our endeavors negotiations and migration governance agenda agenda and dynamics we must put people first thank you thank you very much a sir ambassador i would now like to give the floor to the director general for his comments you have the floor like to thank the distinguished representative Guatemala for a very good statement and make two or three points first of all to highlight the launch and now the implementation of a national strategy designed to prevent irregular migration and to assist Guatemalan migrants and their families sort of all in one very good strategy you made a lot of progress in implementing your migration codex kind of a legal instrument designed to protect both Guatemalans abroad as well as migrants who come to Guatemala so that's something that we'd like to to continue to support your efforts there and then i would want to congratulate you on policies that you have now that are trying to strengthen diplomatic and concert network in the United States where and in Mexico where so many of your your citizens are and this network i think would help you to provide more assistance and protection to these nationals living abroad the the minister counselor Ali of Guyana thank you very much for your presence and your statement thank you for maybe three points first of all thank you for hosting our office there that's taken on an increasing importance as a regional coordinating office for the Caribbean secondly to congratulate you for the important efforts you're making to strengthen your contact with the Guyana and diaspora so you can harness their skills and their resources for national development i recall in my first mandate i did a joint meeting with all the Guyanese diaspora in the immediate new york city area we had a packed house at the at the Waldorf Astoria and your your president was able to tell them about your development program and to engage them to come back home or to send money home to try to strengthen the national development programs i think we could do more with you on the diaspora side and then thirdly i want to recognize your efforts to combat human trafficking you've just been recognized as in tier one i think under the under the state department tip report so you're making obviously a lot of progress in that area and we're glad if we can help you on that um the deputy permanent representative estonia mrs. Salazar thank you very much for a good statement and congratulations on a very successful um the very successful presidency of the european union uh this allowed me to come to your country and to try to support this uh through um and you put migration very high on your agenda which allowed us to be uh supportive uh the very close cooperation that we developed during that period a very strong office in uh in talin strongly supported by your government uh i had a very successful visit there and came back with great satisfaction uh it was how we're working together with you um uh your view on the importance of investing in data protection we fully agree with you and i would like to say that we are one of the those few un agencies that actually has an active data protection policy developed by our legal counsel and i think working very well we'll have to put more resources into that in the future however you've also given us good support on the global compact and thank you for mentioning a post gcm role for iom um and i would like to reassure you that in keeping with my own principle of partnership for iom that we will continue to work in very close harmony with unhcr and all the other agencies there in fact we've just been discussing how we can work together now in libya um so that that you can follow shortly and thank you for for a good statement um i'm very happy to see the the uh minister council of the islamic republic of iran here with whom i just met a few days ago with him and and the ambassador um thank you for your statement i want to repeat the condolences that i offered in tehran during my visit last week for the loss of life and and and the suffering that was caused by the earthquake that took place in kermanshaw province on the 12th of november uh and i want to offer our expressions of condolence and solidarity with you um i also think we need to recognize that a very generous support that your country and your people have continued to give to the large large number a million and a half two million largely afghan refugees and and migrants over a long period of time a generosity that i think is is too little appreciated uh in the public domain i want to commend uh the supreme leader for his decree to allow um undocumented afghan children to enroll in iranian schools i think that's a very important step forward there and thank you for that um we um appreciate the good cooperation we've had over many years uh in iran we want to try to expand that cooperation i've made a proposal that we elevate our relations by putting in an international chief of mission rather than the national head of office and also um that we open a sub office at mashad where the majority or so many of the afghan nationals are so we um we hope to get some support from your government on that and i will also be seeking the approval of your government to make a return visit to iran somewhere near mid-year to follow up on the visit that i just had um finally i want to thank the representative of uh nigeria the permanent representative qadiri welcome and thank you for your statement i of course um have a great affection and and fond memories of four and fond memories of nigeria having served there as ambassador a few years ago and i recall with a great affection my time there i want to thank you for underlining the benefits of the echo us uh free movement policy i think it's working well in in that in all the echo us the 14 member states um i want to thank you for supporting a post gcm role for iom if i've understood you correctly um i was glad to get back to nigeria not too long ago uh several months ago particularly to uh to abuji but also to northeastern nigeria where so much of the suffering is being caused by boka haram and pleased to see that we have several hundred staff there working closely with your government officials to try to address the suffering of people there and we are committed uh to continuing to bring detain nigerians in libya to bring them home uh and i think you will see some movement on that in the in the coming weeks thank you thank you thank you very much director general i would now like to give the floor to madam evette stevens a permanent representative for sierra leon you have the floor madam ambassador chairperson excellence is distinguished delegates sialuna lines itself with the african group statement by ganna sialuna would like to start by congratulating you and the bureau for your election to leave the work of the 108th session of the iom council my delegation will also like to thank ambassador queen of australia and his bureau for the command they will work the deal over the past year i would also like to welcome cuba and cook silent to membership of iom as well as quote as an observer member state so the session is particularly important as it is happening at a time when united nations global compact on migration is being drawn up and is also one year after the iom joined the united nations family it is also happening at a time when we are witnessing one of the most atrocious consequences of unregulated migration a 21st century slave trade of black people in libya a stark reminder of the dark days of slavery the services of iom are needed now more than ever before sialuna would like to take this opportunity to call on the international community to conduct an international inquiry into the trade of blacks in libya in what now appears to be part of of a broad plan to leo unsuspected victims from poor african countries on the pretext of migration for better lives with the purpose of selling them off as slaves these the cartels involved should be identified and brought to justice and the international community should use all the means at its disposal to curb this ongoing trend as has always been the case sialuna would encourage iom to seek funds to assist the affected countries to return their nationals without delay madam chairperson for yet another year the iom under the able directorship of ambasero lacy swing has played an indispensable role as a prime leader on migration issues addressing inter alia the major catastrophes facing the world including the major mediterranean crisis in providing humanitarian assistance as well as addressing migration in the context of development indeed the growing number of applications for membership and observer status of iom a clear manifestation of the appreciation of the work of the organization iom adaptation to integration into the un system based on the iom un agreement which was signed in 2016 is noteworthy and has enhanced cooperation serene notes with appreciation iom engagement over the past year in humanitarian emergencies disease outbreak natural disasters as well as the significant role in addressing the ever-deepening migrant crisis in the face of growing anti migrant and anti-refugee sentiments and rhetoric iom's role in providing assistance to displaced persons should be recognized and strengthened my delegation also uploads a step taken by iom to identify training and career development to convene meetings of thematic specialists in areas such as resettlement return media and resources the biannual chief of missions and senior officials retreat as well as the rotation policy which would enhance the work of individual staff members and the organization it is to be noted that these activities were undertaken while iom was providing substantial support to the united nations special representative of the sector general for international migration the co-facilitators and the president of the general assembly in the consultation phase leading to negotiations on the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration madam chairperson we are currently witnessing a long overdue and unprecedented opportunity to address migration in a comprehensive manner our expectations of the global compact on migration are that it would bring together both policy and actions to resolve some of the major issues that characterize international migration today and in the future we have to get this right in the light of the 2030 sustainable development agenda now that iom is integrated into the united nation system it is well placed to be a lead agency in the implementation of the global compact given it has always been a strong advocate for the rationalization of migration and has the policy and operational competence to play that role madam chairperson i cannot conclude without expressing our heartfelt appreciation to iom for the assistance it has provided to serion at our most difficult moments including during the ebola crisis more recently we have benefited from the development fund to address preparedness for natural disasters following the mudslides of august this year the government of serion appreciates the effort of iom particularly the serion the iom office in serion in the facilitation of the of the return of 164 stranded serial union nationals from libya and in support of the national health care capacity through diaspora engagement madam chairperson i thank you thank you very much madam andasseter your excellency how can soon you now have the floor permanent representative deputy permanent representative for a mind where you have the floor madam chairperson excellencies distinguish delegates let me begin by extending our sincere congratulations to you madam chair on your election as chair of the council my delegation would like to welcome cuba and cork island as a new members of the iom and also thanks to the director general for his dedicated leadership and comprehensive reports manma supports the involvement of the iom in un system and we congratulate the iom for its first anniversary ioman iom has greatly contributed to the course of the international migration and development as a global leading agency for migration we appreciate the iom for providing technical and policy assistance in the preparatory process to develop global compact for safe orderly and regular migration which is expected to be adopted in 2018 we look forward to the iom's continued support in the stock taking pace and follow-up process in post gcm taking this opportunity i would like to thank iom for its continued assistance and cooperation extended to manma particularly in the area of migration protection emergency preparedness and post-crisis labor migration and skill and development migration governance and migration health madam chairperson my government attached great importance to the promotion and protection of the right of migrant workers the oversee employment supervisory committee was reinforced in 2016 in order to protect the right of my manma migrant workers bilateral arrangements have been introduced manma sign a memorandum of understanding with republic of korea japan thailand and a plan is also underway to sign the agreement with kata we believe that the issue of people smuggling and human trafficking have adverse effect on the global compact on migration this issue are common to many countries in the world as such we should enhance our cooperation strengthen our policy and ensure the effective implementation of the existing legal frameworks to combat the issue of people smuggling and human trafficking while addressing its root cause in addition we believe that the gcm should take into consideration of the following points one providing technical system and enhancing capacity buildings of sending state for illegal affordable and safe channels of migration to better cooperation and coordination among national contact points of law enforcement agencies in protection of the basic right of migrant in vulnerable situation including domestic worker three government led initiatives to advocate migrant labor sending and using private sector in sending transit and receiving state to protect the fundamental rights of migrant workers at all time including before departure during transit and at their workplace for secure and 45 continued contribution of NGOs to assist migrant migrant in the vulnerable situation including migrant workers in sending transit and receiving state but i'm chairperson in conclusion we would like to reaffirm our commitment to further promote and protect the rights of migrant workers in this regard miama will further intensify its cooperation with the relevant international organization and continue to working closely with iom particularly the iom country office in miama for the betterment of our migrants worker thank you for your kind attention thank you very much ambassador margaret came by minister councillor and charge the affair of trade for zambia you have the floor madam thank you madam chairperson i have the honor on behalf of the delegation of the republic of zambia to take this opportunity to commend you for your leadership shown in the in handling the deliberations of this meeting i wish to commend the bureau and the international organization for migration iom secretariat for the good work in preparing the background documents and support to member states you can be rest assured of our support in discharging your mandate zambia aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the africa group by gana however we wish to add our voice in our national capacity on certain important issues as many who have spoken before us we commend iom on its first anniversary since it's being admitted as an agency within the un system last year in 2016 we also wish to commend the work of the iom the director general in particular in quest to see the growing numbers of member states to iom family together with those of the international organization with observer status it is with this in it is in regard of this that zambia would like to congratulate the governments of the republic of cuba and the cook islands on their admission to the iom member states and the republic of qwet as an observer madam chair considering the outstanding commitment of the iom in promote promptly addressing the challenges associated with large movements of displaced persons and individuals we value the new york declaration as an important milestone we commend the work which has been done so far by all stakeholders in developing the key elements for the envisaged global compact safe orderly and regular migration and migration and role the iom has played with regard to the discussions that are ongoing including efforts while working together with governments of uganda and the au in ensuring the african common positions towards the global compact on migration negotiations zambia political commitment to issues discussed at the new york summit has continued and we have participated legally in the ongoing discussions and we will participate yet to be held stock holding conference in mexico we therefore welcome the director general's highlights on the activities that will follow ahead of the intergovernmental con conference to be held in 2018 at which the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration will be adopted we are also encouraged by the government of the united kingdom of morocco decision to host the intergovernmental conference to host the global compact for safe orderly and regular migration in december 2018 this shows the seriousness the continent attaches to the protecting of migrants regardless of their status madam chair recent human mobility has been has seen a different shift from a number of reasons therefore we need to raise both organizational uh collaboration and that of iom member states with regard to migration management both at regional and global level is imminent at our national level iom has remained a partner in addressing difficulties arising from the mixed movements experienced including regular and irregular migration as well as labor migration and is a destination of choice for migrants for many other reasons the government of the republic of zambia together with iom since january 2017 has been undertaking a project to enhance zambia's migration profile some lessons have been learned and migration issues have now taken root into national policies and will improve migration governance in zambia for the benefit of the migrants and the zambian community the zambia the project came at the right time when the country was the was in the process of launching one of the important national policy sorry uh was sorry launching its national policy documents the national development plan and can only encourage this kind of assistance by iom to continue with its good work in in this regard that iom will remain an important partner in the program and zambia is looking forward to strengthening the program in conclusion i should mention that zambia remains committed to continuing its collaboration with iom and looks forward to encourage to encouragement in the work of iom including other programs that would promote and facilitate safe regular and dignified movements of migrants regardless of their legal status as we have stated before we look forward to the global migration compact which shall be based on consolidating the many fragmented efforts that do exist in this field so as to complement the many efforts which are currently in place i thank you thank you very much everyone they like to give their to most mr. husband adam first secretary for erotria you have the floor sir thank you madam chair and the congratulations on your election erotria alliance itself is a statement made by gana on behalf of the africa group and would like to add this statement in its national capacity my delegation welcomes kuba the kukai land quake for joining the iom as new members in their respective status chair we have listened with satisfaction to the remarks of the current president of the united nation's general assembly the special representative of the united nation's secretary general for international migration and the director general of iom all the statement show the challenge ahead and reminded us of the collective commitment that need to be taken human mobility within their boundaries and beyond is an old as old as human history and has been crucial in the societal transformation that had shaped the present global structure however the drastic change in magnitude motive and the risk involved constitute closer force and challenge of our global reality that need to be regulated in order to have safe orderly and regular migration historically the influx of migration has been to the global south and benefit to societies in sharing skills culture technology and creating the necessary wealth while the move by in large still remains towards the global south the phenomena has become multifaceted in recent years however global response to this daunting challenge is reactive fragmented and lacks collectiveness vision the deplorable news that we heard few days before the beginning of the current session is a timely reminder that requires appropriate collective response as a as an affected country it remains engaged in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders while actively participating in all regional and international initiatives to bring an end to all illegal migration on the other hand the government has long recognized the contribution of the diaspora in the political economic social and cultural affairs of their country the policy is to maintain the link of Eritreans to their country of origin in global compact on migration the global compact for migration should aim at enhancing international cooperation and solidarity for a well-managed human mobility to the benefit of migrants countries of origin and destination in our view the following three goals should underpaint the global compact for migration one reducing the need for fatal journey through addressing the root causes of migration and combating smuggling of migrants two recognizing the vulnerability of migrants in transit and the countries of destination protecting their human rights and fundamental freedoms three recognizing and enhancing the contribution of migrants for countries of origin and destination and reducing the risk associated with migrant with migration for countries of origin and destination in cooperation with iom in the area of cooperation with iom the government of the state of Eritrea is considering the following four time-bound practical programs one diaspora engagement assist the department of immigration of Eritreans abroad to leverage contributions of qualified nationalist abroad and strengthen their linkage and relationship with the diaspora community in major countries of destination for Eritrea for the sustainable social economic development of their country to labor migration contribution to providing pre-departure orientation for Eritreans migrants seeking opportunities and employment in the Gulf states as well as develop policy and legal framework for enhanced labor migration management in the mid medium to long-term programs three migration profile collect quantitative and qualitative data to identify migration needs priorities trends and interests in order to develop targeted program pragmatic interventions in the area of migration and contribution to evidence-based policymaking and for immigration and border management improve border management and mobilize migration services at borders with a view to facilitating regular migration and preventing irregular migration human trafficking and smart and migrants smuggling finally madam chair the fight against irregular migration is not only about developing a system that addresses the need to save regular and orderly migration but also a timely organized combat to migrant smugglers and human traffickers international response in combating smuggling of migrants has not however been commensurate to the level of the danger district transitional organized crime poses for individuals and sets this is despite the fact that for over a decade members of the United Nations have identified smuggling of migrants as a crime that violates human rights hampers socioeconomic development and in courage on the sovereign sovereignty of states the investigation by Italian authorities on the collection on the collusion between non-governmental organizations who ostensibly rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and smugglers and traffickers reveals the need for a better international cooperation i thank you madame chair thank you madame madam chairperson somalia aligns with the statement of gana in the name of african group but let me first start in congratulating you and your bureau for your election to guide this session and also welcome the new members and observer of the ion organization let me also commend the previous bureau with the chairmanship of ambassador queen of australia for outstanding work they did during their office period madam chair we welcome the report of the director general mr lacy swing and commend him of the growth of the organization in terms of number of projects staff members in the field specially and member states that witnesses witnesses the outstanding support this organization is giving to the people in need i am i am has been operational in somalia since 2016 and they have done many programs over there madame chair with today's movement of migrants asylum seekers and refugees presenting significant challenges in many countries and regions reinforcing international cooperation and responsibility sharing is urgently required among states to respond to their needs for protection assistance and durable solution we all know migration is not new phenomena it is an old as as old as humankind and will continue in the future however because of this increasing of economic social political and and environmental challenges which affect the normal lives of regular human being we live we live nowadays in a period in which more people are on the move than ever before madame chairperson in somalia we see all shades of migration phenomenon from forced migrate migration with within and from the country from the country to mixed flow transitioning through the departure and return of our best and brightest addressing all these aspects to the benefits of individuals in the country will require efforts for years to come somalia has long been a country on the move with mobility being a defining future of the nomadic culture however more than two decades of civil war famine and natural disaster have left the country with a large internally displaced population over one million somalis live as refugees in the surrounding region and more than that have gone further afield the complexity of this crisis afflicting somalia has also made it a transit point for precarious boat migration across the the Gulf of Aden where hundreds lose their lives every year somali government is committed to rebuilding of peace and security as well as political and economic development of the country in terms of humanitarian issues the government nominated a cabinet level position in order to address the current drought situation and to decrease the cost of migration what's also important to mention is the support of somali diaspora to their origin country the national with the national development in addition to their financial support reaching two two billion dollars they provide technical skills advice leadership and investment for somalia what concerns us more is the living standard of migrants where every wherever they are in campus displaced in their countries or return needs to their origin country among others what's essential is to improving the protection health and dignity of migrant without discrimination and respective of their legal status the inclusion of the migrant in whole society access to basic services and gender responsive services is important because in this way there will be a switching effort to the development approach to help them become productive and self sufficient again instead of being a burden to the hosting country we believe with that with a strong government leadership in the mobilization of multi year flexibility flexible funds can provide sustainable livelihood and adequate standard of living of migrants in the world we also believe that the new declaration in the new york declaration is important and hope that the global contact will be adopted in conclusion it's important to highlight the need for a collective approach to this global issue and address the challenges i thank you thank you very much madame ambassador i now give give the floor to the director general to give his last comments for this afternoon thank you very much thank you very much ambassador stevens it's always good to see you here appreciate your statement we have a very excellent relationship with your government and people um i think we worked very as you mentioned we worked very well on ebola i'm glad that we could share that experience together in trying to bring that under control as quickly as it was we worked as you know primarily in your ebola training academy in seattle here on free town i want to commend you and your government for the close cooperation that allowed us to bring back a number of sierra leonans from libya i'm not sure how many more there but you can count on us to continue that cooperation it's very important to get those detention centers cleared out and to get your people home i want to reassure you as i did earlier today that iom is fully committed to cooperation we we've tried in my time with iom to build the organization on the basis of partnerships we cannot do the job alone and we wouldn't be foolish enough to try to so you have my full assurance on that as do the other member states um the um the operation in libya will of course also be fully coordinated throughout uh with everyone uh the au the eu the african countries of origin um the libian authorities uh and and the un in general uh unhcr uh and other colleagues working together uh in libya uh the role of iom of course in the post rcm post gcm period is in the hands of of you the member states uh and we'll continue to work hard to make you proud of your organization and what we can do to support and carry forward the global compact i want to also thank um deputy perm rep um sum for the good statement i think the agreement um that was signed this week on the 27th of november monday between the governments of bangladesh and miamar on an arrangement on the return of displaced persons from rakhine state uh is uh is an important first step along with the implementation of the rakhine advisory commission recommendations the so-called kofi anon advisory commission that is a roadmap it's not revolutionary but it's very practical and very doable and we certainly support it and hope that it will be uh put into effect quickly uh a number of recommendations and initiatives under the uh the union enterprise for humanitarian assistance uh in rakhine state um we as iom remain prepared to work with all communities and stakeholders at all levels to help create a conducive environment for the return of the displaced persons uh uh return in security and dignity uh it's very important that k in that instance we have approximately 450 staff in cox's bazaar the next door to rakhine state um in rakhine we're ready to promote a whole of state approach through our migration projects we have 48 people there we hope that they will be able to resume all of their activities very soon because a lot of the community depend on these uh particularly displaced persons returnees uh migrant protection in line with the recommendations of the rakhine advisory commission and the social and economic development plan for rakhine the we appreciate uh efforts to protect uh the migrant workers who are in the country as you mentioned in your presentation um i think it's good you held a national consultation earlier this month on the 22nd of november and had a wide range of parties interested migration there and um we are pleased to support the development invitation of policies on migration in the second phase of your national uh plan of action um like to also comment on the very good presentation by the um minister counselor kayimba of uh zambia uh commands you for uh using the work from your zambian migration profile to shape your national policies uh on migration um we will continue working with you in other african countries um on a common position for african global compact in that regard uh we were very pleased and honored to be able to take part in the i believe it was the third pan african uh forum on uh on migration designed to bring together a common african position as a going in point for the negotiation starting in february the um so i had a very good visit to lusaka at that time it was good to be back in in your country um the uh next presentation was by um ambassador um uh abdulla mohamud the permanent representative of somalia here in geneva thank you very much uh for your comments we share with you a lot of your concern about the the incredible needs that you have in the country but i must say that the response to our request for funding in somalia has been really quite encouraging it's now somalia is now one of our largest uh and best supported posts in all of east east african the horn of africa so we think we can do a lot to assist you there particularly with the return of somalis um and i come in the way in which you uh have uh worked on uh migration management in ira treea i'm hoping to establish it fully functional i'm sorry i got i got off to to somalia too soon i meant to say i meant to say ira treea sorry my notes didn't weren't clear there so on ira treea with you know we've just established a presence in ira treea uh and i want to commend you for allowing us to do that we hope that this will develop into a full-scale office the things that you outlined i think are very important areas where we can work together you mentioned a number of things you mentioned the labor migration migration profile diaspora is very important i think we can help you there uh you mentioned uh uh international immigration and border management which we can improve further um i have every intention when your government is uh supports it to come to asmara uh i'd like to uh it's one of the very few african countries i have not visited and i'd like to do that and see what we can do to strengthen the relationship and open up a larger office and and having just one person in town right now and now i go back to my original comment on on somalia thank you very much uh ambassador mohamud it's good to have you here um i will be going also to uh to somalia in the very near future i haven't been back in uh more than a year and i need to go back we have built up a very large program there we're getting strong support for it and we're going to need it because you'll have a lot of somali nationals coming back they will be need a lot of help when they get there a lot of returnees i know the situation security wise is is not what you would want it to be we have just put in a new chief of mission there um diane epstein who was our chief of mission gana before and who has been running our whole uh uh training and learning program and made great strides under her so i think you'll be pleased with her um and i look forward to coming to call on you so that we can come up with a time uh when i can go down but i think there's reason to uh be more encouraged now uh on the on somalia than it then was the case when we last met here and we want to take full advantage of that to support your your your efforts there thank you thank you very much mr director general i'd like to thank the delegations for their statements today we are coming to an end this afternoon tomorrow we'll begin the session with a keynote speaker of this excellent ismael omar glee president of jibouti will be pronounced by mr hasan omar mohammed boorhan minister of interior of jibouti then we'll have the general debate it from 10 30 so we'll start at 10 with the keynote address and 10 30 we'll continue with