 Excellencies, distinguished guests, colleagues, it is an absolute pleasure for me to launch today the Policies and Practice Guide to Gender Responsive Implementation of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration developed by UN Women. This is a matter that it is particularly close to my heart in my capacity as the Director General of the International Organization for Migration as well as the coordinator of the UN Network on Migration, but also as an International Gender Champion. Every stage of migration is influenced by gender, from the reasons for migrating to the opportunities to migrate, especially through regular channels, from the work performed to the experiences gained and the challenges faced throughout their journeys. Gender equality is at the very heart of the United Nations values. Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and the key commitment of states in the global compact on migration. Yet, millions of women, men, LGBT, YQ+, migrants and people of diverse gender identities around the world continue to experience discrimination on the basis of their sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. Women account for approximately half of all international migrants and contribute immensely to the prosperity of their families and communities and to the sustainable development of their countries of origin and destination. For many women and girls, migration can be a positive experience that is an expression of their agency and the vehicle for their empowerment and that of other women. Too often, however, laws and policies reinforce gender discrimination and existing gender inequalities, hampering the benefits of migration for migrants, their families and societies. The global compact for migration promotes the human rights of all migrants irrespective of their migration status. The GCM's guiding principle on a gender-responsive approach means that laws, policies and programs need to address the specific gender-related needs, priorities and challenges of all migrants and work to advance gender equality. This especially includes migrant women and girls, recognizing their independence, agency and leadership and moving away from viewing them through a lens of victimhood. They are right-holders and decision-makers. States should foster their full and meaningful participation in migration policy-making and land ownership in all spheres of life as part of the implementation of the global compact for migration. The global compact also contains a commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination and specifically to prevent, detect and respond to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination including on the grounds of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics. Effectively ensuring gender-responsive implementation of the GCM requires an understanding of the social structures, social norms and stereotyping and power relations that frame not only migration laws and politics but also the economy, social dynamics, family life and community life. COVID-19 has had devastating social economic impacts everywhere, threatening to reverse years of progress in advancing gender equality. The pandemic has exposed migrants to situations of heightened vulnerability, rights violations and lack of decent work, which are exacerbated by gender-based discrimination and violence. Women and girls, as well as those who are transgender, gender-diverse or intersex, are at an increased risk of gender-based violence, trafficking in persons and labor-marketed occupational segregation and unequal remuneration at all stages of migration. Despite these challenges, women migrant workers around the world have been on the front lines of the pandemic, contributing significantly to societies they live in and playing a key role in pandemic response and recovery efforts. Therefore, it is an opportune moment to launch this guide today, as it provides policymakers and practitioners with concrete measures for gender-responsive implementation of all 23 GCM objectives. And it is my hope that it will be used by a wide group of stakeholders to ensure that the rights of women are promoted and protected at all stages of migration. The guide also recognizes that well-governed migration contributes to building back better from the pandemic and towards achieving the sustainable development goals during this decade of action. Excellencies, in line with the commitments to ensure that the implementation of the GCM is human rights-based and gender-responsive, governments must place human rights and gender equality at the art of their evidence-based migration policies, programs and services, and recognize the crucial role of advancing gender equality and the empowerment of migrant women and girls to recover better, faster and stronger from this pandemic. To assess progress in meeting these commitments, I call on countries to conduct gender-sensitive research, capturing and analyzing sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics and developing gender-responsive indicators in line with target 17.18 of the Sustainable Development Goals for effective target setting execution and monitoring of national GCM implementation plans and roadmap. Not having evidence-based gender-responsive migration policies in their global efforts towards gender equality and it limits our collective commitment to the GCM and the potential to maximize benefits from migration for development. We must recognize that women, girls and people of diverse gender identities are also part of the migration phenomenon and they must also be part of the solution to make migration safe, orderly and regular. Ending all forms of gender-based discrimination and equality is not only a human rights imperative, it is crucial to achieving sustainable development. This guide will support you in this endeavor. Thank you.