 Mr. Chairperson, Excellencies, Honorable Ministers, Heads of Delegations, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank our host, the Governor Sri Lanka, most especially President Shirasena, for organizing this timely conference. Let me apologize for not being with you personally, as another equally compelling matter requires my presence in Geneva. Let me make three points in my brief remarks. First of all, the need to understand the link between migration and health. Secondly, the need to implement migrant sensitive policies that are aligned with the person-centered universal health coverage principles. And thirdly, the need for partnerships and coordination. First point I would like to highlight is the need to more deeply understand the nexus between migration and health and to take action accordingly. We live in an era of unprecedented human mobility, a period in which more people are on the move than ever before. Today there are nearly 250 million international migrants, 750 million internal migrants, one in seven of the global population. Migration is inevitable, it's necessary, and if well managed, it's desirable. It is a reality to be managed and not a problem to be solved. The volume of current migration is an important indicator of the global importance of the health of those moving across and between borders and of the importance to consider and address the health of migrants as a global health agenda for all. Despite migration being a factor of life, large groups of migrants remain at high risk of social inclusion, discrimination and exploitation. Many still lack access to adequate health service or have to pay higher prices for it. Additionally, the realization of equitable standards of health for migrants, their families and communities, hosting them, remains an often neglected theme in both health migration and health dialogues and goals. We need to work together to overcome this reality and your leadership is essential. Let me highlight that migrants and mobile populations do not generally pose a risk to health for hosting communities and they should not be stignified and associated with the risk of importing diseases. As we know, it is rather the conditions surrounding the migration process that can increase the vulnerability of migrant and mobile populations and communities to ill health, particularly for those forced to move and those who find themselves in so-called irregular situations. This brings me to my second point. The need to implement migrant sensitive policies, policies that are aligned with the person-centered universal health coverage principles that promote inclusion and integration and address avoidable causes of vulnerability to ill health. Universal health coverage, UHC, or leaving no one behind, is very high on the global health agenda. We can all agree that UHC only exists if health systems account for all of its community members, including migrants. Successful integration of migrant and mobile populations into health systems is therefore critical to predict and prevent the spread of diseases, design evidence-based responses along mobility pathways, enhance national capacities to better promote the health of migrants, and to enhance the contribution of migrants to sustainable development. All these will only be possible if we work together, which is the last point I wish to make. The need to improve partnerships and coordination, to properly address challenges relating to the health and well-being of migrants. We need to work together to better understand the health aspects of mobility. Migrant health issues cannot be resolved at all by the health sector alone. Partnerships, health diplomacy, and leadership across all sectors and across all borders are essential. Moreover, it's important we work towards a unified agenda across regions on the health of migrants, including those who are forcibly displaced. In IOM, we much value our strong collaboration with WHO and all our member states, civil society, and other actors toward this goal. Our task is to find commonalities and unifying principles to promote strengthened health systems and health for all, where at an opportune time, estates begin work on the global compact for migrants, which sets to lay down common principles pertaining to human mobility. In conclusion, health is a basic human right, an essential component of sustainable development. Being and staying healthy is a fundamental precondition for migrants to be productive contributors to the social and economic development of their communities of origin and destination. I trust that health ministries and representatives of government, civil society organizations, community members, the private sector, and development partners all stand ready to promote the health of migrants and lead the mainstreaming of migrant health into all policies. Time is opportune for coming together and to achieve results. I wish you a most successful consultation.