 Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I can tell by the attendance that this is the moment you've been waiting on, a very rich agenda this morning. For me it's a great honor and a privilege and a great pleasure for me to welcome at the IOM Council session today, the United Nations Deputy Secretary General John Eliason, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for International Migration and Development, Peter Sutherland. I think we've already noted several times in our proceedings this week that the year 2013 has been a very important one for those of us working on migration questions. So many speakers have already remarked on that. There have been a number of significant events, most notably the UN General Assembly's second high-level dialogue on migration and development that was held on the 3rd and 4th of October in New York. It's been an important year for IOM and for the UN, our diaspora ministerial conference. I was able to give an overview of the high-level dialogue and its impact on IOM in my report on Tuesday, and we have distributed a paper, the copies are still available at the back of the room, in more detail on the outcomes, I think which all of us consider, I think unanimously, as a success. We now have the opportunity to hear from two uniquely placed and authoritative sources their own personal assessment on migration, the high-level dialogue, and the way ahead on global migration governance and the various outcomes of the dialogue. Let me add, perhaps most importantly, that IOM has no better friends or greater supporters than these two gentlemen. I say this without committing them because I know how they feel and also migration has no greater supporter than them, particularly in a period when governments have a kind of a counter-cyclical reaction to this period of the greatest human mobility and recorded history at a time when there are more disasters than in anyone's memory, when we all need to be pulling together in the same direction on human mobility. So let me, without further ado, go right to some very brief introductions of two people who, as they always say, don't need introductions, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm so proud of having their support here today that they could come from their busy calendars to Geneva to be with us. John Ellison has been the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations since July of last year, 2012. He's had a very rich and illustrious career, alternating mainly between the Swedish diplomatic service and senior positions in the UN, and sometimes managing to combine both of them as when he was the permanent representative of Sweden to the UN and also President of the General Assembly in 2005-2006. And this was during the time in which he presided over the preparations for the first UN General Assembly's high-level dialogue on migration and development. He became the first United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in 1992. And when I met him, he was the UN Special Envoy for Darfur in 2006 to 2008. I give him great credit for having helped us to get into the UN in an observer status, and we still benefit greatly from that. He has spent time in the Swedish Foreign Minister, of course, a number of times, and was the Swedish Ambassador to Washington and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He's always been a statesman and a longtime friend of IOMs and was instrumental, as I mentioned, in forging close ties between IOM and the UN, which, just by way of information, we now have a member-state working group on IOM-UN relations, and we're looking forward to the results of their deliberations. So I'm delighted, Mr. Deputy Secretary General, that you're with us today to talk about the relevance of migration to governments around the world. So if I might give you the floor. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Dr. General Swing, Special Assistant to the Southern Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for this very warm and personal welcome, and I didn't plan to say this, but on a personal note, let me tell you I propose my work with Humanitarian Affairs and Disasters and Catastrophes in the world that when I left that assignment after two years, having worked with many of the worst disasters in the world, I went to a reception in New York and the lady who then presented me to come up to the podium and received the thank, respond to the very flattering things she said. She failed in the end to give the right tone because when she asked me to come up to the podium, she said, now let us meet Mr. Eliasson. He's the man responsible for all disasters in the world. I felt that was somewhat unfair after those two years. Anyway, I am indeed very glad to be in Geneva with all of you and discuss the critical issue of migration, a subject of great importance to the United Nations and of great personal interest to me, as Bill Swing just said. This meeting of the IOM Council is taking place at a crucial time, some two months after the General Assembly's high-level dialogue on migration and development. And I want you to know that the IOM played a key role and a very constructive role in that historic meeting, working closely with the UN in the extensive preparations and consultations that we had, sharing with us its wealth of information and experience. Director General Swing has shown great leadership and vision together with his team, and I thank him and his team for their unswerving and sharp focus on the needs of the world's migrants and on the power and on the potential of migration in today's world. Let me hear those say that I'm sorry that you, Bill, and other Americans today will sacrifice parts of your Thanksgiving holiday, but it's a sign of the importance of migration that you are still with us during this very important holiday. Migration by its very nature is a global issue. Human mobility, whether for basic livelihood, employment, study, family reunion, or indeed to escape persecution or violence, is one of the most prominent features of today's global landscape. Looking beyond 2015, our deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, as you know, the forecast suggests that human mobility will continue to rise. Migration should be an integral part of our future sustainable development agenda. I know this subject has been discussed at length at this meeting. The Secretary General's report, A Life of Dignity for All, outlines the UN vision for the road ahead. And let me tell you that I think this title very much reflects our aspirations on migration. The word dignity is a word that I would put in the centre. One of the transformative actions that this report identifies is to truly recognise and to enhance the contributions of migrants to economic and social development. The report points out that more than a billion people rely on international and domestic migration to improve the income, health, and education of their families, to escape poverty and conflict, and to adapt to environmental and economic shocks. It also emphasises that countries receiving and hosting migrants benefit significantly, a fact that needs to be better known in the world. During the high-level dialogue, we identified several practical measures to amplify the contributions of migration, both to migrants and to societies. Some of these measures can be implemented immediately. Others will require continued efforts and sustained commitment. First and foremost, we must ensure that migration takes place in a legal, safe, and orderly fashion under conditions where the human rights of migrants are respected. It is intolerable that thousands of refugees, including many children, die each year in the understandable pursuit of a better life. The tragedies at Lampedusa early October and in the deserts of the Sahel just a few weeks later are shocking reminders of how urgently and how compassionately we must act. It is important to ground all migration policies firmly in fundamental human rights. This means protecting foreign workers from discrimination, ensuring the rights of migrant domestic workers, and protecting men, women, and children from trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. I commend the IOM's launch yesterday of an information campaign to change negative perceptions of migrants. This is a campaign to which we all must add our voices. We must stand up for basic values and principles, recognizing all human beings equal value and their right to a life in dignity. We also need to be aware that the dividing line between forced and voluntary movement is growingly blurred in the complex reality of today's world. We continue to be confronted with millions of people who are displaced or across international borders due to conflict and violence or natural disasters. We are increasingly seeing the plight of migrants who are caught up in crisis situations without a clear source of assistance. The problem of stranded migrants is one to which I know the Secretary General and Special Representative Peter Sutherland is paying particular attention. Any migration policy must be firmly built on human rights standards, and long-held humanitarian principles such as the right to seek asylum must never be eroded. As an international community, we have several instruments to protect and promote human rights. I would urge all states to ratify and implement all international treaties related to migration. This includes core human rights instruments, including the International Convention and the protection of rights of all migrant workers, relevant ILO conventions and protocols against human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as, of course, the 1951 Refugee Convention. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, since the landmark discussion on migration in 2006 at the General Assembly, we have been building trust and collaboration within and outside the United Nations as well as between member states and international organizations. In particular, the relationship between IOM and the United Nations has grown increasingly positive and mutually fruitful. On the ground, we work closely together to deal with migration issues in all their aspects. I can see that whenever I go around the world and see the country teams and see that very good relationship. This cooperation, I know, is appreciated by you as member states. Member states of both the United Nations and of IOM in this room. I understand a working group is being established, and I heard it now from Bill Swing, to look in greater depth at the relationship between the United Nations and the IOM. I welcome this initiative and look forward to the continued dialogue between the UN and IOM. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, last month the General Assembly took a historic step by adopting its first ever declaration on international migration and development. We need increased commitment to work together to strengthen international partnerships in this field. We have a historic task to come together and increase the benefits of international migration for migrants as well as for host societies. We must do more together rather than acting alone. You in this hall understand the issues and challenges. You know the numbers, you know the facts, you know the realities. Many of you were in New York last month for the high-level dialogue. Among the attendees was Mesfin Kibebev Erko, a young migrant from Ethiopia. He's a member of a group that works to end torture and support survivors. He spoke, as you may recall, about the difficulties of migrating to another country. But then he added, after hearing what governments say at this high-level meeting, I felt like maybe there is hope. And it is our task, in my view, to transform the maybe into definitely, that is definitely hope, so that we can provide hope to so many who live without hope in this world and in these positions. Governments are coming together as never before, as we see in this room today. By endorsing the declaration in October, the General Assembly decided to work towards what member states pledged would be, and I quote, an effective and inclusive agenda on international migration that integrates development and respect of human rights. This is a strong expression of common political will that we should build upon. Now, all of us, governments, the global migration group, the Global Forum on Migration Development, as well as civil society, must join forces to transform this political will into lasting concrete results for millions of people around the world. In this mission, IOM has an indispensable role. The United Nations is grateful and proud of our partnership with you. I thank you for your attention. You perhaps can see from the presentation of the Deputy Secretary General that these two gentlemen were invited not just because of their positions, but because we share something in common. We are all congenital optimists. Let me thank you, sir. Our second speaker.